Appropriate and formal but not too

Lesson 1 
pretentious
INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC >Remember: Academic writing is thinking; you
TEXTS cannot just write anything that comes to your
mind, but instead, you have to abide the set of
Academic Writing rules and practices in writing.
 refers to a style of expression that >Finally, writing academic papers require
researchers use to define the intellectual deliberate, thorough, and careful thoughts that’s
boundaries of their disciplines and why it involves research.
specific areas of expertise.  Consider the background and knowledge
ACADEMIC TEXT of your audience
 critical, objective, specialized texts  Back up your statement with a strong
written by experts or professionals in a and valid evidence
given field using formal language. Formal but not pretentious is required in
-means that they are based on facts with solid academic writing. It is misconception. However,
basis. The emotions of the author cannot filled that be can difficult words have to be used
from text or materials because ultimately the purpose of academic
 Academic writing is clear, concise, writing is to engage your readers. We are not just
focused, structured, and backed up by expected to inform or to persuade, but also to
evidence/s. engage the readers in a conversation by giving
-has a formal tone and style but it is not complex them clear ideas and points to evaluate and
and does not require the use of long sentences questions (i.e., to react to an issue or an event,
and complicated vocabularies and to convince readers to take your side).
 Purpose: to Aid the reader’s The purpose of academic writing is to engage the
understanding. readers in a conversation by giving them clear
 refers to a style of expression that writers ideas and points to evaluate and questions (i.e.,
use to define the intellectual boundaries to react to an issue or an event, and to convince
of their disciplines and specific areas of readers to take your side)
expertise. IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ACADEMIC WRITING
-example: Environmental Science (expertise) I. The Big Picture
- to be able to define your intellectual  It must be cohesive and possess a
boundaries, you will make a study related to your logically organized flow of ideas.
areas of expertise. -means that the various parts are connected to
 formal style of writing used in universities form a unified whole
and scholarly publications. -there should be narrative links between
- you will encounter it on journal articles and books sentences and paragraph so that the reader is
on academic topics and you will be expected to write able to follow your argument
your essays, research papers, and dissertations in
II. Tone
academic style.
 Throughout your paper, it is important
SPECIFIC PURPOSE OF ACADEMIC WRITING
that you present the arguments of others
 To inform
fairly and with an appropriate narrative
 To argue a specific point
tone.
 To persuade
-When presenting a position or argument that
AUDIENCE OF ACADEMIC WRITING you disagree with, describe this argument
 Teacher accurately and without loaded or bias language
 Peers- (who will read and evaluate your because in academic writing, the author is
work) expected to investigate a research problem from
 Academic community authoritative point of view. We should therefore
-audience is composed of people who are state the strength of your arguments confidently
knowledgeable on the subject that you are writing using language that is neutral and not
about. Thus, you have to demonstrate a thorough confrontational or decisive.
understanding of your subject at hand. III. Diction
Academic writing is different from a personal -it refers to the choice of words you use.
narrative or creative essay, or a legal document,
-awareness of the words you use is important
in which the knowledge of the writer is assumed
because that has almost the same denotation or
to be greater than that of the readers.
dictionary definition can have a very different
connotations or implied meanings
 Use concrete words [not general] that
convey a specific meaning. If this cannot
be done without confusing the reader,
LANGUAGE OF ACADEMIC WRITING then you need to explain what you mean
 within the context of how that word or aspects you believe are most critical, or suggest
phrase is used within a discipline. a method for gathering data to better understand
IV. Language the problem.
-must be concise and formal. IX. Complexity and Higher-Order Thinking
-do not use big expressions that are not specific  Academic writing addresses complex
for the readers to derive exact meaning issues that require higher-order thinking
 It is important that you use unambiguous skills applied to understanding the
language. research problem [e.g., critical, reflective,
 Well structured paragraphs and clear logical, and creative thinking as opposed
topic sentences enable a reader to follow to, for example, descriptive or
your line of thinking without difficulty. prescriptive thinking].
V. Punctuation -This is also one of the main functions of
 In academic writing, punctuation marks academic writing--examining and explaining the
are used very deliberately. significance of complex ideas as clearly as
-example: Exclamation point ( rarely used to possible. As a writer, you must adopt the role of
express a heightened tone because it can come a good teacher by summarizing a lot of complex
across as unsophisticated or overexcited information into a well-organized synthesis of
VI. Academic Conventions ideas, concepts, and recommendations that
contribute to a better understanding of the
 Citing sources in the body of your paper
research problem.
and providing a list of references as
either footnotes or endnotes is a very
important aspect of academic writing.
-it is essential to acknowledge the source of any
ideas, research findings, data, paraphrased or
quoted text that you have used in your paper as
defense against allegations of plagiarism.
 Also includes the appropriate use of
headings and subheadings, properly
spelling out acronyms when first used in
the text, avoiding slang or colloquial Academic Texts
language, avoiding emotive language or  Written by professionals in a given field
unsupported declarative statements,
 Edited by authors, peers,
avoiding contractions, and using first
 Often take years to publish
person and second person pronouns
 Language is formal and will contain
only when necessary.
words in terms typical to the field
VII. Evidence-Based Reasoning
 Authors name and their credentials will
 Opinions are based on evidence-based
be present
reasoning.
 List of references that indicate where the
 You need to support your opinion with
author obtains the information, he/she is
evidence from scholarly [i.e., academic,
using in the article
or peer-reviewed] sources.
 Examples: Dissertations, journals, thesis,
-The objective is to convince the reader of the
research paper
validity of your opinion through a well-
documented, coherent, and logically structured Non-academic Texts
piece of writing. This is particularly important  Written for the mass publish
when proposing solutions to problems or  Publish quickly
delineating recommended courses of action.  Can be written by anyone
VIII. Thesis-Driven  Language is informal, casuals, and may
 Academic writing is “thesis-driven,” contain slang.
meaning that the starting point is a  Author may not be provided and will not
particular perspective, idea, or position have any credentials listed
applied to the chosen topic of  No references list
investigation, such as, establishing,  Examples: Magazines, magazine
proving, or disproving solutions to the articles, newspapers articles, and literary
research questions posed for the topic. text

-Note that a problem statement without the