Academic

LANGUAGE
LEARNING COMPETENCY
• Differentiates language used in academic texts from various
disciplines.
• CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Ia-c-2

“Change your language and you

change your thoughts.”
– Karl Albretcht
Specific Objectives:
Ponder on this:
• Why is academic language so important?
• Students who master academic language are more likely to:
- be successful in academic and professional settings

• Students who do not learn academic language may:

- struggle academically
- be at a higher risk of dropping out of school
UNDERSTANDING ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE…
• Academic language represents the language demands of
school (academics).
• Academic language includes language used in textbooks, in
classrooms, on tests, and in each discipline.
• It is different in vocabulary and structure from the everyday
spoken English of social interactions.
• Each type of communication (both academic and social) has its
purpose, and neither is superior to the other.
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
• the language used in the classroom and workplace.
• the language of text.
• the language assessments.
• the language of academic success.
• the language of power.
Academic language in oral
expression
• Academic language is also a part of speaking

• Mastering oral academic language will allow students to

participate in:
 academic discussions
 debates
 presentations in front of their peers
Social language vs. academic
language
• When using social, or informal, English in daily conversation, it’s
possible to communicate by using slang and without using
English in a grammatically correct way:
• You can be understood without using:
• articles
• prepositions
• sophisticated vocabulary
• pronoun reference
Recognizing social vs. academic
language
• When comparing social and academic language, students
should look for the following differences:
Linguistic concepts
and academic
language
Checklist of language to avoid in
academic writing:
1. Do not use contractions
Contractions are the words formed from two abbreviated words, such as "don't",
"can't" and "won't". Please write the full words.
2. Do not use colloquial vocabulary
Colloquial vocabulary includes words and expressions that are used in everyday
spoken language. They do not provide the exactness needed in an academic
setting (Fowler & Allen, 1992).
An example is:
• Retirement is something most of us must face sooner or later.
• This could be replaced by the more formally worded:
• Retirement is inevitable.
Also avoid other types of conversational
language such as figures of speech,
cliches and idioms; for example:
Colloquial Expression Formal Alternative
above board legitimate

reached a happy medium reached an acceptable compromise

get through it survive, penetrate

part and parcel intrinsic to

easier said than done more difficult in practice

beyond a shadow of doubt definitely

in recent years recently

pay lip service to support through words but not through actions

got out of hand was no longer under control

a stumbling block point of contention

explored every avenue investigated alternatives

3. Avoid using run-on expressions
Run on expressions include phrases such as 'and so forth', 'and so on' or 'etc'. Try
to complete the sentence properly; do not use these if you can avoid them; for
example:
Informal (includes run on) Formal Alternative

Nurses must take into consideration Nurses must take into consideration
patients' dietary needs resulting from patients' dietary needs resulting from
allergies, medication, medical allergies, medication and medical
conditions and so on. conditions.

Public transport includes vehicles for Public transport includes vehicles for
public use on the roads, airways, public use, such as buses, trains and
waterways etc. aeroplanes.
4. Do not use rhetorical questions
• A rhetorical question is a question for which no answer is
expected.
• A rhetorical question is one in a written text where the writer
assumes the reader knows the answer, or where the writer goes
on to answer the question in the text.
• Such questions are inappropriate for academic writing: readers
might not know the answer and the point being made could be
more strongly and clearly expressed as a statement.
• You should not risk your point being misunderstood: make your
point clear and 'up front'; for example:
For example:
Informal (includes rhetorical Formal
question)
Industrial sites cause vast amounts of The question surrounding the
environmental pollution, so why do continued use of industrial sites, given
we still use them? their vast pollution production, still
remains.
What is a team? A team can be one A team can include one person but
person but will usually end up usually involves many more.
including many more.
The question is, however,does the It is questionable whether the "Design
"Design School Model" provide a School Model" provides a practical
practical solution to the problem of solution to the problem of strategy
how to formulate strategy? formulation.
Notice that you can change your rhetorical questions into statements and still use them effectively in an essay.
 Choice of words
1. Avoid colloquialisms and idioms

Example 1

Colloquial/idiom: Her paper made a tremendous contribution to the field.

Formal/neutral: Her paper made a major contribution to the field.

Example 2

Colloquial/idiom: The community managed to scratch a living from the poor soil.

Formal/neutral: The community managed to survive by farming the poor soil.

Example 3

Colloquial/idiom: The hit-and-miss performance of the financial markets is causing increasing concern.

Formal/neutral: The erratic performance of the financial markets is causing increasing concern.
Avoid using the verb ‘get’
Example 1
Colloquial/idiom: The settlers got ill after drinking polluted water.
Formal/neutral: The settlers became ill after drinking polluted water.
Example 2
Colloquial/idiom: The study participants reported that they got better after the first
course of treatment.
Formal/neutral: The study participants reported that their health improved after the
first course of treatment.
Example 3
Colloquial/idiom: Doris Lessing got the Nobel Prize in 2007.
Formal/neutral: Doris Lessing was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2007.
 Avoid two-word verbs. Use the
single-word equivalent instead:
Example 1

Colloquial/idiom: The proposal for regional representation was turned down.

Formal/neutral: The proposal for regional representation was rejected.

Example 2

Colloquial/idiom: Scientists are looking into the production of biofuels using non-food crops.

Formal/neutral: Scientists are investigating the production of biofuels using non-food crops.

Example 3

Colloquial/idiom: Biofuels based on non-grain crops have the potential to bring food prices down.

Formal/neutral: Biofuels based on non-grain crops have the potential to reduce food prices.

Example 4

Colloquial/idiom: Most of the patients reported that they put on weight after taking the new medication.

Formal/neutral: Most of the patients reported that they gained weight after taking the new medication.
Use nominalisations
Compare these two sentences:
1. The government banned smoking in public places in 2007. Since
then, fewer people have been admitted to hospital for
smoking-related diseases.
2. The ban on smoking in public places in 2007 has led to a fall in
hospital admissions for smoking-related diseases.
NOTE:

The second sentence contains two nominalisations (in bold). A nominalisation is a noun phrase derived from
another word class, usually a verb. In the sentence above, 'the ban on smoking in public places in 2007' is a
nominalisation of the verb phrase 'banned smoking in public places in 2007'; 'a fall in hospital admissions for
smoking-related diseases' is a nominalisation of 'fewer people have been admitted to hospital for smoking-related
diseases'.

Nominalisations are useful in academic writing because they convey an objective, impersonal tone.
Nominalisations can also make the text more concise because they can pack a great deal of information in a few
words.
Use pre- and post-modifiers
• In academic writing, most nouns are preceded or followed by one or
more words or phrases known as modifiers. In many cases, nouns have
both pre-modifiers (occurring before the noun) and post-modifiers
(occurring after the noun).
1. The unexpected decline in species that had previously thrived in the
area was attributed to a sharp rise in temperature.
• In the sentence above, the nouns in bold, 'decline' and 'rise', have
both pre- and post-modification. Modification is indicated by
underlining.
• Pre-and post-modification enables the writer to pack a lot of
information into a limited number of words, thus making the style more
concise.
'Not + verb' negative forms
• Avoid the ‘not + verb’ negative form if an alternative form is
available.
• Examples:
‘Not + verb’ negative Preferred negative form

There isn’t any evidence in support of this There is no evidence in support of this claim.
claim.

The new study doesn’t support many of the The new study supports few of the initial
initial findings. findings.

There isn’t much research on this topic. There is little research on this topic.
If you use the ‘not + verb’ negative
form, avoid contracted forms.
‘Verb + not’ contracted form Preferred negative form

Sales didn’t increase despite the Sales did not increase despite the
introduction of new targets. introduction of new targets.

The conflict can’t be resolved The conflict cannot be resolved

without negotiation. without negotiation.
Avoid using the second person
pronoun ‘you’
• In everyday conversation and in informal writing, we use the
personal pronoun ‘you’ both to address our listener or reader
and to make statements impersonal.
For example, the statement:
• ‘You said I could borrow your car’ is clearly addressed at a
particular individual; on the other hand,
• ‘You never know how things will turn out’ illustrates the
impersonal use of ‘you’, the meaning being ‘No-one knows how
things will turn out’.
In academic writing, however, we avoid both uses of ‘you’. So, in
the sentence below, the more informal 'give you' has been
replaced with ‘provide’:
• Neither qualitative interviews nor focus groups are likely to give you easily
quantifiable, factual or objective data.
• Neither qualitative interviews nor focus groups are likely to provide easily
quantifiable, factual or objective data.
In the following sentence, the informal ‘as you can see’ has been replaced by the
more formal passive voice form: ‘as can be seen’.
• As you can see from the data, two-thirds of respondents are satisfied with the
current provision.
• As can be seen from the data, two-thirds of respondents are satisfied with the
current provision.
A more concise reformulation is:
• The data show that two-thirds of respondents are satisfied with the current
provision.
Signposting
• In academic writing, the author is responsible for making the text
as clear as possible for the reader.
• To achieve clarity, the author has to ensure that the writing is
explicit: in other words, it should anticipate and address the
reader’s questions.
• An active reader will want to know what the author’s aims are
and how they will be achieved; what the author’s position is
about key issues; how the argument is constructed; how ideas
relate to each other.
• Good writers use signposting language to signal to the reader
where these answers can be found.
It is useful to divide signposting
language into two broad categories:
1. major signposts that signal key aspects of
the work, such as purpose, structure,
author’s stance, main points, direction of
the argument, conclusions.
2. linking words and phrases that show
connections between sentences and
paragraphs.
Examples of major signposts:
• The aim of this study is to ….
• The purpose of this thesis is to….
• This essay argues that ….
• The main questions addressed in this paper are ….
• This essay critically examines….
• The above discussion raises some interesting questions.
• This paper begins by …. It will then go on to …. Finally, ….
• This chapter reviews the literature ….
• In conclusion, ….
Examples of linking words and
phrases:
• Listing:

first(ly), … / second(ly), … / finally, … /

• Indicating addition or similarity:

also, … / besides, … / in addition, … / furthermore, … / as well / similarly, …

• Indicating contrast:

however, … / nevertheless, … / on the other hand, … /

• Giving a reason:

for this reason, … / because … / because of …/ due to …

• Indicating result or consequence:

therefore, … / thus, … / as a result, … / consequently, …

• Reformulating an idea:

in other words, … / to put it simply, … / that is ...

• Exemplifying:

for example, … / for instance, … / to exemplify, …

Hedging
• In academic writing, claims are often couched in cautious or
tentative language. This is known as ‘hedging’. Compare these
two sentences:
1. Water shortages trigger conflict between nations.
2. Water shortages may trigger conflict between nations.
 The first sentence indicates a high level of certainty; indeed, the
claim, or assertion, is presented as a fact.
 The second sentence, on the other hand, is more tentative,
suggesting that conflict will occur in certain circumstances or
under certain conditions, but not necessarily in every case.
HEDGING
• Hedging enables the writer to make claims that are
proportionate to the evidence available at the time of
writing.
• In other words, hedging language helps to make
statements as accurate as possible.
• Since there is a wide range of hedging words and
phrases, it is important to choose one that reflects the
strength of the supporting evidence.
Examples:
1. The fire was probably caused by a fault in the engine
temperature gauge.
2. The fire could have been caused by a fault in the engine
temperature gauge.
 The use of the word ‘probably’ in the sentence below indicates
that the evidence is fairly strong.
 In the second sentence, the more tentative word ‘could’ was
selected, indicating that the evidence is weak.
Paying due attention to accuracy helps
to avoid, or at least reduce, criticism of
your work.
• Hedging is also used to mitigate criticism of other authors’ work,
as in the examples below:
1. Johnson (2007) appears to ignore the adverse psychological
side-effects of this approach.
2. The risks of the new vaccine may have been overstated.
Hedging language
A wide range of words and phrases can be used in hedging:
• Modal auxiliary verbs:
can, could, may, might, should, would
• Other modal verbs:
appear, look, seem, tend
• Probability adjectives:
likely, possible, probable, unlikely
• Probability adverbs:
perhaps, possibly, probably, presumably
• Frequency adverbs:
generally, usually, often, occasionally, seldom
Fixed expressions in academic
language
• Fixed expressions (also called collocations) are another
important area of academic language, such as:
 peanut butter and jelly (not jelly and peanut butter)
 salt and pepper (not pepper and salt)
 Mr. and Mrs. (not Mrs. and Mr.)
• Using these kinds of expressions correctly is an important step in
learning a second language well
• Collocations serve as a “marker” of being able to speak like a
native speaker
Let’s get to work….
• To get students using academic language, try summarization:
1. Read a short passage aloud to students
2. Have students read the short passage to themselves and then
summarize verbally to a friend
3. Give students the opportunity to repeat the exercise with several
partners

NOTE:
Through this exercise, students begin to acquire the author’s language,
and will get more and more fluent with the language each round.
ASSIGNMENT:
• Look for examples of the following:
1. Formal language
2. Informal language
3. Casual language
• Write in a ½ piece of paper.
 THANK
YOU for
your time!