Download English for International Students Unit

The Characteristics of Academic Writing: Stylei
Task 1
Look at the questions below before reading the paragraphsii to find the answers.
a. What is the theme that the two paragraphs have in common?
b. The texts have the same number of common academic wordsiii (in bold), yet one
text is more academic than the other. Give some examples of the differences in
style.
1.
2.
Capitalism is the world's dominant economic
system (...): private ownership and free
enterprise are believed to lead to more
efficiency, lower prices, better products and
rising prosperity. Socialism advocates the
ownership and control of the means of
production and industry by the community as
a whole: the community is believed to be both
more just and more efficient through central
planning. In Marxist theory Socialism
represents the stage following capitalism in a
state transforming to communism; for many,
however, it is a goal in itself. This binary
view of potential political and economic
systems may be thought simplistic, but it is a
debate that is extremely common.
. . . All idealisation makes life poorer. To beautify
it is to take away its character of complexity--it is
to destroy it. Leave that to the moralists, my boy.
History is made by men, but they do not make it in
their heads. The ideas that are born in their
consciousness play an insignificant part in the
march of events. History is dominated and
determined by the tool and the production--by the
force of economic conditions. Capitalism has
made socialism, and the laws made by the
capitalism for the protection of property are
responsible for anarchism. No one can tell what
form the social organisation may take in the
future. Then why indulge in prophetic phantasies?
At best they can only interpret the mind of the
prophet, and can have no objective value. Leave
that pastime to the moralists, my boy.
Academic style is not used in all academic settings. Lectures are generally delivered
in a relatively non-academic style. It is not uncommon to hear lecturers use words and
phrases like stuff, things, bunch, or a whole lot of, which would not be appropriate for
an academic writing task.
Academic writers need to be sure that their communications are written in a suitable
style. The style of a particular piece must not only be consistent, but must also be
appropriate for the message being conveyed and for the audience.
One difficulty in using the appropriate style is knowing what is considered academic
and what is not.
In this lecture we look at some of the features that distinguish spoken English or
informal written English from the formal written English that you need when writing
your assignments, examination answers and dissertations.
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1. Avoid informal and inexact language
A. Choose formal vocabulary
English often has a number of ways of expressing ideas, some of which are more
acceptable than others in academic writing.
Task 2
Improve the following sentences by supplying a more academic word or phrase
where necessary.
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2
3
4
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6
The reaction of the official was sort of negative.
The economic outlook is nice.
The future of Federal funding is up in the air.
Within any country, political and economic systems have a big impact on the
way university business is conducted.
The resulting high competition between students is good.
The economy of Greece is affected by things that happen outside it.
B. Choose single word verbs
When there is a choice between a multi-word verb or a single word verb, always
choose the latter in your writing.
Examples
Expert systems can help out the user in the diagnosis of problems. (=informal style)
Expert systems can assist the user in the diagnosis of problems.
(=academic style)
Research expenditures have gone up to nearly $350 million.
Research expenditures have increased to nearly $350 million.
(=informal style)
(=academic style)
Task 3
Choose a verb from the list that reduces the informality of each sentence. Notice
that you may need to add tense to the verb from the list.
eliminate/ establish/ intervene/ investigate/ raise/ reduce
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2
Researchers have been looking into the problem for 15 years now.
_______________
This issue was brought up during the investigations. _______________
2
3
4
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This creates a "guardian angel" assumption that the next level of the hierarchy
knows what is happening and will therefore step in if something goes wrong.
_______________
Realistically, we cannot altogether get rid of the possibility of errors.
_______________
Dry office air cuts down employees' immunity to colds. _______________
It is very difficult to find out exactly how students help facilitate the
introduction of change. _______________
Task 4
Can you suggest more formal verbs to replace verbs in italics?
1
Plans are being made to come up with a database containing detailed
environmental information for the region. _______________
2
As export-oriented policies are being followed, the new protectionist
movements should also be thought about. _______________
C. Use formal negative forms
neutral > more academic
not ... any > no
not ... much > little
not ... many > few
The analysis didn't yield any new results. > The analysis yielded no new results.
The government didn't allocate much funding for the programme.> The government
allocated little funding for the programme.
The problem doesn't have many viable solutions. > The problem has few viable
solutions.
Task 5
If necessary, make improvements to the following texts.
1
Not many parents who are bakers would want to see their children destined for
the same end.
2
In fact, there hasn't been much agreement among researchers, labour and
industry.
3
On an auto assembly line, there isn't any amount of team spirit that will make
a door fit more closely than it was designed to fit.
4
A new worker will not be expected to know many different procedures on
arrival.
3
4
D. Avoid redundancy
Redundancy is where you use more words than necessary to express the required
meaning. For example, in:
There are desirable benefits to be gained from increasing research into English.
> There are benefits to be gained from increasing research into English.
[Benefits are always desirable, so "desirable" is redundant.]
Task 6
Pick out any words or phrases that are redundant in these sentences and rewrite
where necessary.
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2
3
An attempt will be made to try to achieve an understanding of the present
situation in the EU.
The subject of the discussion is about the role of government in scientific
advance.
Other reasons, too, have also contributed to the development of privately-owned
universities
E. Limit the use of expressions such as ‘and so forth’, ‘etc.’ and ‘...’
These semiconductors can be used in robots, CD players, etc. > These semiconductors
can be used in robots, CD players, and other electronic devices.
Task 7
If necessary, make improvements to the following texts.
1
2
3
He attempted to reform the village of New Lanark by rebuilding houses, etc.
Sitting in a sports arena, for example, will be tall people, small people, fat
people, thin people, black people, white people, elderly people, and so on.
There have been broad changes in work patterns in job locations, hours, ...
2. Consider the grammatical forms you use
A. Pronouns
 Avoid addressing the reader as "you"
You can see the results in Table 1. > The results can be seen in Table 1.
Task 8
Suggest improvements to the following sentences where necessary.
1
You can apply the same concept to universities.
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2
You can only do this after you have first specified what you should do.
 Consider carefully the use of "I" and "we"
The traditional view of the use of "I" in academic writing is that it should be avoided as
it makes writing sound too "subjective". Nowadays, however, many tutors are quite
happy to see an occasional and appropriate use of "I" in academic writing - and some
actually encourage it, perhaps as a reaction to the formality of academic writing.
Examples of appropriate uses of ‘I’ are when you want to distinguish your view from
that of another author, or when you make a personal comment about your information.
"We" can be used to refer to the writer, the reader, and people in general, e.g. when
commenting on generally accepted fact (‘we know that...’).
Either ‘I’ or ‘we’ can be used when announcing to your reader what you are going to do
in your essay.
Task 9
Look at the following extracts from dissertations and comment on the use of "I"
and "we" in each case. Is it appropriate?
1
2
Joseph Heller manages to create subtle ironies in his work. This, I believe, is his
chief achievement.
My intention is, firstly, to examine the role of women in Martin Amis’s work.
Secondly, I will assess...
B. Limit the use of direct questions

What can be done to increase motivation?
Instead of this question, you could write:
 We now need to consider what can be done to increase motivation.
 We now need to consider how motivation can be increased.
 The ways/methods/ of increasing motivation should be considered.
Task 10
Suggest improvements to the following sentences where necessary.
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2
Can we identify whether or not there is a relationship between high levels of
understanding and clarity of text?
Why do some departments develop and thrive while others stagnate or even go
bankrupt?
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C. Place adverbs within the verb phrase
In academic writing, adverbs are often placed mid-position rather than in the initial or
final positions. In informal English, adverbs often occur as clauses at the beginning or
end of sentences.
Then the solution can be discarded.> The solution can then be discarded.
The process is introduced slowly.> The process is slowly introduced.
Task 11
Improve the following sentences.
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2
These decisions are concerned primarily with the nature of the students or
services.
The view is that a university’s results and financial position are affected
materially by the market.
D. Use nominalisations
The device of writing about an event or process as a "thing" (a noun) is common in
academic writing.
If we look at it in the context of cause-effect sentences, we can see that
nominalisation allows us to represent one event as causing another event in a single
clause.
For example:
The chances of disease are much reduced because of our knowledge of
hygiene and the application of public health practices.
The reduction in the chances of disease is the result of our knowledge of
hygiene and the application of public health practices.[nominalisation]
Task 12
Rewrite the following using nouns as in the example above.
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2
Continuous process technology was adopted. This was because of its greater
efficiency.
If women consume alcohol during pregnancy, this can lead to birth defects.
E. Avoid contractions
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Export figures won't improve until the economy is stronger. > Export figures will not
improve until the economy is stronger.
Key
Task 1
Both paragraphs are about economic systems (capitalism and socialism).
Text 1 is more academic in style. Here are some of the differences between the texts:
 includes definitions (capitalism is... )  includes personal opinion, presented as fact, without offering
evidence (‘all idealisation makes life poorer’)
 the language leaves room for
 punctuation also includes ‘--‘ and ‘?’
disagreement (are believed to be)
 punctuation is limited to full stops,
 the reader is addressed with (rhetorical) questions (then why
colons and commas
indulge ...?), commands (leave that to ...) and ‘my boy’
 the reader is not addressed
 informal language is used (no one can tell, my boy)
Task 2: suggestions
1. sort of: somewhat 2. nice: positive 3. up in the air: uncertain 4. big: considerable 5. good: beneficial 6. things
that happen outside it: external factors.
Task 3
1. investigating 2. raised 3. intervene 4. eliminate 5. reduces 6. establish
Task 4: suggestions
1. design, 2. considered
Task 5
1 Few parents who are bakers would want to see their children destined for the same end.
2 In fact, there has been little agreement among researchers, labour and industry.
3 On an auto assembly line, there is no amount of team spirit that will make a door fit more closely than it was
designed to fit.
4 no changes: ‘not’ goes with ‘unexpected’; it does not form ‘not many’.
Task 6
1 An attempt will be made to achieve an understanding of the situation in the EU.
2 The subject of the discussion is the role of government in scientific advance.
3 Other reasons have also contributed to the development of privately-owned universities.
Task 7
1 He attempted to reform the village of New Lanark by rebuilding houses./ Rebuilding houses was one way he
attempted to reform the village of Lanark./ ...by rebuilding houses and other buildings.
2 Sitting in a sports arena, for example, will be people of all ages, shapes, sizes and backgrounds./ Sitting in a
sports arena will be different kinds of people. Firstly, ...
3 There have been broad changes in work patterns, for example in job locations and hours./There have been
broad changes in work patterns and conditions, e.g. locations and hours.
Task 8
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2
The same concept can be applied to universities.
This can only be done after it is determined what needs to be done./ ... after specifying what needs doing.
Participants (people/...) can only do this after they have specified what they need to do.
Task 9
1 Yes. This is probably not an accepted fact, but a personal view of this author.
2 Yes, the author is announcing the structure of the dissertation.
Task 10
1
We need to establish whether or not there is a relationship between high levels of understanding and clarity of
text.
2 The question remains why some departments develop and thrive while others stagnate or even go bankrupt.
Task 11
1 These decisions are primarily concerned with the nature of the students or services.
2 The view is that a university’s results and financial position are materially affected by the market.
Task 12: suggestions
1. The adoption of continuous process technology was due to its greater efficiency.
2. The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can lead to birth defects.
i
Last updated 2010, EVG.
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ii
Extracts taken from http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=400 (last accessed 28/04/09)
and The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad respectively.
iii
There are more academic words in these texts; only the ones from Sublist 1 of the Academic Word List (AWL)
are included here. These are the most commonly used academic words. For more information about the AWL,
see the hand-outs from the lectures on ‘Academic Vocabulary’.
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