Top features of Academic Language
Students often believe that academic language should sound complex and become tough to write and understand but that is not necessarily the situation. Instead, academic writing must be clear and concise so that you can communicate its contents into the best way.
This page serves as a synopsis associated with the features of academic language in addition to corresponding language skills which can be needed to understand and employ language that is academic. These guidelines are designed to allow you to have a clearer knowledge of the demands of academic writing and develop skills to boost your academic writing in English.
This 3 minute video from Lund University for a quick introduction to academic writing, watch
Formal writing requires considerable effort to construct meaningful sentences, paragraphs, and arguments which make the writing an easy task to comprehend. As a whole this means that conversational English must be avoided and facts and figures should be presented in a clear manner. Academic texts must certanly be factual, concise and accurate. Choose words precisely and carefully so your reader can understand the concepts accurately within the text.
You should understand that academic texts are written with an audience that is academic mind as well as your writing style has to comply with the conventions for the field you will be studying.
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To have the appropriate level of formality, you should read literature inside your field. This may also assist you to learn and use terms that are subject-specific. Correct use of terminology and language facilitates your communication and heightens the credibility of the work.
The Academic Phrasebank from the University of Manchester is a resource that is rich of that can be utilized in academic writing.
Contractions:
In English, contractions are employed in informal settings consequently they are therefore not appropriate for academic texts. In the place of using a contraction you ought to write out the words in their entirety. Listed here are a few examples:
Don’t – do not
Wasn’t – was not
Can’t – cannot (realize that it really is printed in one word)
It’s – it is (take notice of the difference between “it’s” (contraction of “it is”) and also the possessive “its” (as with “The dog wagged its tail”)
Acronyms and Abbreviations:
It is critical to use acronyms and abbreviations properly in academic writing which means your text is really as clear as possible for the reader. You ought to only use abbreviations when the reading best site to buy essays is made by it of your text easier. Another rule of thumb is the fact that abbreviated term should appear at the least 3 x within the paper. It might be better to spell it out if you use a term more rarely. Words which can be commonly abbreviated such as for instance “professor” (prof.) and “department” (dept.) should be spelled out in academic texts. Note however that some abbreviations can be utilized in citations and reference lists.
An acronym is a kind of abbreviation this is certainly formed because of the letter that is first of word in a phrase or organization. UN and WHO are a couple of types of well-known acronyms. Whenever you introduce the acronym, you should always write out of the whole name or phrase followed by the acronym in parentheses. After you have introduced it, you might make use of the acronym in the rest of the text. As an example:
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the spread associated with the virus. The Who Has Got therefore….
Latin abbreviations should not be found in the writing itself but can be utilized in parentheses or perhaps in notes and illustrations.
Analytical
In academic writing, the complexity for the subject material is acknowledged through critical analysis. This can be done through asking questions and examining and evaluating evidence. Through critical analysis we could add a perspective that is new a subject rather than just rewriting what had been written.
Treating your topic along with your material in an analytical manner should seep through in your language. Element of being analytical in your writing would be to compare and contrast, evaluate and consider both sides of a problem. In addition ensures that you explain, give reasons, draw conclusions, make suggestions and recommendations and support this with evidence.
Academic writing is dependent on research and not on the writer’s own opinion about a given topic. You are concerned about facts and not influenced by personal feelings or biases when you write objectively. When presenting an argument to your reader, attempt to show both sides if you can and get away from value that is making.
In the time that is same will probably have to do an analysis or a discussion as well as in that manner express an attitude. So that you can convey attitude without the need for for instance “I think”, you might use words such as for instance apparently, arguably, ideally, strangely and unexpectedly. Keep in mind that the attitude you may be expressing shouldn’t be based on personal preferences but rather on the evidence you are presenting.
For more information and examples of subjective and language that is objective see this handout through the University of Adelaide.
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Personal pronouns
In general, academic texts are impersonal in the wild. This means the main emphasis should be on evidence and arguments rather than predicated on personal opinion and feelings. The usage of personal pronouns such as “I”, “we” and “you” must be avoided as much as possible.
Some forms of academic writing encourage the utilization of personal pronouns. For instance, in reflective writing the use of the pronoun that is personal accepted.
You should know that the employment of personal pronouns may be different between academic fields and that some disciplines try not to accept it after all. Make sure to check what is recommended, either by asking your instructor or by reading other texts that are academic your subject.
Active and passive voice
One method of avoiding the use of personal pronouns is to utilize the passive voice.
I used a variety of ways to analyze my material. (Here the “I” could be the subject performing the action).
A number of techniques were utilized to assess the material. (This sentence is impersonal as well as the action is completed upon the niche, “A number of techniques”, by an agent that is unnamed. The choice of “the” instead of “my” also serves to make the sentence more objective).
Utilization of the passive voice can be somewhat heavy and often imprecise. Nowadays, many writers avoid an excessive use of the voice that is passive. A means of writing objectively but still make use of the active voice is to try using your material, your text or your research whilst the active agent.
