EAPP Notes: Abbreviations, Academic Texts, and Writing Techniques

Twenty vocabulary flashcards covering abbreviations, academic texts, and writing concepts from the notes.

Abbreviation

A shortened form of a word or phrase used to save space or time.

Acronym

A type of abbreviation formed from initial letters and pronounced as a word (e.g., NASA).

Initialism

An abbreviation formed from the first letters of a series of words where each letter is pronounced separately (e.g., FBI).

Shortening

A long word is shortened by removing endings or parts; the result still sounds like a word (e.g., phone from telephone).

Contraction

A shortened form of two or more words with an apostrophe; used in informal speech or writing (e.g., don’t, I’m).

Backronym

A phrase created to fit an existing word, giving each letter a meaning (e.g., DEAD, GIFT).

Portmanteau

A new word formed by blending parts of two or more words (e.g., brunch, motel, smog).

Academic Text

Written language in a discipline; examples include essays, research papers, reports, theses, and dissertations.

Thesis Statement

The controlling idea of a paper, usually located at the end of the introduction.

Outline

A design to organize material into main ideas, supporting ideas, and details, often using Roman numerals, letters, and numbers.

Topic Outline

A hierarchical arrangement of ideas showing the structure of a paper or presentation.

Sentence Outline

An outline that uses complete sentences to represent main ideas and supporting points.

Hedging

Using cautious language to limit or soften claims and indicate stance.

Impersonal

Writing that avoids personal pronouns like I and we.

Parallelism

Using the same grammatical structure within a series or comparison.

Coordination

Giving equal weight to ideas of equal importance using the same heading level.

Subordination

Moving from general to specific ideas with indentation and hierarchical headings.

Narrative Review

A review that provides a descriptive account of the current understanding of a topic, usually topic-based and presented narratively.

Systematic Review

A methodical synthesis that collects, evaluates, and integrates findings from multiple studies on a research question.

Reaction Paper

A short paper (2–5 pages) expressing facts, opinions, and reactions to a text or media, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion.