EAPP

academic texts

A written language that provides information, which contain ideas and concepts that are related to a particular discipline. Incudes information from credible sources.  

audience, purpose, organization, style, flow, presentation

6 factors that shape academic writing

structure, tone, language, citation, complexity, evidence-based arguments, thesis-driven

7 characteristics of academic texts

structure

An academic text consists of three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion which is formal and logical. This kind of structure enables the reader to follow the argument and navigate the text. In academic writing a clear structure and a logical flow are imperative to a cohesive text.

tone

This refers to the attitude conveyed in a piece of writing.

language

It is important to use unambiguous language. Clear topic sentences enable a reader to follow your line of thinking without difficulty. Formal language and the third person point of view should be used. Technical language appropriate to area of study may also be used, however, it does not mean using “big words” just for the sake of doing so.

citation

Citing sources in the body of the paper and providing a list of references as either footnotes or endnotes is a very important aspect of an academic text. It is essential to always acknowledge the source of any ideas, research finding, data, or quoted text that have been used in a paper as a defense against allegations of plagiarism.

evidence-based arguments

What is valued in an academic text is that opinions are based on a sound understanding of the pertinent body of knowledge and academic debates that exist within, and often external to a specific discipline.

thesis-driven

The starting point of an academic text is a particular perspective, idea or position applied to the chosen research problem, such as establishing, proving, or disproving solution to the questions posed for the topic.

academic language

A language needed by students to do the work in schools. It includes, for example formal, discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typical for a content area (e.g., essays, lab reports, discussions of controversial issue).

social language

The set of vocabulary that allows us to communicate with others in the context of regular daily conversations.

complexity, formality, precision, objectivity, explicitness, accuracy, hedging, responsibility, organization, planning

10 features of academic writing

Complexity

An academic text addresses complex issues that require higher order-thinking skills to comprehend. Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written texts are lexically dense compared to spoken language. They have proportionately more lexical words than grammatical words.

formality

Academic writing is relatively formal. In general, this means that you should AVOID colloquial words and expressions.

precision

In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.

objectivity

Written language is, in general, objective rather than personal. It, therefore, has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).  

explicitness

Academic writing is explicit about the relationships in the text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different signaling words.

accuracy

Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings.  

hedging

In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.

responsibility

In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.

organization

Academic writing is well organized. It flows easily from one section to the next in a logical fashion. A good place to start is the genre of your text. Once you have decided on the genre, the structure is easily determined.

planning

Academic writing is well planned. It usually takes place after research and evaluation, according to a specific purpose and plan.

summary

brief statement or account of the main point of the text. a shortened version of a text that presents the main idea and key supporting points in your own words.

paraphrase

putting someone else's ideas into your own words

1. Erase things that don’t matter.  

2. Only write down important points.  

3. Erase things that repeat.  

4. Trade general to specific names.  

5. Use your words to write the summary.  

5 basic rules on summarizing

somebody wanted but so, SAAC method, 5 w’s 1 h, first then finally, give me the gist

5 techniques in writing summary

somebody wanted but so

The strategy helps students generalize, recognize cause and effect relationships, and find main ideas

SAAC method

Useful for summarizing story, article or speech

State, Assign, Action, Complete method

SAAC method meaning

5 w’s 1 h

Questions make it easy to identify the main character, important details and main idea.  

Who, What, When, Where, Why, How

5 w’s 1 h meaning

first then finally

This technique helps students summarize events in chronological order.

give me the gist

This type of technique like giving a friend a gist of a story.  

_{change word form or part of speech, Use synonyms of relationship words, Use synonyms of phrases and words, Change passive voice to active and move phrases and modifiers, Change passive voice to active and move phrases and modifiers}

5 techniques in paraphrasing

direct quoting

using an authors exact words

outline

a design to follow when writing a structure, a discourse, or an article. It arranges a material in a logical way into main ideas, supporting ideas, and supporting details.

unity

This means all your ideas stick together and contribute to one main point. Imagine a tree where all the branches and leaves are connected to the main trunk

coherence

This refers to how smoothly your ideas flow from one to the next. An outline ensures your thoughts are presented in a logical order, making your writing easy to understand.

topic outline

This type uses keywords and short phrases to represent your ideas. It's great for getting your thoughts down quickly and seeing the overall structure. Uses words or short phrases only

sentence outline

This type uses complete sentences for each point. It forces you to think more deeply about each idea and how it connects to the others. It's especially useful for more complex papers where you need to develop each point thoroughly. Main idea of one paragraph only.  

main ideas, supporting ideas, further details, even more specific details

basic structure of an outline

main ideas

These are the major sections or arguments of your paper. They are labeled with Roman numerals (I, II, III, etc.).

supporting ideas

These points provide evidence, examples, or further explanation for your main ideas. They are indented and labeled with capital letters (A, B, C, etc.).

further details

If your subsidiary ideas need even more breakdown, you use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) for further details, indented even more.

even more specific details

For the most granular details, you use lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.), indented furthest.

thesis statement

Central idea of the whole paper.  

explicit thesis statement

Included as a sentence as part of the text, usually at the last part of the Introduction.  

implicit thesis statement

Does not have the specific sentence/s containing the thesis statement. Readers will formulate this based on their understanding of the text.  

topic, position, reasons, concession

4 parts of thesis statement

topic

subject of the text

position

stand on the topic

reasons

explanation and justification of your position

concession

opposing viewpoint on the topic

Basic Thesis Statement, Basic Thesis Statement with Concession, Basic Thesis Statement with Concession and Reason, Basic Thesis Statement with Concession and Reason

4 thesis statement patterns

argumentative thesis statement, analytical thesis statement, explanatory thesis statement

3 main types of thesis statement

argumentative thesis statement

The author will make a claim about a topic and should support the claim with reasons/evidence. These claims are always statements people could disagree with because your aim is to convince your readers of your position with your reasons and evidence.

analytical thesis statement

Break down ideas or issues into component parts and present this breakdown/evaluation to your audience. May also evaluate an issue or idea, where the idea comes from, and its pros and cons. Includes cause-and effect, comparison and contrast, or problem-solution analysis.  

cause and effect analysis, comparison and contrast, problem-solution analysis

3 types of analytical statement

explanatory thesis statement

Used for explanatory papers which explains an idea/topic/concept to an audience. Generally, explanatory papers do not want the author to make any kind of argumentative claim about the topic. Rather, the author should merely explain it.

precis

a brief, original overview of the important ideas given in a long selection. Its aim is to give the general effect created by the original selection.  

purpose of precis

Précis writing aims at intelligent reading and clear, accurate writing. It is a skill of both analysis and generalizing that critically questions every thought included and excluded, each word used to express those thoughts, and the proportions and arrangements of those thoughts – both in the original and in the precis.

purpose of an abstract

To inform the reader about the content and key findings of the work. To help the reader decide whether to read the full document

purpose of a summary

To condense longer material for easier understanding. To show comprehension of the original text

-       Read and understand the original text

-       Identify the Main Idea and key supporting details

-       Write in Your Own Words

-       Keep It Short and objective

4 steps in writing a summary

text structures

Refers to the internal organization of a text. As authors write a text to communicate an idea; they will use a structure that goes along with the idea. It is how information in a passage is organized.

chronological, cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, sequence, spatial,

6 common patterns of organization

chronological

Information is organized in order of time

cause and effect

an action and its result are explained

compare and contrast

tells how two things are similar and different.

problem and solution

a problem and answer are suggested, it is presented as a problem

sequence

information is listed step-by-step and explains how to do it or how it happens.

spatial/descriptive

describes something in order of space. describes how something looks.

introduction-body-conclusion, hourglass structure, IMRaD structure

3 basic structures of an academic text

introduction-body-conclusion

The three-part essay structure is a basic structure that consists of introduction, body and conclusion.  

introduction

usually the first paragraph of the academic essay. If you’re writing a long essay, you might need 2 or 3 paragraphs to introduce your topic to your reader.

body

help you prove your thesis and move you along a compelling trajectory from your introduction to your conclusion.

main idea, evidence, analysis, transition

4 parts of the body

transition

The part of a paragraph that helps you move fluidly from the last paragraph.  

conclusion

the last paragraph of your essay, or, if you’re writing a really long essay, you might need 2 or 3 paragraphs to conclude.

hourglass structure

General-Specific-General. an organizational pattern based off the Inverted Pyramid format, where you provide the most important information first and lead towards the details.

IMRaD structure

a common format for organizing scientific and research papers.  With each section serving a specific purpose in presenting the research. It is a standardized structure that helps ensure clarity and logical flow of information.  

Introduction-Method-Results-Discussion

IMRaD structure meaning