LESSON 1: Reading Academic Texts: Academic Language used from Various Disciplines

Nature and Characteristics of Academic Texts

Academic Text - a written language that provides information, which contains ideas and concepts that are related to discipline. Essay, Research Paper, Report, Project, Article, Thesis, and Dissertation are considered as academic texts

Structure- introduction, body, and conclusion. This kind of structures 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- attitude conveyed in a piece of writing. When presenting a position that disagrees with one’s perspectives, describe the argument accurately without loaded or biased langguage.

Langguage- It is important to use unambiguous language(languages with more than one interpretation). Formal language and third person point of view should be used. Language appropriate to area of study may also be used.

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

Complexity- addresses complex issue that require higher-order thinking skills to comprehed.

Evidence-based Arguments- opinions are based on a sound understanding of the pertient body of knowledge and academic debates that exist within.

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

FEATURES OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

1. Complex

   • written lang has longer words, lexically more varied vocabulary.

   • written txt are shorter and the lang has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives. (a clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence)

2. Formal

   • avoid colloquial words ans expressions. (a language that is commonly used in a casual conversation)

3. Precise

   • facts are given accurately

4. Objective

   • fewer words that emphasizes information you want to give.

   • mostly uses nouns (adjectives), rather than verbs (adverbs).

     adjective describes a noun while adverb answering questions such as how, in what way, when, where, to what extent.

5. Explicit

   • responsibility of the writer to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related.

   • essentially the creation of statements that explain their purpose and leave the reader with a clear understanding of the context of a statement.

6. Accurate

   • uses vocabulary accurately

   • most subs have words with narrow specific meanings

7. Hedging

   • refers to how a writer expresses certainty or uncertainty.

   • it is necessary to make decisions about your stance or the strength of the claims you are making.

8. Responsible

   • you must be able to provide evidence for any claims you make.

9. Organized

   • flows easily from one section to the next in a logical fashion

10. Planned

    • takes place after research and evaluation, according to specific purpose and plan.