Academic Text

Academic Text

  • an academic text is a written language that provides information, which contains ideas and concepts that are related to the particular discipline.

Nature and Characteristics of an Academic Text

  • structure

  • tone

  • language 

  • citation

  • complexity

  • evidence-based arguments

  • thesis-driven

Features of Academic Texts

  1. complex

  2. formal

  3. precise

  4. objective

  5. explicit

  6. accurate

  7. hedging

  8. responsible

  9. organized 

  10. planned

Purposes in Reading an Academic Text

  1. to locate a main idea

  2. to scan for information;

  3. to identify gaps in existing studies;

  4. to connect new ideas to existing ones;

  5. to gain more pieces of information;

  6. to support a particular writing assignment; and,

  7. to deeply understand an existing idea.

Factors to Consider in Writing Academic Text

  1. state critical questions and issues;

  2. provide facts and evidence from credible sources;

  3. use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon;

  4. take an objective point of view;

  5. list references; and,

  6. use cautious language.

Academic Language

  • the language needed by students to do the work in schools. It includes, for example, discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typical for a content area.

Characteristics of an Academic Language

  1. formal 

  2. objective

  3. impersonal