Reading and Understanding Academic Texts

Reading Academic Texts

• Academic reading involves a more active, probing, and recursive approach compared to recreational reading.
• This type of reading is crucial for understanding a topic, developing ideas, and finding research materials.
• Academic reading involves asking questions, reflecting on relationships within the text, interpreting meaning, and connecting with other readings.
• It also aids in refining the topic and purpose of study.

Academic Texts

• These are critical, objective, and specialized writings by professionals, experts, or scholars in a specific field.
• Academic texts use formal language, style, and tone.
• These texts can be in the form of grammatical units like words, phrases, clauses, and sentences, as well as paragraphs and compositions.

Structure of an Academic Text: Paragraph

• A paragraph is a series of related sentences that develop a central idea.
• It is a self-contained unit of thought.

Parts of a Paragraph

• Topic Sentence: Contains the thesis or main idea.
• Supporting Sentence: Develops or supports the thesis or main idea.
• Concluding Sentence: Reiterates or summarizes the thesis or main idea.

Features of a Topic Sentence

• It has a controlling idea that limits the topic and guides the paragraph's flow.
• It presents a specific angle or perspective for exploring the topic.
• It's specific and focused, prioritizing clarity by narrowing down to a specific aspect or argument.
• A topic sentence provides direction by indicating what the paragraph will discuss.
• It clearly and concisely states the main point.

Deductive Pattern

• The main idea is stated at the beginning.

Inductive Pattern

• The main idea is stated at the end.

Deductive-Inductive Pattern

• The main idea is stated in the beginning and restated at the end.

Inductive-Deductive Pattern

• The main idea is found in the middle.

Hinted Pattern

• The main idea is not explicitly stated but implied.

Composition

• Most academic texts exhibit an Introduction, Body, and Conclusion (IBC) structure.
• Technical texts often follow an Argument, Because (Evidence/Support), Conclusion (ABC) structure.

Academic Language vs Informal Language

• Formal Language: Employs standard English grammar and vocabulary, exhibits complex sentence structures, minimizes personal pronouns (e.g., I, you, we), and avoids colloquialisms and slang.
• Informal Language: Permits non-standard English, incorporates colloquial expressions, and typically features shorter, less complex sentences.

Precise Words

• Crucial for clarity and to prevent reader confusion.
• They evoke vivid mental imagery and help avoid wordiness.

Direct Quoting: When to Use

• When focusing on the language itself.
• When providing evidence.
• When presenting the author’s position or definition.

Principles of Quoting

• The quoted text should be enclosed in quotation marks or formatted as a block quote.
• The original author must be correctly cited.
• The quoted text must be identical to the original.
• Include the author’s last name, year, and page number/locator in either a parenthetical or narrative citation.

Introductory Sentence

• Example: "With the rise of social media platforms, face-to-face communication has declined significantly" (Johnson, 2022, p. 25).

Signal Phrase

• Example: As Johnson (2022) argues, "With the rise of social media platforms, face-to-face communication has declined significantly" (p. 25).

Integrating Quote Into Your Own Sentence

• Example: Johnson (2022, p. 25) argues that the rapid decline in face-to-face communication is widely caused by “the rise of social media platforms” in today’s time.

Block Quotation

• Incorporates the original text without quotation marks (depends on citation style).

Paraphrasing

• Narrative Citation: According to Ahmad et al. (2023), artificial intelligence is one of the most significant discoveries ever made, in the current technological times.
• Parenthetical Citation: (Akram et al., 2022, par. 1).

Summarizing

• It is a brief restatement of a text’s main points.
• No page number is necessary.

Author Heading Format

• The summarized idea follows the citation. The author's name is connected by a reporting verb.
• Example: Roberts (2023) elaborated on the transformation of education through the advancements of technology specifically through the usage of Artificial Intelligence.

Idea Heading Format

• Summarized ideas are stated before the citation.
• Example: AI is rapidly transforming education by enhancing teaching and learning processes (Wang et al., 2024).

Date Heading Format

• The summarized idea comes after the date the material was published.
• Example: In 2024, Arundel proposed that about 80% of education transformations fail, but those who succeed use the same strategies for long-term gains in student learning.

Reviewing an Article Critique

• A critique provides a critical assessment of a text's main points, supported by reasonable arguments and facts.
• Critiques range from 250-750 words.
• Not merely summaries, critiques are critical assessments, analyses, or evaluations.

Three Ways of Explaining a Concept

• Definition, Explication, and Clarification

Definition

• Identifies a term and clarifies its meaning by answering, “What does it mean?"
• Includes the term, its general category, and the quality that distinguishes it.

Informal Definition

• Brief explanation.
• Example: Tocopherol (Vitamin E) is naturally found in vegetable oil, fish, and nuts.

Formal Definition

• Incorporates the term to be defined (species), the general category (genus), and the distinguishing quality (differentia).
• Example: Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin (species) that acts as an antioxidant (genus) by protecting cells from oxidative damage and supporting immune function (differentia).

Extended Definition

• Detailed way of defining a term, composed of at least one paragraph.

Explication

• Sentences, verses, quotes, or passages are taken from a literary or academic work and then interpreted and explained in a detailed way.
• Thesis should be clearly stated in the introduction.
• Body of the explication analyzes how the text was constructed.
• Ends with a concise conclusion restating the thesis and major arguments.

Clarification

• Organized from general abstract ideas to specific examples.
• It entails the analysis of the concept by looking at the examples and specifying some of its characteristics to arrive at one working definition.

Key Points in Writing a Research Proposal

• Point of View, Scholarly Tone, Grammar & Correct Usage, Coherence, In-Text Citation & Referencing, Authenticity

Point of View

• Use the third person perspective to enhance objectivity, formality, and clarity.
• Avoid using the pronouns “I”, “We”, “You”.

Scholarly Tone

• Reflects credibility, objectivity, and formal language.
• Avoid colloquial expressions and contractions.
• Demonstrate a solid understanding of the topic.
• Maintain objectivity and neutrality.
• Use clear and precise language structure.

Grammar & Correct Usage

• Research proposals discuss what will be done, so they primarily use present and future tenses.
• Research papers report on completed research, mainly using the past tense for methodology and findings.

Coherence

• Refers to the logical flow and clarity of ideas.
• Ensures sentences and paragraphs are connected logically.

Key Features of Coherence

• Logical Organization, Use of Transition Words/Phrases, Parallelism

In-Text Citation & Referencing

• Key Factors: Accuracy, Consistency, Proper Placement, Distinction between Direct Quotes and Paraphrasing, Credibility of Sources, Matching Citations with the Reference List, Avoiding Overcitation and Undercitation

Authenticity

• Refers to the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the work.
• Ensures the research is genuine, credible, and free from plagiarism.

Key Aspects of Authenticity

• Originality, Accurate Data, Proper Citation, Clarity in Methodology, Avoiding Bias