EAPP-Unit-1.pptx

THE ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE Writing is a form of communication that is shaped by the following factors: TOPIC: Topic sentences help keep your writing focused and guide the reader through your argument. In an essay or paper, each paragraph should focus on a single idea. By stating t...

THE ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE Writing is a form of communication that is shaped by the following factors: TOPIC: Topic sentences help keep your writing focused and guide the reader through your argument. In an essay or paper, each paragraph should focus on a single idea. By stating the main idea in the topic sentence, you clarify what the paragraph is about for both yourself and your reader ROLE: A writer is someone who conveys their idea to the world through written words. A writer's role is to keep everyone's mind engaged when they consume the written words and mull over them. A writer is an artist, a crafter of words and a creator of techniques for seeping into the minds of humans from a page. PURPOSE: Focusing on your purpose as you begin writing helps you know what form to choose, how to focus and organize your writing, what kinds of evidence to cite, how formal or informal your style should be, and how much you should write AUDIENCE: Audience is one of the most integral parts of writing regardless of an author's skill or proficiency. Whether your students are writing a simple in-class narrative, a piece for a final exam, or a college application essay, their audience determines what kind of voice they want to convey in their compositions.  Aspects of Professional and Academic Language  Four Important Features of Language Use Formality Formality reflects your dignified stance in your writing as a member of the academic community. The language you use requires a “legitimate” piece of academic writing.  Formality can be achieved through the following ways: 1. Choosing expanded modal forms over contracted forms (cannot instead of can’t) 2. Choosing one verb form over two- word verbs ( damage instead of mess up) 3. Choosing expanded terms over their abbreviated equivalents (as soon as possible instead of ASAP) 4. Avoiding colloquial/ trite/ idiomatic expressions (kind of like, Rewrite the following sentences to observe a formal tone. 1. I wanna attend the meeting tomorrow. 2. What’s the update? 3. The study checked out the health effects of passive smoking. 4. This experiment worked out just fine. 5. The outcomes of the study haven’t been documented yet. Objectivity Academic writing requires special knowledge and use of more complex language and objectivity. The writings must be impersonal and maintains a certain level of social distance.  Objectivity can be 1. achieved Avoiding the use ofby: personal pronouns such as You, I, We. Example: You need to conduct an experiment Improved version: The researchers need to conduct the experiment. 2. Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks “closeness” with the reader, and constantly seeks his/her attention. Example: How can these problems be solved? Improved Version: Certain measures must be 3. Avoiding emotive language that shows biases and lessens objectivity. Example: The investigators were very shocked to see the outcome of the tests. Improved version: The investigators did not expect the results. Explicitness Academic writing demands the use of signposts that allow readers to trace the relationships in the parts of a study. If you intend to show a change in your line of argument, make it clear by using however and phrases such as this is due to the..., This resulted in...  If you intend to give extra information in your sentence make it clear by writing “ in addition” and when giving examples using “ for example” Caution Academic writing requires care since knowledge is built from proven theories and concepts. Caution is needed to avoid sweeping generalizations. Example: Government officials are corrupt. Improved versions: Some government officials may be corrupt. Corruption is commonly linked to some key government officials. In academic writing, caution needs to be observed in the following parts of your paper: 1. When hypothesis needs to be tested 2. Drawing conclusions or predictions from your findings that may generalize certain matters 3.. Reflecting other’s work to build on your own paper. Structure Aside from language, sentences need to be constructed in such a way that they show a level of complexity that reflects the sophistication of an academic writer.  Combining ideas effectively , nominalization, and passivization are some ways to achieve structure fit for academic writing.  In combining ideas effectively, avoid redundancy and at the same time make sure that the ideas are packed effectively.  In nominalization, the verbs are made central as they denote action. Transforming verbs into nouns helps readers focus on the action and not on the doer of the action. Example: The company created software to manage the transactions successfully. Nominalization: The creation of software to manage transactions was a success.  In passive construction, the result of actions are highlighted. In academic writing, since the writer of the paper is presumed to have done the collection and analysis of data, it is understood that all results of the action are a product of the writer’s work. Example: The researcher conducted experiments to validate the hypothesis. Passivization: Experiments were conducted to validate the hypothesis. Prepare for a quiz Thank You !!!