Academic Texts Across Disciplines PDF

Unit 1: The Nature of Academic Texts Lesson 2 Academic Texts across the Disciplines English for Academic and Professional Purposes Senior High School Applied - Academic Most forms of academic writing share common traits and basic features. How can we identify which texts are written in which disc...

Unit 1: The Nature of Academic Texts Lesson 2 Academic Texts across the Disciplines English for Academic and Professional Purposes Senior High School Applied - Academic Most forms of academic writing share common traits and basic features. How can we identify which texts are written in which disciplines? ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 2  Identify the unique features and language of various academic Learning disciplines. Objective Find connections between the s At the end of the different academic disciplines. lesson, you should be able to Determine when and how to do the following: write in a particular academic discipline. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 3  1. What branches or fields are under the major academic disciplines? Essential 2. What similarities do the Questions different academic disciplines have with each other? ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 4  The Academic Disciplines Academic disciplines have various branches under them. Business: accounting, economics, finance, management, marketing Humanities: art, creative writing, languages, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 5 The Academic Disciplines Natural and applied sciences: biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, geology, mathematics, physics, medicine Social sciences: anthropology, education, geography, history, law, political science, psychology, sociology ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 6 The Academic Disciplines Each of the disciplines and their branches have their own vocabularies, styles, and modes of communication. While they might all follow a basic format and guidelines, their application differs per discipline. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 7 The Academic Disciplines Different disciplines also tend to get their data and evidence from varying research methods. Examples: ○ Biologists perform lab experiments. ○ Social scientists conduct surveys and interviews. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 8 The Academic Disciplines Sources of information that are relevant to the different disciplines also vary. Examples: ○ Business students study resumes, memos, and product descriptions. ○ Humanities students study history books, literature reviews, or journals. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 9 The Academic Disciplines What the different disciplines focus on in their academic texts are also different. Examples: ○ Social sciences emphasize the methodology and their results or findings. ○ The sciences focus on the hypothesis and if the experiment proves or ENGAGdisproves EXPLO it. EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 10 Tips As you encounter different articles and texts in your classes, take note of the vocabulary and jargon used in various disciplines. Doing so can help you be more familiar with them should you re-encounter them. 11 The Academic Disciplines Example 1 Below are examples of how a discipline frames the topic of social media. Business: How can social media be used to increase the efficiency of office workers? Humanities: How does social media affect the evolution of language? ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 12 The Academic Disciplines Example 2 Below are examples of how a discipline frames the topic of social media. Natural and Applied Sciences: Which programming language is best used in creating a social media website? Social Sciences: How can instances of cyberbullying in social media be reduced? ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 13 Remember There are many differences in academic writing, from cited sources to the narrative tone or the voice used by the writer. Always keep an open mind and an observant eye when reading different academic texts. 14  Connections across Disciplines The disciplines are not so different in their development and purpose. Disciplines were developed and designed to help us make sense of our world and its phenomena. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 15 Connections across Disciplines Knowledge is gained when a practitioner can build on a previously established body of work from their discipline. Research requires you to use sources that touch on a similar topic or line of thinking that you are studying. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 16 Connections across Disciplines Pay attention to details in your different classes to see if you can find similarities and connections between them. You can become better at knowing how your specialization can fit with the rest of the world. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 17  Articulating Different Positions in Academic Writing All disciplines already have a number of debates, studies, and the like that have been going on for years. There are existing binary oppositions in each discipline that can help you make more sense of the different issues and topics you might encounter. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 18 Articulating Different Positions in Academic Writing It might seem that certain binary oppositions are more suited to a particular discipline, but it is not impossible for these binaries to be applied elsewhere. ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 19 Articulating Different Positions in Academic Writing Example Business: surplus - shortage Humanities: theism - atheism Natural and Applied Sciences: logic - faith Social Sciences: hope - despair ENGAG EXPLO EXPLAI EXTEN EVALUA 20  Wrap Up Academic disciplines have different branches with their own vocabularies, styles, and modes of communication. Connections can always be found between the different academic disciplines. 21  Wrap Up Binary oppositions can help you understand issues and problems you’ll encounter in any discipline. 22 Language used in academic texts from various disciplines ACADEMIC LANGUAGE Academic language refers to the oral, written, auditory, and visual language proficiency required to learn effectively in schools and academic programs—i.e., it is the language used in classroom lessons, books, tests, and assignments, and it's the language that students are expected to learn and achieve fluency in. EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 1. COMPLEXITY 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. Written texts are shorter and have longer, more complex words and phrases. They have more noun-based phrases, more nominalizations, and more lexical variation. EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 2. FORMALITY Academic writing is relatively formal. In general, this means that you should AVOID: colloquial words and expressions: stuff, a lot, thing abbreviated forms: can’t, doesn’t, shouldn’t two-word verbs: put off, bring up subheadings, numbering, and bullet points asking questions EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 3. Precision In academic writing, you need to be precise when you use information, dates, or figures. Do not use “a lot of people” when you can say “50 million people.” *2-Digit Rule EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 4. Objectivity Written language is, in general, objective rather than personal. Fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader The main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make. Academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs)  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 4. Objectivity Written language is, in general, objective rather than personal. Fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader The main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make. Academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs)  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING A. The question of what constitutes B. We do not really know what “language proficiency” and the language proficiency is, but many nature of its cross-lingual people have talked about it for a long dimensions is also at the core of time. Some researchers have tried to many hotly debated issues in the find ways for us to make teaching and areas of bilingual education and testing more communicative because second language pedagogy and that is how language works. I think testing. Research has suggested that language is something we use for ways of making second language communicating, not an object for us teaching and testing more to study and we remember that when “communicative” (e.g., Canale and we teach and test it. Swain, 1980; Oller, 1979b) on the grounds that a communicative approach better reflects the nature WHICH IS MORE of language proficiency than one which emphasizes the acquisition of OBJECTIVE? EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING In general, avoid words like I, me, myself A reader will normally assume that any idea not referenced is your own. It is, therefore, unnecessary to make this explicit. Don’t write: In my opinion, this is a very interesting study. Write: This is a very interesting study. Avoid “you” to refer to the reader or people in general. Don’t write: “You can easily forget how different life was 50 years ago.” Write: “It is easy to forget how difficult life was 50 years EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 5. Explicitness Academic writing is explicit about the relationships in the text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to make 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.  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING a. For example, if you want to tell your reader that your line of argument is going to change, make it clear. Example: The Bristol 167 was to be Britain’s great new advance on American types such as the Lockheed Constellation and Douglas DC-6, which did not have the range to fly the Atlantic non-stop. It was also to be the largest aircraft ever built in Britain. However, even by the end of the war, the design had run into serious difficulties.  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING b. If you think that one sentence gives reasons for something in another sentence, make it explicit. Example: While an earlier generation of writers had noted this feature of the period, it was not until the recent work of Cairn cross that the significance of this outflow was realized. Partly this was because the current account deficit appears much smaller in current (1980s) data than it was thought to be by contemporaries.  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING c. If you think two ideas are almost the same, say so. Example: Marx referred throughout his work to other systems than the capitalist system, especially those which he knew from the history of Europe to have preceded capitalism; systems such as feudalism, where the relation of production was characterized by the personal relation of the feudal lord and his serf and a relation of subordination which came from the lord’s control of the land. Similarly, Marx was interested in slavery and in the classical Indian and Chinese social systems, or in those systems where the ties of local community are all important.  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING d. If you intend your sentence to give extra information, make it clear. Example: He is born into a family, he marries into a family, and he becomes the husband and father of his own family. In addition, he has a definite place of origin and more relatives than he knows what to do with, and he receives a rudimentary education at the Canadian Mission School.  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING e. If you are giving examples, do it explicitly. Example: This has sometimes led to disputes between religious and secular clergy, between orders and bishops. For example, in the Northern context, the previous bishop of Down and Connor, Dr. Philibin, refused for most of his period of leadership in Belfast to have Jesuits visiting or residing in his diocese. EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 6. Accuracy Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings. In academic writing, you need to be accurate in your use of vocabulary. Do not confuse, for example, “cutlery” and “utensils” or “grammar” with “syntax.” Choose the correct word, for example, “meeting,” “assembly,” “gathering,” or “conference.” or from: “money,” “cash,” “currency,” “capital,” or “funds” EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 7. 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. Linguists know a technique common in certain kinds of academic writing as a “hedge”. It is often believed that academic writing, particularly scientific writing, is factual, simply to convey facts and information. However, it is now recognized that an important feature of academic writing is the concept of cautious language, often EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING Language used in hedging: Introductory Verbs ▪seem ▪tend ▪look like ▪appear to be ▪indicate ▪think ▪believe ▪doubt ▪be sure ▪suggest Certain Lexical Verbs ▪believe ▪assume ▪suggest Certain Modal Verbs EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING Adverbs of Frequency ▪often ▪sometimes ▪usually Modal Adverbs ▪certainly ▪definitely ▪clearly ▪probably ▪possibly ▪perhaps ▪conceivably Modal Adjectives ▪certain ▪definite ▪clear ▪probable EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING Modal Nouns ▪assumption ▪possibility ▪probability That clauses ▪It could be the case that… ▪It might be suggested that… ▪There is every hope that…  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING EXAMPLES: Compare the following. 1. A. It may be said that the commitment to some of the social and economic concepts was less strong than it is now. B. The commitment to some of the social and economic concepts was less strong than it is now. 2. A. The lives they chose may seem overly ascetic and self-denying to most women today. B. The lives they chose seem overly ascetic  EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 3. A. Nowadays, the urinary symptoms seem to be of a lesser order. B. Nowadays, the urinary symptoms are of a lesser order. 4. A. There are certainly cases where this would seem to have been the only possible method of transmission. B. There are cases where this would have been the only possible method of EIGHT MAIN LANGUAGE FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING 8. 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. This is done by paraphrasing, summarizing what you have read, and acknowledging the source of these information or ideas by a system of citations.