Reducing Informality in Academic Writing PDF

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George Mason University Writing Center writingcenter.gmu.edu The [email protected] Writing Center 703.993.1200 Reducing Informality in Academic Writing Language in academic writing is usually described as formal, concise, precise, and neutral. If these characteristics fail to appear in writing, even the most innovative and intelligent ideas might be perceived as simplistic or even be disregarded by a scholarly community. To avoid this situation, writers should strive for formality in their writing. This handout outlines language features that usually contribute to informality and provides examples of more formal alternatives. NOTE: It is crucial to remember that the language features described below are NOT completely avoided in all academic writing. Depending on the context, discipline, genre, year of publication, and even section of a paper, these features could appear with varying frequency. Still, they are generally uncommon in academic writing. Informal Feature Possible Substitution It is uncommon to address the reader in You will find the results in Results can be found in academic writing. Avoid second person Figure 2. Figure 2. pronouns (you/your/yours). Contractions (e.g. don’t, he’d, she’s) The study doesn’t The study does not make writing less formal. Use full forms instead. [ examine… examine… Generally, questions are not used in Why has antibiotic Many studies have scholarly writing (unless it is a research resistance increased? investigated why antibiotic question). resistance has increased. Avoid exclamations. …evidence! …evidence. Use 1-word verbs instead of 2- or more This articles talks about… This article discusses… word verbs (phrasal verbs). The prices go up… The prices increase … Avoid unattended this/these; use Writing instructors know that Writing instructors know this/these+ a summary word instead. students need to that students need to understand the differences understand the differences between formal and between formal and informal language. This can informal language. This help students make understanding can help strategic choices in their students make strategic writing. choices in their writing. Limit the use of “run on” expressions, Examples include laptops, Examples include laptops, such as: and so on; etc. smart phones, etc. smart phones, and other devices. Single-word negatives are more formal. Not many of the Few participants saw a participants saw a change. change. The study did not show The study showed no any contradictory findings. contradictory findings. © The George Mason University Writing Center 2017  “There is” and “There are” can usually be There was little evidence… Little evidence appeared… cut from the beginning of sentences. Limit the use of coordinating And the study also The study also conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, compared… compared… so) at the beginning of sentences. In many disciplines, writers do not utilize I can explain this fact by… This fact can be explained first person (I/me/my/mine or by… we/our/ours), or they use it sparingly. Avoid first person pronouns unless they are used frequently in your field, in a specific writing genre (e.g. personal reflection) or in a certain part of a paper (e.g. in introductions to state the purpose of research). Passive voice: Although grammar checkers caution against the use of passive voice, it is used in academic writing when the agent of the action is unimportant. Thus, limit, but not completely avoid passive voice in your writing. Word Choice In addition to the language features listed above, it is important to be mindful of general word choice as well. The following verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs might be too general or vague, so usually more specific alternatives are preferred. Informal Words Possible Substitutions Verbs get collect, gain make produce, construct put place, locate let allow, permit look appear, seem say discuss, explain, suggest Nouns thing(s), stuff use a word more specific to the context kid(s) child(ren), daughter(s), son(s) people experts, students, participants, or any other specific word Adjectives & Adverbs sort of rather, somewhat like such as, for example very/really/so omit and use a stronger adjective/adverb lots/a lot of a great number/amount of, a variety of big substantial, significant good positive, considerable, high-quality bad negative, unhealthy done finished, completed nice personable, helpful beautiful use attractive to describe a person or use an adjective more specific to the situation to describe other nouns (e.g. I want to use more effective words – not beautiful words) © The George Mason University Writing Center 2017  Strategies - When you edit your paper electronically, enter the informal word (e.g. stuff) in your word processor’s search box to identify all the instances of this word in your text. Use a formal alternative to replace the informal word, but try to use a variety of formal words, not the same one in every example. - To identify whether a certain word is commonly used in academic writing, search for this word in COCA Word and Phrase (https://www.wordandphrase.info/frequencyList.asp ). Click on the word for context and synonyms, and a box below will show you a graph that displays the word frequency in different contexts (e.g. in spoken language, magazines, fiction, and academic writing). If the graph shows that this word is infrequent in academic writing, it is a good idea to look for synonyms (also provided on this website). - Another place to look for synonyms is in online dictionaries (e.g. http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/ or https://www.wordsmyth.net/). Practice Identify informal features in the following sentences. Underline informal words and phrases and offer more formal alternatives. 1. Researchers have found out that this drug has serious side effects. 2. Engineers can come up with better designs using CAD. 3. Researchers have been looking into this problem for 15 years now. 4. The emission levels have been going up and down. 5. The government has made good progress in solving environmental problems. 6. We got encouraging results. 7. The results of a lot of different projects have been pretty good. 8. A loss of jobs is one of the things that will happen if the process is automated. 9. The reaction of the officials was sort of negative. 10. The economic outlook is mighty nice. 11. If you fail the exam, you can't enter the university. 12. OK, what are the causes of deformation? Many possibilities exist. 13. You can clearly see the difference between these two processes. 14. These special tax laws have been enacted in six states: Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, etc. 15. The subjects didn't have much difficulty with the task. Information and a practice exercise in this handout are adapted from Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. – pp.22-25 Last updated 11/2/2017 © The George Mason University Writing Center 2017