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Lecture 3

Academic writing characteristics

Let’s have a look on the characteristics of AW

The ways we write are influenced by our purpose. We write differently when communicating
with our friends, reporting on events, telling stories. At university, the type of writing that
you will be expected to produce in your assessment tasks is classified as ‘academic writing’.
The purpose of academic writing is to analyse or produce knowledge.

Academic Writing is not…….

i. Personal

Academic writing generally tries to avoid being too personal. Information about the author
may come in at some points—for example in the acknowledgements or in a personal
reflection—but for the most part the text should focus on the research itself.

Always avoid addressing the reader directly with the second-person pronoun “you.” Use the
impersonal pronoun “one” or an alternate phrasing instead for generalizations:

The use of the first-person pronoun “I” used to be similarly discouraged in academic writing,
but it is increasingly accepted in many fields. If you’re unsure whether to use the first person,
pay attention to conventions in your field or ask your instructor.

When you refer to yourself, it should be for good reason. You can position yourself and
describe what you did during the research, but avoid arbitrarily inserting your personal
thoughts and feelings: In my opinion…

Avoid phrases such as:

In my opinion

I think that…

I like/dislike…

Use phrases such as:

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I conducted interviews with…

I argue that…

I hope to achieve…

ii. Long-winded

Many students think their writing isn’t academic unless it’s over-complicated and long-
winded. This isn’t a good approach—instead; aim to be as concise and direct as possible.
If a term can be cut or replaced with a more straightforward one without affecting your
meaning, it should be. Avoid redundant phrasings in your text, and try replacing phrasal
verbs with their one-word equivalents where possible:

● Interest in this phenomenon carried on in the year 2018.

● Interest in this phenomenon continued in 2018.

Repetition is a part of academic writing—for example, summarizing earlier information in

the conclusion—but it’s important to avoid unnecessary repetition. Make sure that none of
your sentences are repeating a point you’ve already made in different words.

iii. Emotive and grandiose

An academic text is not the same thing as a literary, journalistic, or marketing text. Though
you’re still trying to be persuasive, a lot of techniques from these styles are not appropriate in
an academic context. Specifically, you should avoid appeals to emotion and inflated claims.
Though you may be writing about a topic that’s sensitive or important to you, the point of
academic writing is to clearly communicate ideas, information and arguments, not to inspire
an emotional response. Avoid using emotive or subjective language.

Students are sometimes tempted to make the case for their topic with exaggerated,
unsupported claims and flowery language. Stick to specific, grounded arguments that you can
support with evidence, and don’t overstate your point.

Informal: Charles Dickens is the greatest writer of the Victorian period and his
influence on all subsequent literature is enormous.
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Formal: Charles Dickens is one of the best-known writers of the Victorian period, and
has had a significant influence on the development of the English novel.

The Academic Writing Characteristics

Talking about academic writing as a whole, we should point out the key characteristics of this
approach:

i. Planning: Academic writing is impossible without a thought-out plan. Planning includes

analyzing the sources of the work and organizing the structure so that it echoes with the
general idea and the thesis of the paper.

ii Outline: An appropriate outline is obligatory for academic papers. Without a suitable

outline, you won’t be able to put your ideas into words correctly and will be confused by the
number of passages, present in the work. Outlines are a must if you want to indicate the
pertinent idea to your academic paper.

iii. Language: Academic writing presupposes using formal constructions only. You cannot
include jargon, slang and informal expressions to enhance stylistic impression. The use of
clichés is strictly regulated and can only be appropriate in case you research the topic.

iv. Point-of-view: You cannot use the first person writing in your papers, as the genre of
academia is detached and remote in it, and is aimed at narrating information, not voicing
personal opinion on it.

v. Approach: You have to be logical and consistent, otherwise your readers will be left
wondering about the rational connections between the sentences.

vi. Deduction and analysis are used to indicate the logical succession of an academic paper.
A large amount of forethought is needed to complete an assignment, and the paper itself has
to be organized and structured according to the requirements. Before you start research on the
paper, make sure you know the rules and regulations at your college or university.

The language used at university has various features which distinguish it from the language
styles used in other contexts. Consider the language used in novels, conversation, newspapers
or law courts. Each has its own style, with varying degrees of formality and objectivity.

Academic language is:

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● Formal
● Objective
● Impersonal

These features ensure that ideas and arguments are communicated in a clear, convincing and
professional manner.

Note: Writing conventions vary even within faculties, so it is best to ask your lecturer or tutor
for the specific writing expectations of individual units.

In short: Academic writing is formal

The tone used in academic writing is usually formal, meaning that it should not sound
conversational or casual. You should particularly avoid colloquial, idiomatic, slang, or
journalistic expressions in favour of precise vocabulary. Informal and colloquial language is
often imprecise, so is open to misinterpretation, and can be inaccessible to non-native English
speakers.

For example, ‘international business heavyweights’ is too informal. Better wording would be
‘leading international businesses’ if referring to corporations, or ‘international business
leaders’ if referring to individuals.

Academic writing requires that you use full forms rather than contractions. For example,
write ‘do not’ instead of ‘don't’, ‘it is’ instead of ‘it's’, ‘they have’ instead of ‘they've’ and
‘we will’ instead of ‘we'

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Academic Writing Structure

An academic paper has three distinct sections - the introduction, body and conclusion:

● INTRODUCTION: In the introduction, you must grab the reader's attention and identify the
thesis of the paper. You can do this by starting with:
● Several questions
● A quote from a famous work or person
● Some interesting facts or information
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● A definition of an important term related to the work

● BODY: This is the main part of the work and the paragraphs must be clearly written and be
arranged in a logical order, like chronologically or in order of importance. Each initial
sentence links the preceding paragraph and the whole section flows smoothly.
Within each paragraph, the sentences need to flow and refer back to the topic. Cohesion is
achieved by repeating important words, using synonyms for the main subject, and using
transitional words like: however, such as, therefore, and for example.

5 General Qualities of the Best Academic Writing

1. Academic Writing starts with focused and Specific Questions

First, there are focused and specific expectations when producing a piece of academic
writing. Academic writing is used to answer the research questions. These questions are
either provided by a course instructor or developed by the writer or researcher. So, good
academic writing starts with focused and specific questions to be answered.

2. Emphasizes Logical Reasoning

Academic writing emphasizes logical reasoning over-emotional or sensory perceptions. Facts

are more important than feelings, writing clearly means thinking clearly and so effective
academic writing demonstrates clear critical thinking and the ability to make arguments
stronger by supporting them with evidence.

3. Academic Writing must be clear

Academic Writing must be clear. English is both a low context and reader responsible
language, it means readers will depend on what’s been written and believe it is the writer’s
job to make his or her arguments as comprehensible as possible.

4. Academic Writing must be Coherent

Academic writing must be coherent. This means that there are logical connections between
sentences. One way to do this is to begin sentences with information that relates back to the
previous sentences. It also means that paragraphs are unified around the single idea and that
all the information included in a piece of writing helps to create an effective argument used to
answer the research question.
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5. Follows the Following Steps

Finally, the most effective academic writing follows a process. While each writer will
eventually develop his or her unique process. But, there are a few steps that most people
follow when producing a piece of academic writing.

Steps in the Writing Process

1. Analysing the task

2. Planning Your Argument

Secondly, you need to develop the main claim and decide how you will support this claim
using evidence.

3. Research

This is necessary in order to gather quality fact-based objective evidence that you need to
create the argument you will use to support your main claim.

4. Start and Engage in the Writing and Drafting Process

No good writing is done overnight, It’s important to produce multiple drafts and to both edit
and proofread your writing. While it’s important to consider things like punctuation and
proper spelling, it’s even more important to see how well you have structured your argument
and the information in your writing. To do this, it’s a good idea to ask for comments from
peers and colleagues.

CONCLUSION
In the conclusion, you re-emphasize the thesis and summarize all the main points. The
conclusion consists of one paragraph which shows the final conclusion to the reader.
Whether you are writing a research paper, a thesis, or a paper for a conference, these tips
should help your paper be authoritative and coherent. Your thesis will be substantiated and
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explanations clear. Readers of your paper will follow your reasoning and understand your
conclusion.