Go to Unit 2
Unit I: Academic Writing (30)
1.1
Distinction between academic writing and
personal writing
Academic Writing
Academic writing it is a cultured, formal, cherished
writing.
It differs from non-academic or personal writing in
many respects, for example
·
audience,
·
content,
·
style
·
formality,
·
organization,
·
grammar and
·
vocabulary.
Features of Academic writing
·
Academic writing is
generally linear which means it has one particular theme.
·
Every part of the
writing contributes to the central theme.
·
Primarily its objective
is to inform the audience.
·
Its features are
formality, objectivity, explicitness, accuracy, consistency, precision,
complexity, hedging, responsibility,
Ø Formality: formal, no colloquial words and expressions, no
jargons and contraction (they're, he's, etc), third person rather than first
person perspective
Ø Objectivity: objective and factual rather than subjective and
personal, information based on research;
Ø Explicitness: information clearly and explicitly expressed.
Ø Accuracy: accurate in the use of vocabulary items, no
ambiguous items.
Ø Consistency: use of style in writing is consistent, no
deviation, for example, while referencing one of the three styles (MLA: modern
language association; APA: American Psychological association; and Chicago
Manual) can be used but not all together.
Ø Precision: all facts
and figure clearly and precisely expressed.
Ø Complexity: relatively more complex; lexically, grammatically
and semantically dense and formal; use of clauses compound, complex sentences.
Ø Hedging: hedges are language items used when the writer is
uncertain of something being expressed, for example, approximately, I think,
etc.
Ø Responsibility: the writer is held responsible for all the
facts, justifications, evidence and claims made in the writing
Difference between Academic and non-
academic or personal writing
Academic writing differs from non-academic writing in
terms of readers/audience, content, style, formality, organization, grammar and
vocabulary.
Ø Audience: academic writing- academicians such as teachers analyst,
students, etc but non-acadmic-family, friends anybody out of formal boundaries.
Ø Content: academic writing- serious thought based on observation, analysis
and findings, but non academic- conversational and common.
Ø Style AW-complex structure in a variety of constructions, but non
academic- simple and compound structures.
Ø Formality: Academic -formal, use of complex sentences, full forms,
citations, referencing, etc. but non academic - informal, use of contractions,
colloquial words, etc.
Ø Organization: Academic- well planned, interconnected and have
standard format, but non academic writing- not necessarily well organized and
has standard format.
Ø Grammar: grammatically the differences are visible between academic
and non-academic writing. The former has the use of full forms, connectors
(such as however, on the other hand, etc), use of passive voice, but the latter
the use of short forms, use of connectors (such as only, anyway, etc), use of
active voice.
Ø Vocabulary Academic writing- specific academic vocabulary such as
forge (policy), attempt, solid in place of make, certain respectively, but
non-academic writing-common vocabulary neutral or very common vocabulary such
as try, make, etc in place of attempt forge.
1.1.3 key elements to begin academic
writing
·
While writing academic texts, we need to think about
mainly three key elements: audience, purpose and material
·
Audience: before writing an academic texts, we need to
think about the readers in terms of who they are, how much they know about the
topic, for what purpose they will use the text, what kinds of texts/writings
they are used to reading, etc.
·
Purpose: it is to be specified. Is it to inform, report,
argue, persuade or what else?
·
Material we have to collect materials for writing the
text proposed for. We need to read various texts/books or carry out research on
our own. While reading texts for writing materials, strategically we can use
highlighters of different colors for ideas, evidence, arguments, etc.
1.2 Plagiarism:
·
Plagiarism
means claiming other's ideas as one's own. It means taking information or ideas
from other writers and using them in one's own work without acknowledging the
source appropriately.
·
Mostly the
University students seem to have faced the issue of plagiarism as they use
other's works without citing or acknowledging them either by intention or due
to lack of knowledge on the importance of quoting or citing.
·
Since it is a
serious academic offence/sin, each writer should attempt his/her best to avoid
plagiarism. It is a form of intellectual dishonesty or theft.
Ø The following ways of taking
information from others would be considered plagiarism:
1. not providing reference when we have
used other's ideas in our work.
2. no use of quotation marks even if we
provide the reference.
3. taking a few sentences or paragraphs
from other's work without referencing.
Ø The following ways would not be
considered plagiarism:
1. use of commonly accepted ideas even without
referencing.
2. presenting the results of our own work.
3. use of some vocabulary from the
original or use of some new sentence structures different from the ones in the
original texts.
4. using the summary substantially
different from the original.
1.2.1 Avoiding plagiarism and s plagiarism:
·
Avoiding plagiarism: Generally, when authors claim others' ideas as their own, it is
plagiarism. But in order to avoid plagiarism, they should noi claim the ideas
of others as their own. Instead, they should give credit to the original
authors aptly. The key principle of avoiding plagiarism is that authors would
not claim others ideas as if they were their own.
·
Avoiding self plagiarism: If an author uses ideas from his previously published
work for his present work without referencing as novel/new ideas, then it is
called self-plagiarism. In order to avoid plagiarism, the authors can mention
as as I have previously discussed (20...)
1.2.2 How to avoid plagiarism:
·
In order to
maintain academic honesty, the author to avoid p in his/her the writer consults
needs need to various sources which be properly cited and referenced On one
hand, Proper citing and referencing would avoid plagiarism, and on the other,
it would show respect to the ideas and others.
·
Some of the
ways to avoid plagiarism are
1. Integrating quotations into the text: We need to properly quote others'
ideas they are included in the text. Quotations used for providing support for
the writer's argument, giving examples of different on the are the relationship
between the and other's ideas, They also called in-text citations According to
Hamp-Lyons and Heasley (2008), quotations are to fulfill their function, they
need to be identical to the original word for word, and must be attributed to
the author.
2. Paraphrasing and summarizing: Next way to avoid plagiarism is to
paraphrase or summarize the original source or text in writer's own words.
However, it would be honest of him to cite the resources.
3. Referencing or citations: The sources used for the creation of
any academic texts should be properly referenced under the section 'Reference'
or 'Works Cited'. The sources are arranged alphabetically by author's last
names, or when there is no author, by the first word of the title excluding 'A,
An or The' at the beginning. Within the list, if a particular author is cited
more than once, then the author's entries are ordered chronologically y date
(with most recent first". Mainly two systems are used for referencing/
identifying the resources: MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American
Psychological Association)
MLA and APA
A. MLA format
1.
For a book entry
Author (family and personal name in
full). Title of Book. City of publication: Publisher, year of publication.
Example:
Bailey, Stephen. Academic Writing.
London: Rutledge 2006.
2.
For an article entry
Author (Family and personal name in
full). "Title of Article". Title of periodical Vol (year): Pages
Example:
Hamp-Lyons, Liz. "Social and
Individual responsibility in Language Testing". Testing System, 28 (2009):
201-207
B. APA format
1.
For a book entry
Author's family and initial name (year
of publication). Title of the book. City of Publication: Publisher
Example:
Bailey, Stephan (2010). Academic
Writing. London: Rutledge.
2.
For an article entry
Author's family and initial name. Title
of the article. Title of the periodical, volume number, pages.
Example:
Adhikari, D. and Rijal, D. (2014). Peer
Group support in language learning. The Effor, 2, 20-24.
1.3 Elements of Academic Writing
Ø Academic writing is composed of various
elements. The writer should be familiar with these elements both theoretically
practically. The and are: argument, cause and effect, cohesion, comparison,
discussion, examples, references and quotations, style and so forth.
Ø While writing a text, not all of them
can be found in it, but one or some of them might be used.
1.3.1 Argument:
Ø One of the elements of academic writing
Ø Some points stating the problems and
its different solutions can be created with arguments or for arguments. As per
Bailey (2010, p.67) we can also create some points from a well-organized
paragraph. We can exemplify a. paragraph developed from points, and b. points drawn or developed from
paragraph
a. Paragraph
developed from points
Problem
|
Obesity
is increasing rapidly in most countries.
|
Cause
A
|
...some
doctors blame a sedentary life style
|
Argument
against cause A
|
This doesn't
explain why only certain people suffer from this condition
|
Cause
B
|
Another
theory is that a high-fat diet is...to blame
|
Conclusion
in favor of B
|
Recent research has
shown that most obesity sufferers do eat this unhealthy diet
|
Paragraph
developed from points
Obesity is
growing problems in many countries. It can lead to various medical conditions
which increase......................................
b. Points
drawn or developed from paragraph
Currently,
roads are often congested, which is expensive in terms of delays. It is claimed
that building more roads, or widening existing ones, would ease the congestion.
But not only in the cost of such work high, but the construction process adds
to the congestion, while the resulting extra road space may encourage extra
traffic. Therefore, constructing extra roads is unlikely to solve the problem,
and other remedies, such as road pricing or greater use of public transport,
should be examined.
Points
drawn from the passage:
Problem
|
Currently
roads are often congested, which is...
|
Solution
A
|
It
is claimed that building more roads, or widening...
|
Argument
against solution A
|
But not only is the
cost of such work high, but...
|
Solution
B & C
|
...other
remedies, such as road pricing or greater use of...
|
1.3.2 Cause and
Effect:
Some writings include cause and effect relationship or it might
automatically appear in course of writing. Within the relation, the cause is
the first situation and the effect is the second. For examples,
Cause effect
Heavy Rain Landslides
Careless driving Accident
Verbs used for the relationship:
Ø ...cause, lead to, results in, produce, etc...
Some conjunctions for cause and effect relationship:
Ø For cause: due to, because of, since/as
Ø
For effect: therefore,
consequently, so, which is why
1.3.3 Cohesion:
·
It means unity.
It binds or keeps the text united or together. Bailey says, it means linking
phrases together so that the whole text is clear and readale",
·
It is the
structural connectedness of the items that exist within a text. It can be
achieved through several methods such use of conjunctions, pronouns, etc.
·
Some of the
pronouns and other phrases that are used for cohesion are:
Ø Pronouns: he, she, it, they, etc.;
Ø Possessive adjectives and pronouns: her, hers, his, their, theirs, etc.;
Ø Objective pronouns: him, her, them, etc.;
Ø Demonstratives: this, that, these, those, etc.;
Ø Other phrases: the former, the latter, the first,
etc.
1.3.4
Comparison:
·
It is also
considered an element of academic writing which naturally comes or can be used
in academic texts depending upon the nature of the proposition or contents.
·
In it, two or
more than two factors or variables are compared using various exponents for
comparative and superlative degrees. The comparative degree is two superlative
for many.
Some rules of comparison are:
A.
–er/-est is
added to mono-syllabic adjectives/ adverbs and two/di-syllabic adjectives
ending with 'y", e.g. tall-taller-tallest or etc.
B.
more/less is
used with words of two or more syllables, e.g. care - more careful,
happily-more happily, etc.
C.
as/as... as is
also used for comparison
D.
some words like
slightly, much, considerably, far significantly, etc. are also used to make the
comparison more exact and specific.
1.3.5
Discussion:
Depending upon the nature of the
contents or academic writing titles, the writer needs to examine both sides
(dual side) of a case or proposition to conclude in favor of either side which
can be called It is needed if the title requires debate. For example, living in
village' can be discussed closely examining both sides, maybe merits and
demerits.
·
The vocabularies for or positive are: benefit, advantage, positive aspect, pro, plus, merit,
strength,etc.
·
Correspondingly the vocabularies for or negative are: drawback, disadvantage, a negative
aspect, con, minus, demerit, weakness,etc.
Ways of
presenting discussion according to Bailey (2010)
Some ways are:
1. Writing pros and cons: for example of school uniform, etc. It
can be structured as introduction, pros, cons and leading points to conclusion.
2. the writer's case: it can be started as: 'it is widely
believed etc that it is generally agreed that this evidence suggests that
3. Presenting minority point of view: it can be started as we can argue that
children benefit it is suggested that school uniforms etc.
4. showing awareness of counter-arguments: e.g. although it is helpful for
tackling the rain, it is too expensive, etc
5. Stating we have read the relevant sources
and evidence: Before
opining, it is necessary to show that we have read the relevant sources and
have studied the evidence.
1.3.6 Examples:
·
In academic
writing, examples are used to support the statement proposed.
·
Some phrases/exponents for examples are: for example/instance, to exemplify illustrate, such as,
e.g., illustratively, some illustrations/examples/instances, to name a few,
namely, etc.
1.3.7
References and Quotations:
A reference can be used as an acknowledg that a writer is making use
of another writer's ideas or information in his/her writing
As per Bailey (2010), there are mainly three reasons for giving
references (page 45-46 of Hira Lal Subedi):
A. To avoid the charge of plagiarism.
B. The reference can give more authority to writing.
C. The readers can find the original sources.
Procedures used to give references:
(page 46 of Hira Lal)
Referring verbs and system of Reference:
(page 46 of Hira lal)
1.3.8 Style:
·
By style, academic
writing has some unique properties that differentiate itself from personal
writing...
·
Academic writing appears
to be precise, objective, formal and impersonal. What is typical of speech and
personal writing is non- typical of academic writing. Colloquial idioms and
phrases shouldn't be used in academic writing.
1.4
Researching and Writing:
Ø Academic writing is very formal and
factual. The contents and information for academic writing are to be
scientifically justifiable and verifiable. Therefore, research and academic
writing are related.
Ø Research is to find out something new
time and again, either to find out newer aspect or to validate the already
established findings and theories.
Ø Research topics or subjects are
created through the queries of the research minded people about various aspects
of the environment. It may be just a survey or mini or detailed research. For
example, "Most important feature of NMC", for which we need to adopt
certain procedures such as setting objectives, setting variables, deeloping
tools, etc. Next topic could be "Reading habit of B.Ed. IIIrd Year
students", for which again we need to stick to certain procedures.
Ø Academic writing is generally based
on the first-hand information collected by the writer himself as a researcher
or second hand information that has been already established. The former is
retrieved through research, whereas the latter is through consulting various
sources.
Ø While researching, a researcher needs to follow a lot of steps, but
not are all these steps necessary, only the needed ones can be folllowed. Some
of the steps are:
·
Problem/issue
identification
·
Description of problem
·
Determination of
objectives
·
Consulting/visiting
related literatures
·
Significance of
methodoloer: sampling and data collection tools
·
Classification and
analysis of data
·
Interpretation of the
analysis: comparison, contrast, etc
·
References
1.5
Fundamentals and feedback
All the essentials nedded for any
piece of sound academic writing are fundamentals of writing.
1.6
Definition, vocabulary and academic clarity
Specialized words and expressions used
in academic writings need to be defined for clarity. Similarly vocabularies
used are also formal.
1.6.1
Language
structure for definitions:
According to Stephen Baily (2006, p 79), in academic writing,
definitions are normally needed in two situations:
·
In introduction to
clarify a word or phrase in the title.
·
More generally, to
explain a word or phrase which may be either very technical (and so not in
normal dictionaries), very recent or with no widely agreed meaning.
Parts of defined items:
Word
|
Category
|
Detail
|
Use
|
A lecture
|
is a formal
talk
|
given to
large group
|
used for
teaching
|
An asignment
|
is a task
|
often given
to students
|
for teaching or
assignment
|
Various structures used in definition
Ø A hospital is a place where ill people go for medical treatment.
Structure: concept +be+a/an/the
+class/category+wh-word+defining information
Ø Memory is the ability which we use to retain information.
Structure: concept+'be' verb + class + (wh-word)+special
features
Ø Wealth means riches.
Structure: Item+verb (simple present)+defining information
1.6.2
Use of clauses
for definition:
Ø According to Hamp-Lyons and Heasley (2008,p.53), since definitions
try to narrow the meaning of an item, the restrictive relative clauses are used
in formal definitions. Non-restrictive ones provide extra information about the
subject of the main clause and can be used to expand definitions.
Ø Types of RC: Restrictive, Non-restrictive, reduced and
extended
Ø Examples:
Ø Restrictive: A person who doesn't buy you a drink is called a
stingy.
Ø Non-restrictive: Dentists, who look after people's teeth, are
key members of the health.
Ø Reduced: A calorie is a measure of energy commonly used in
physical Sciences.
Ø Extended: definitions of concepts from different angles which
extend from sentence to paragraphs. They are larger than formal definitions.
Vocabulary in academic writing:
Vocabularies used in academic writing are generally formal and
recent ones (instead of archaic ones). The three-step procedure for the
selection and exploitation of formal vocabularies is as follows:
Ø Prewriting activity: reading the texts that surround/ typify
the topic of writing in question and mark the special vocabularies. we need to
read as many texts as possible.
Ø
Establishing meanings
and listing definitions: we do all these things by observing the use of
vocabulary in the text.
Ø
Using vocabulary in
the text being written: we can make choice of the vocabulary use with
specific meaning and definitions.
Ø
Some topics of
writing: Democracy, population and pollution, etc..
Ø
Accordingly we can
enlist some of the formal vocabulary that can be used under those topics.
Ø Summing up: formal vocabularies with special meanings/concepts
defined well contribute to academic
clarity.
1.7
Generalization, facts and academic reality
Ø Generalizations are thesis
statements/ideas drawn from the relationship of various related facts and
concepts. Ideal generalizations are not merely generalizations but are
justified by credible examples and evidences conforming to honesty principle.
Ø They are very important in academic
writing as they can introduce or squeeze the property of a concept just in one
sentence. They are more fact/evidence based.
1.7.1
Generalizations and honesty principle:
Ø According to Hamp-Lyons and Heasley,
'The Honesty Principle says only say or write that for which you have evidence
(2008,p.60). More clearly, the honesty principle tells us to say or write that
for which we have adequate valid evidence to support the generalizations or
claims.
Ø To sum up, while making generalizations
or claims, we need to maintain honesty principle- meaning to justify our
generalizations or claims through evidence.
1.7.2. The Language of generalizations:
Ø Academic writers do not use absolute
generalizations. As per Hamp-Lyons and Heasley (2008, p.63), academic
writers/writings use special language to make sure that their generalizations
reflect their level of certainty about a statement. Hedges are the uses of
language that let people write or speak in a limited way and avoid
overgeneralization. This is in line with honesty principle.
Ø Hedges are words/phrases used to
indicate that the writer is not that much sure of what he/she is admitting is
sufficiently correct or complete. Hedging words can be verbs, adverbs,
adjectives or collective nouns such as suggest, generally, probable, a
majority, etc.
1.7.2.1
Language used for hedging generalized actions:
1.7.2.2
Verbs used in hedging:
Ø Hedges are used when the writer is not sure of the facts he is
writing. The following verbs that forecast, suggest and propose can be used as
hedges.
Ø Seem, appear, believe, assume, suggest, speculate, project, tend,
think, argue, propose and forecast.
Ø ..."say that...can be converted into..."
Ø ...believe/suggest/speculate/estimate that.........
1.7.2.3
Boosting generalizations:
Ø Boosting means strengthening or enriching. In academic writings,
generalizations are boosted by using adverbs and adjectives called boosters.
For examples, adjectives: complete, total, extreme definite, great, deep,
strong, high, entire, vast, careful, etc, and adverbs with ly to them
Ø Note: we can make use of boosters and hedges while drawing
generalizations from facts/data presented in the diagram
1.7.3 Writing a literature review:
Major purposes:
Ø to situate the researcher's study in its contexts, and
Ø to explain its importance to his/her field of study
Important for the
researcher because it:
Ø
enables him/her to limit
his/her field of study
Ø
tells him what has been
done in the field of his study
Ø enables him to identify the problems of the areas.
Literature review requires skills in summarizing as the
researcher needs to study all the relevant texts in the field of study. It
includes brief writing, summarieng, understanding research gap an designing
another form of research work.
1.7.4 The language for process
writing:
Ø The processes of events/activities in order should be maintained
with sequences connected with some linguistic tools eg. First/firstly/first of
all (sequence connector), second/secondly...
Ø
Generalizations of activities
are needed.
1.7.5 Nominations in acdemic writing:
The process of turning verbs (action
words) into nouns (things, concepts, people) is called nominalization.
Nominalized forms frequently used in academic writing as they beautify the
writing and make it more precise and formal.
Nominalizations used for three
reasons:
Ø it provides a link back to the previous sentence, eg, ...educated,
...Education...
Ø It can function like subject, eg, Education.....
Ø
It makes sentences more precise.
1.7.6 The Reality Principle:
Ø According to Hamp-Lyons and Heasley, "Everything depends on who
your reader is. If you are writing for a scientific community you can assume an
understanding of common scientific terms and procedures. However, if you are
writing for a general readership you have to make different assumptions (2008,
p.100).
Ø It means the writer of an assume that his target readers have the
general understanding of the field of his study, but requires specific
information which needs/might need expert's expertise.
Ø In short, the 'reality principle' tells us that we have to
delineate/determine what information the readers assumed to have known in
advance of reading the new text/article, and what information is yet to be
given/ presented through the text.
Ø
The 'reality principle',
therefore, sides with what the readers have known in advance.
1.8
Results, discussion and academic relevance:
Discussion of some points belonging to academic writing: arguments,
coherence, results, relevance principle, discussion and academic voice.
1.8.1 Academic Argument:
Ø An argument is a set of ideas initiated in favor of or against some
concepts or ideas.
Ø Academic writing is sometimes a matter of argument known as academic
argument. The contents in academic writing re research-based, and which can be
both firsthand and secondary information.
Ø Hamp-Lyons and Heasley (2008) says, "Much of the work of others
done by academics involves understanding, reporting and interpreting the work
of others. But knowledge is created by original research and original research
requires original thinking. If someone is to think originally, they have to
think critically and be able to argue.
Ø
Academic argument is a thesis
statement which is debatable and needs critical thinking. Further it requires
more evidences for its justification and truchfulness.
1.8.1.1
Identifying a Thesis Statement in a work:
Ø It is debatable and arguable, flexible and extendable, relatively
subjective and is supported by evidences.
Ø Can be placed initially, medially or finally in a paragraph.
1.8.1.2
Identifying different kinds of evidence:
After identifying or establishing a
thesis statement, it needs to determine what kinds of evidences are essential
to support and justify it. The evidence can be:
Ø Reasons and arguments based on experts opinions and research
findings,
Ø Case studies or facts, and
Ø Statistics
1.8.1.3
Identifying an argument:
Briefly a written argument is text
that:
Ø lays out a position which is a recognized set of views in the
discipline, and
Ø
Attempts to show why it is
wrong or incomplete.
1.8.1.4
The language of argument:
A.
Increasing the
argumentative level: In academic texts/ writing, the argumentative language
occurs in the result/conclusion section. The level increases in the result and
conclusions sections.
B.
Coherence/cohesion
in argument: In academic writing, links/connections are used between
concepts, ideas and details, eg. Consequently, although, though in fact, while,
etc which can maintain coherence.
C.
Presenting an
academic identity: less personalization, but a more widely accepted set of
views.
D. Academic support to the argument: Argument should be
supported with evidence, otherwise the readers may not accept it.
1.8.2 The Results and Discussion
Sections:
Ø The results means reporting or
conclusions drawn form the observation of data.. Discussion includes
explanation, analysis and interpretation.
1.8.2.1 The results sections:
Ø In the results sections of academic
writing, the exact findings of data observation or calculations are given.
Moreover, the researcher doesn't present the raw or crude data unless the
evidence from them is required. But mainly the converted form of data is
presented through graph or diagram or figures, tables, etc.
1.8.2.2 The discussion section:
Ø In this section, the researcher
analyzes, explains and interprets the various relations of the converted data,
eg, contrast, similarities etc. While eting, some of the relations are more
highlighted than the others as per the objectives of the study.
Ø Sticking to the topic and the
purpose/objective, the researcher ensures the relevance and the relevance
principle. Connectives are used to show the sequences and chrornologies, eg,
first, second, etc; in addition to, more over, however, finally, etc. The correct
tense like either past simple, present simple or present perfect is
recommended.