Academic Writing/Style What is Academic Style? Precise and objective language to express ideas. · Level of formality · Grammar · Objectivity= impersonal tone · Succinct vocabulary, avoiding personal, colloquial or idiomatic expressions · Spelling · Punctuation Being Objective Using impersonal language means: · Avoiding personal pronouns, l/me/one/you/we/us · Use of passive rather than active voice Using and Creating the Passive Bring the object to front of sentence, use the verb 'to be' in appropriate tense + past participle Examples · Present simple= x is thought to · Past simple= x was considered to · Present perfect= x has been produced in order to . Past perfect= x had been demonstrated Future= x will be analysed . Modal forms (after modal verbs use the pure infinitive of the verb 'to be' o X should be expected o X would be defined as Same with can, could, might, may Change verbs to nouns and re-frame the sentence in a less personal way. E.g., we discussed the future of becomes there was a discussion about the future of Use of tenses-> generally past & present tenses are used in academic writing to show what has been discovered, when, and how it applies to current thinking. Think About Word Choice Using a more formal word makes the meaning clear, concise and unambiguous. Vocab to be avoided: · Phrasal verbs- look into, get by, think over
· Inappropriate words- stuff, things, lots of. Too vague and informant. · Contracted forms- can't, don't, won't, haven't · Using the words etc, or and so on · Too much repetition of same idea, concept or opinion · Abbreviations- not in the text only in notes · Acronyms- academic convention is that the first time you use a title with an acronym you should write it out in full with the acronym in brackets · Absolute terms- always, never, most, all, least, none . Cliches- first and foremost (now, first), last but not least (to conclude, finally), at the end of the day (ultimately) Fundamentals Of Academic Writing Hedging · Often impossible to state categorically that something is or is not the case · Use verbs that let you present a variety of views: seems, appears, suggests. Modal verbs like might or may to remain tentative. These results may suggest Jargon/specialist terms · Most subjects make use of language in a way exclusive to the discipline · Always explain and define specialist words Punctuation Issues · Missing comma · Missing apostrophes or misuse of Commas represent where there would be a pause in spoken language, they're also used in lists. Apostrophes represent missing letters, also represent possession. It's is the possessive pronoun for neutral objects and does not require an apostrophe Summary · Remain objective and use formal language Grammar o Passive voice (avoid personal pronouns) o Change verbs to nouns o Use past and or present tense o Do not use contractions · Vocabulary o Avoid slang and colloquial language o Avoid phrasal verbs · Check spelling and