Features of academic writingsimplified.ppt

featuresofacademicwriting,featuresofacademicwriting,academicwritinginenglishislinear,whichmeansithasonecentralpointorthemewitheverypartcontributingtothemainlineofargument,withoutdigressionsorrepetitions.itsobjectiveistoinformratherthanentertain.aswellasthisitisinthestandardwrittenformofthelanguage.thesixmainfeaturesofacademicwritingare:complex,formal,objective,explicit,hedged,andresponsible.,complexity,writtenlanguageisrelativelymorecomplexthanspokenlanguage(biber,1988;biber,johansson,leech,conradhalliday,1989).,writtenlanguageisgrammaticallymorecomplexthanspokenlanguage.ithasmoresubordinateclauses,morethat/tocomplementclauses,morelongsequencesofprepositionalphrases,moreattributiveadjectivesandmorepassivesthanspokenlanguage.writtentextsareshorterandhavelonger,morecomplexwordsandphrases.theyhavemorenominalisations,morenounbasedphrases,andmorelexicalvariation.writtentextsarelexicallydensecomparedtospokenlanguage-theyhaveproportionatelymorelexicalwordsthangrammaticalwords.,thefollowingfeaturesarecommoninacademicwrittentexts:subordinateclauses/embedding,complementclauses,sequencesofprepositionalphrases,participles,passiveverbs,lexicaldensity,lexicalcomplexity,nominalisation,noun-basedphrases,modificationofnoun-phrases,attributiveadjectives,therefore,themaindifferenceisthegrammar,notthevocabulary.,spokenandwritten,wheneveridvisitedtherebefore,idendedupfeelingthatitwouldbefutileifitriedtodoanythingmore.everypreviousvisithadleftmewithasenseofthefutilityoffurtheractiononmypart.,spokenandwritten,thecitiesinswitzerlandhadoncebeenpeaceful,buttheychangedwhenpeoplebecameviolent.violencechangedthefaceofoncepeacefulswisscities.,spokenandwritten,becausethetechnologyhasimproveditslessriskythanitusedtobewhenyouinstallthematthesametime,anditdoesntcostsomucheither.improvementsintechnologyhavereducedtherisksandhighcostsassociatedwithsimultaneousinstallation.,spokenandwritten,thepeopleinthecolonyrejoicedwhenitwaspromisedthatthingswouldchangeinthisway.opinioninthecolonygreetedthepromisedchangewithenthusiasm.,spokenandwritten,becausethejobsareevenmorecomplex,programmestotrainpeoplewilltakelonger.theincreasedcomplexityoftaskswillleadtotheextensionofthedurationoftrainingprogrammes.,spokenandwritten,ihandedmyessayinlatebecausemykidsgotsick.thereasonforthelatesubmissionofmyessaywastheillnessofmychildren.,noun-basedphrases,formalwrittenenglishusesnounsmorethanverbs.rewritetheunderlinedpartsofthefollowingsentencesusinganoun-basedphraseinsteadofthewhclause.,noun-basedphrases,manyfutileattemptshavebeenmadetoteachanimalstospeakhowhumansspeak.manyfutileattemptshavebeenmadetoteachanimalstospeakinhumanfashion.,itisessentialtodiscusshowmuchculturalandbiologicalevolutioncanbeexplainedbysimilarprinciples.itisessentialtodiscusstheextenttowhichculturalandbiologicalevolutioncanbeexplainedbysimilarprinciples.,manyfactorsmustbeconsideredinexplaininghowfastthepopulationhasgrowninthedevelopingcountries.manyfactorsmustbeconsideredinexplainingtherapidgrowthofpopulationinthedevelopingcountries.,classesdiffergreatlyinhowmembershipisestablishedandhowfastmembershipchanges.classesdiffergreatlyinthemanneroftheestablishmentofmembershipandintherateofmembershipchange.,buteveninthisheisafailureashecantrememberaword,nordoesheknowwhyheisgoingtobeexecuted.buteveninthisheisafailureashecantrememberaword,nordoesheknowthereasonforhisimpendingexecution.,icannotavoidthefeelingwhyweweredisenchantedwassimplybecauseofthekindsofproblemsweweregiven.icannotavoidthefeelingthatthereasonforourdisenchantmentlaysimplyinthekindsofproblemsweweregiven.,onthesurface,whywomenanddomesticarchitecturewereassociatedwereobvious.onthesurface,thereasonsfortheassociationbetweenwomenanddomesticarchitecturewereobvious.,formality,ingeneralthismeansinanessaythatyoushouldavoid:a.colloquialwordsandexpressions;stuff,alotof,thing,sortof,b.abbreviatedforms:cant,doesnt,shouldntc.twowordverbs:putoff,bringupd.sub-headings,numberingandbullet-pointsinformalessays-butusetheminreports.e.askingquestions.,identifytheinformalexpressionsinthefollowingsentences.rewritethefollowingsentences,replacingtheinformalexpressionswithamoreformalequivalent.,1.withwomenespecially,thereisalotofsocialpressuretoconformtoacertainphysicalshape.2.significantly,evenatthislatedate,lautrecwasconsideredabitconservativebyhispeers.3.itfocusedonasubjectthatalotofthebourgeoisandupper-classexhibition-goingpublicregardedasanti-socialandanti-establishment.,withwomenespecially,thereisagreatdealofsocialpressuretoconformtoacertainphysicalshape.2.significantly,evenatthislatedate,lautrecwasconsideredsomewhatconservativebyhispeers.3.itfocusedonasubjectthatmuchofthebourgeoisandupper-classexhibition-goingpublicregardedasanti-socialandanti-establishment.,4laterfloreygottogetherwithpaulfildesinanexperimentalstudyoftheuseofcuraretorelievetheintractablemuscularspasmswhichoccurinfullydevelopedinfectionwithtetanusorlockjaw.5.whenapatientisadmittedtoapsychiatricinpatientunit,theclinicalteamshouldavoidthetemptationtostartspecifictreatmentsimmediately.6.thereforeaftersixmonthsthedieterisbehavingaccordingtoalltwenty-sixgoalsandshehasachievedabigreductioninsugarintake.,4.laterfloreycollaboratedwithpaulfildesinanexperimentalstudyoftheuseofcuraretorelievetheintractablemuscularspasmswhichoccurinfullydevelopedinfectionwithtetanusorlockjaw.5.whenapatientisadmittedtoapsychiatricinpatientunit,theclinicalteamshouldavoidthetemptationtocommencespecifictreatmentsimmediately.6.thereforeaftersixmonthsthedieterisbehavingaccordingtoalltwenty-sixgoalsandshehasachievedaconsiderablereductioninsugarintake.,7.modernhouseshavesomanylabour-savingthingsthatitisdifficultforthepersonathometohaveadequateexercisebydoingchores,cooking,andlookingafterafamily.8.simplymakingtheefforttoreclaimthiswastedstuffforfertilizerwouldhaveapositiveeffectongreenhousereleases.9.itisdifficulttoimagineexactlywhatismeantbysayingthatsuchaclassificationisnaturalasanycollectionofthingscouldbeclassifiedinthisway.,7.modernhouseshavesomanylabour-savingdevicesthatitisdifficultforthepersonathometohaveadequateexercisebydoingchores,cooking,andlookingafterafamily.8.simplymakingtheefforttoreclaimthiswastedmaterialforfertilizerwouldhaveapositiveeffectongreenhousereleases.9.itisdifficulttoimagineexactlywhatismeantbysayingthatsuchaclassificationisnaturalasanycollectionofobjectscouldbeclassifiedinthisway.,10.unfortunately,sincetherearesomanypossibleexplanations,thecorrectoneismostdifficulttofindout.11.theseexercisescaneasilybeincorporatedintoanexerciseroutine,witheachexercisedoneagainanumberoftimes.12.flemingdidwellinisolatingastreptococcusfromthecerebrospinalfluidofthepatient.13.effectivevaccinespreventsuchhazards,butonlyifasocialorganisationmakessurethatallpotentialmothersarevaccinatedingoodtime.,10.unfortunately,sincetherearesomanypossibleexplanations,thecorrectoneismostdifficulttoascertain.11.theseexercisescaneasilybeincorporatedintoanexerciseroutine,witheachexerciserepeatedanumberoftimes.12.flemingsucceededinisolatingastreptococcusfromthecerebrospinalfluidofthepatient.13.effectivevaccinespreventsuchhazards,butonlyifasocialorganisationensuresthatallpotentialmothersarevaccinatedingoodtime.,objectivity,writtenlanguageisingeneralobjectiveratherthanpersonal.itthereforehasfewerwordsthatrefertothewriterorthereader.thismeansthatthemainemphasisshouldbeontheinformationthatyouwanttogiveandtheargumentsyouwanttomake,ratherthanyou.forthatreason,academicwritingtendstousenouns(andadjectives),ratherthanverbs(andadverbs).,comparethesetwoparagraphs:,thequestionofwhatconstituteslanguageproficiencyandthenatureofitscross-lingualdimensionsisalsoatthecoreofmanyhotlydebatedissuesintheareasofbilingualeducationandsecondlanguagepedagogyandtesting.researchershavesuggestedwaysofmakingsecondlanguageteachingandtestingmorecommunicative(e.g.,canaleandswain,1980;oller,1979b)onthegroundsthatacommunicativeapproachbetterreflectsthenatureoflanguageproficiencythanonewhichemphasizestheacquisitionofdiscretelanguageskills.,wedontreallyknowwhatlanguageproficiencyisbutmanypeoplehavetalkedaboutitforalongtime.someresearchershavetriedtofindwaysforustomaketeachingandtestingmorecommunicativebecausethatishowlanguageworks.ithinkthatlanguageissomethingweuseforcommunicating,notanobjectforustostudyandwerememberthatwhenweteachandtestit.,ingeneral,avoidwordslikei,me,myself.areaderwillnormallyassumethatanyideanotreferencedisyourown.itisthereforeunnecessarytomakethisexplicit.,dontwrite:inmyopinion,thisaveryinterestingstudy.write:thisisaveryinterestingstudy.avoidyoutorefertothereaderorpeopleingeneral.,dontwrite:youcaneasilyforgethowdifferentlifewas50yearsago.write:itiseasytoforgethowdifficultlifewas50yearsago.,examples,clearlythiswasfarlesstrueoffrancethan.thisiswherethedisagreementsandcontroversiesbegin.thedataindicatesthat.thisisnotaviewsharedbyeveryone;jones,forexample,claimsthat.,.veryfewpeoplewouldclaim.itisworthwhileatthisstagetoconsider.ofcourse,moreconcreteevidenceisneededbefore.severalpossibilitiesemerge.acommonsolutionis.,rewriteitinamoreacademicstyle,mostpeopletakedrugoverdosesbecausetheyfindthatitsdifficulttosortouttheirproblemsclearly.thatswhyyoushouldtreatyourpatientsinaclearway.thatmeansyoushouldtreatyourpatientsinawaythathelpsthemtotellthedifferencebetweentheirproblemsandfindwaystodealwiththem.,mostoverdosesaretakenwhenindividualsarefindingitdifficulttosortouttheirlifeproblemsinaclearway.forthisreason,theapproachtotreatmentmu