ACADEMIC WRITING

➢Academic writing is clear, concise, focused,

structured and backed up by evidence. Its
purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding.

PREPARED BY: TINTIN ARCALAS

 WHAT IS READING?

■It is a cognitive process of decoding

symbols to derive meaning.

TINTIN ARCALAS
 ACADEMIC TEXT (EXAMPLES)
■ ARTICLES - Published in scholarly
journals, offer results of
research
■ CONFERENCE PAPERS - Presented in scholastic
conferences, may be revised
as articles

TINTIN ARCALAS
 ACADEMIC TEXT (EXAMPLES)
■ REVIEWS - Provides evaluation or of works
published in scholarly journals
■ THESES/DISSERTATIONS - Personal researches written by a
candidate for a college or
university degree

TINTIN ARCALAS
WHAT IS ACADEMIC READING?
■ It requires full concentration and comprehension to
understand key ideas, information, themes, or
arguments of the text.

TINTIN ARCALAS
 WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC TEXT?
■ Typically FORMAL
■ HAVE A CLEARLY STRUCTURED INTRODUCTION, BODY
and CONCLUSION
■ INFORMATION came from CREDIBLE SOURCES which
are PROPERLY CITED

TINTIN ARCALAS
 WHAT IS AN ACADEMIC TEXT?
■ EXHIBITS ALL THE PROPERTIES OF A WELL-WRITTEN
TEXT SUCH AS ORGANIZATION, UNITY, COHERENCE,
COHESION, ETC.

TINTIN ARCALAS
 WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF
CRITICAL READING?
■ Critical reading is an important precursor to critical
writing. A.K.A. Reflective Reading.
■ It helps us to identify the key arguments presented by
the author

TINTIN ARCALAS
 What is critical reading?
The most characteristic features of critical reading
are that you will:
■ examine the evidence or arguments presented;
■ check out any influences on the evidence or arguments;
■ check out the limitations of study design or focus;

TINTIN ARCALAS
 What is critical reading?
■ examine the interpretations made;
■ decide to what extent you are prepared to accept the
authors’ arguments, opinions, or conclusions; and
■ It means that a reader applies certain processes,
models, questions, and theories that result in enhanced
clarity and comprehension.
TINTIN ARCALAS
Before Reading:
■ Determine which academic type you are reading.
(Article, Review, Theses, Review, etc.)
■ Determine and establish your purpose for reading
■ Identify the Author’s purpose for Writing.
■ Determine the target audience
■ Check the publication date or relevance
■ Use a concept map or graphic organizer to note your ideas
on the topic
TINTIN ARCALAS
During Reading:
■ Write something on the page margin where important
info is found
■ Determine the main idea of the text
■ Identify the evidence and supporting arguments
presented by the author
■ Write key words or phrases on the margins in bullet form

TINTIN ARCALAS
After Reading:
■ Reflect on what you learned
■ React on some parts of the text through writing
■ Discuss some parts with your teacher or classmates
■ Link the main idea of the text to what you already know

TINTIN ARCALAS
 TEXT STRUCTURE
❑ START OR BEGINNING TO END
❑ CHRONOLOGICAL SEQUENCE
❑ WITH MARKERS
❑ CAUSE AND EFFECT ❑ PROVIDING THE REASON/RESULT
❑ PROBLEM AND SOLUTION ❑ THE WRITER IS PROVIDING THE
POSSIBLE/ POTENTIAL PROBLEMS AND
APPROPRIATE SOLUTION
❑ COMPARE AND CONTRAST ❑ USING SIMILES, METAPHORS.
ANALOGIES
❑ DESCRIPTION ❑ USING SENSORY DETAILS/ ADJECTIVES
❑ DIRECTION ❑ ANSWERS HOW TO MAKE/ DO
STATEMENTS
❑ STATES THE PROCEDURE, INSTRUCTION
OR PROCESS (e.g. Cook Book, Manual
etc.)
TINTIN ARCALAS
 READING STRATEGIES
■ PREVIEWING - a strategy that readers use to recall
prior knowledge and set a purpose for
reading.
- means that you get an idea of what it is
about without actually reading the main
body of the text.

TINTIN ARCALAS
To Preview, start by reading:
■ the title and author details
■ the abstract (if there is one)
■ then read only the parts that ‘jump out’; that is: main headings
and sub headings, chapter summaries, any highlighted text
■ examine any illustrations, graphs, tables or diagrams and their
captions, as these usually summarize the content of large slabs
of text
■ the first sentence in each paragraph

TINTIN ARCALAS
 READING STRATEGIES
■ SKIMMING - involves running your eye very quickly
over large chunks of text.
- It is different from previewing because
skimming involves the paragraph text.
- allows you to pick up some of the main
ideas without paying attention to detail.

TINTIN ARCALAS
How to skim:
■ note any bold print and graphics.
■ start at the beginning of the reading and glide your eyes
over the text very quickly.
■ do not actually read the text in total. You may read a few
words of every paragraph, perhaps the first and last
sentences.
■ always familiarize yourself with the reading material by
gaining an overview and/or skimming before reading in
detail.
TINTIN ARCALAS
 READING STRATEGIES
■ SCANNING - Scanning is sweeping your eyes (like
radar) over part of a text to find specific
pieces of information.
- It is used to quickly locate specific
information from a large quantity of
written material.
TINTIN ARCALAS
To scan text:
■ after gaining an overview and skimming, identify the
section(s) of the text that you probably need to read.
■ start scanning the text by allowing your eyes (or finger)
to move quickly over a page.
■ as soon as your eye catches an important word or
phrase, stop reading.
■ when you locate information requiring attention, you
then slow down to read the relevant section more
thoroughly.
■ scanning and skimming are no substitutes for thorough
reading and should only be used to locate material
quickly.
TINTIN ARCALAS
 READING STRATEGIES
■ INTENSIVE - Intensive reading is detailed, focused,
READING ‘study’ reading of those important parts,
pages or chapters.
- When you have previewed an article and used
the techniques of skimming and scanning to
find what you need to concentrate on, then
you can slow down and do some intensive
reading.
TINTIN ARCALAS
 READING GOALS
■ Why am I reading this text?
■ What info do I need?
■ What do I want to learn?

TINTIN ARCALAS
 CONTENT & STYLE OF
ACADEMIC TEXT
■ A well-structured text enables the reader to follow the
argument and navigate the text. In academic writing a
clear structure and a logical flow are imperative to a
cohesive text.

TINTIN ARCALAS
AN AUTHOR MUST OBSERVE THE
FOLLOWING WHEN WRITING
ACADEMIC TEXTS:
■ They state critical questions and issues
■ They provide facts and evidence from credible sources
■ They use precise and accurate words while avoiding
JARGON AND COLLOQUIAL

TINTIN ARCALAS
AN AUTHOR MUST OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING
WHEN WRITING ACADEMIC TEXTS:

■ They take an objective point of view and avoid being

personal and subjective
■ They list references
■ They use hedging language to tone down their claims

TINTIN ARCALAS
 WHAT IS A JARGON?
■ A Jargon is characteristic language of particular group,
profession or event.
■ The word comes from Old French jargon meaning
“chatter of birds”.
■ One who studies Jargons is called a JARGONAUT.

TINTIN ARCALAS
AVOID COMMON COLLOQUIAL
WORDS & EXPRESSIONS
COLLOQUIAL WORD/PHRASE MORE FORMAL ALTERNATIVE

cute adorable

yeah yes

movie film

Introduce Present

TINTIN ARCALAS
Kind of/sort of Type of

Let Allow, permit

Ma’am Madam
 WRITING A LETTER OR E-MAIL
FORMAL INFORMAL

- Dear Mr./Ms. + surname - Hello/Hi + name

Formula
Opening

- Dear Sir or Madam - Dear + name

- Hi there!

- Thank you for your letter/email about… - Thanks for your letter or email
Starting your letter/ email

Many thanks for your letter/email Thanks for Writing to me

- I am writing to request information about/ It was great to hear from you again
inform you about/complain about… - I am writing to hear you about

TINTIN ARCALAS
- I am writing in/with reference to your letter - Guess what?
- I would like to offer congratulations on - How are things with you?/What’s
- Let me congratulate you on… up?/How was your holiday?
- I’m sorry I haven’t written for awhile
 WRITING A LETTER OR E-MAIL
FORMAL INFORMAL

- I look forward to hear from you without delay - Hope to hear from you soon
Remarks

- I look forward to meeting you - Looking forward to see you/hearing from

Final

- I hope to hear from you at your earliest you

convenience
Closing Remarks

- If you start with ”Dear Sir/Madam”, finish - Best wishes

with “Yours faithfully” - Love

TINTIN ARCALAS
- If you start with “Dear Mr./Ms…” finish with - All the best
“Yours sincerely” - Xoxo
- Regards/Best regards/Kind regards - Keep in touch
Other Reading Strategies: SQ3R
SURVEY
▪ Skim the target text
▪ Check the heading, tables, diagrams, etc.
▪ Read the first few and last sentences of the text to
determine key info

TINTIN ARCALAS
Other Reading Strategies: SQ3R
QUESTION
▪ Annotate the headings with your questions
▪ Develop questions on the types information you expect
from the text.

READ
▪ Look for answers to your questions as you read the text
▪ Stop and slow down if the passage is not clear
TINTIN ARCALAS
Other Reading Strategies: SQ3R
RECITE
▪ Recount the main points of the text
▪ Recall by writing a summary based on what you
understand of the text

RECALL
▪ After finishing the text, go back and re-read the
questions you wrote and see if you can answer them
TINTIN ARCALAS
 KWL METHOD
➢ Guides you in reading and understanding the text. To
apply the KWL method simply make a table with 3
columns. In the first column, write what you know about
the topic (K), in the second, list down what you want to
learn (W), and the third column, write down what you
learned (L).

TINTIN ARCALAS
KWL METHOD

TINTIN ARCALAS
CLASSROOM ACTIVITY: On a piece of paper (long bond paper),
identify the descriptions/definition/differences and similarities of
Academic and Non-Academic text using Venn Diagram. Each group
is tasked to prepare a creative oral presentation.

ACADEMIC NON-ACADEMIC