HANDOUTS IN English for Academic and Professional Purposes

Academic Writing

o The process of breaking down ideas and using deductive reasoning, formal voice and third person
point.
o a scholarly act of presenting or concepts about specific topic.
o is generally quite FORMAL, OBJECTIVE (IMPERSONAL) and TECHNICAL.
o a process that starts with a posing a questions, problematizing a concept, evaluating an opinion and
ends in answering the questions or questions posed, identifying the problem and or arguing a stand.
1. Literary analysis – examines, evaluates and makes an argument about a
2. Research paper – utilizes outside information to support a thesis or make an
3. Dissertation – a document submitted at the conclusion of Ph.D. program.

AREAS IN ACADEMIC WRITING:

 Content - clarity of the purpose and statement, relevance of the supporting points to the statement,
knowledge on the subject matter
 Structure - coherence and logical sequences of the ideas
 Language - word choice, sentence constructions
 Mechanics - Grammar, punctuations, capitalizations, formatting documentation.

Academic Writing

 Process that starts with

 Posing a question
 Problematizing a concept
 Evaluating an opinion
 Answering the question/questions posed
 Clarifying the problem
 Arguing for a stand

Purposes of Academic Writing

 To inform
 To argue a specific point
 To persuade

Plagiarism is the use of ideas or any relevant information of another without giving proper credit or
acknowledgement.

 When you synthesize information, you develop new understanding about a topic by using information
from more than one source.

Academic Text

o a reading material that provides information which include concepts and theories that are related to
the specific discipline

Structure of Academic Text

o Introduction
 To provide the reader with clear idea of the focus and aim of the text
 The topic of the essay/article will be presented in the introduction
 Often accompanied by a thesis statement (the claim that the writer wishes to make)
 Provides the context/background of the argument
 Introduces the theoretical perspectives, terminology, etc. that will be used
 Explains how the writing will be organized
o Body
 Where the essay’s (or article) argument, ideas and results are developed and discussed
o Conclusion
 Should not contain any new facts or ideas, but rather function as brief restatement of the main
arguments and facts that have been treated in the essay

Purposes in reading an Academic Text

 To locate main idea

  To scan for information
 To identify gaps in existing studies
 To connect new ideas to existing ones
 To gain more pieces of information
 To support a particular writing assignment
 To deeply understand an existing idea

Common Styles in Writing on Academic Text

 State critical questions and issues

 Provide Facts and evidences
 From credible sources
 Use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon
 Take an objective point of view
 List references
 Use cautious language
Features of Academic Texts

1. Complex
 Written language has longer words, it is lexically denser and it has a more varied vocabulary.
 Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more
subordinate clauses and more passives.
2. Formal
 Should avoid colloquial words and expressions
3. Precise
 Facts are given accurately and precisely
4. Objective
 Objective rather than personal
 Has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader
 Main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want
to make rather than you
5. Explicit
 It is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various
3parts of the text are related
6. Accurate
 Uses vocabulary accurately
 Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings
7. Hedging
 It is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of
the claims you are making
8. Responsible
 You must be responsible for, and must able to provide evidence and justification for, any
claims you make.
 You are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source text you use

Fundamentals of Reading Academic Texts

 The texts you read at school are different from the texts you read during your leisure time.
 While the texts you read for pleasure, such as graphic novels or magazines, can be likened to the
appeal of sweet desserts, academic texts are more like the heavy main course.
 More often than not they need to be chewed and savored for a long time before their meanings can be
fully digested.

Academic Texts Description

 Articles
 Published in scholarly journals, this type of academic text offers results of research and
developmental that can either impact the academic community or provide relevance to nation
– building.
 Conference Papers
 These are papers presented in scholastic conferences, and may be revised as articles for
possible publication in scholarly journals
 Reviews
  These provides evaluation or reviews of works published in scholarly journals
 Theses, Dissertations
 These are personal researches written by a candidate for a college or university degree.
o it can be said that in academic reading full concentration and comprehension are required for you to
understand the key ideas, information, themes, or arguments of the text
o Aside from the Fundamental differences in content and form, the difference between academic and
nonacademic texts lies in the approach you take when reading them.

Reading Goals

 It is important that you know your purpose for reading early on, so you can save time and improve
your comprehension.
 Before you read an academic text, ask first yourself the following questions.
1. Why am I reading this Text?
2. What information or pieces of information do I need?
3. What do I want to learn?

 Below are some general purposes for reading an academic text.

 To better understand an existing idea
 To get ideas that can support a particular writing assignment
 To gain more information
 To identify gaps in existing studies
 To connect new ideas to existing ones

Structure of Academic Texts

 Academic texts are typically formal. They have a clearly structured introduction, body, and conclusion.
They also include information from credible sources which are, in turn, properly cited. They also
include a list of references used in developing the academic paper.

Content and Style of Academic Texts

 Academic texts include concepts and theories that are related to the specific discipline they explore.
 They usually exhibit all the properties of a well written text i.e., organization, unity, coherence and
cohesion, as well as strict adherence to rules of language use and mechanics.
 In general, authors 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 expression
 They take an objective point-of-view and avoid being personal and subjective
 They list preferences
 They use hedging or cautious language to tone down their claims.
 Here are examples of hedging expressions used in academic texts.
Critical Reading Strategies

 Reading academic texts requires focus and understanding.

 You have to interact with the text by questioning its assumptions, responding to its arguments, and
connecting it to real- life experiences and applications.
 To adopt a critical reading approach, practice the strategies to be employed during each stage of
reading.

1. Before Reading
 Determine which type of academic text (article, review, thesis, etc.) you are reading
 Determine and establish your purpose for reading
 Identify the author’s purpose for writing
 Predict or infer the main idea or argument of the text based on its title
 Identify your attitude towards the author and the text
 State what you already know and what you want to learn about the topic
 Determine the target audience
 Check the publication date for relevance. It should have been published at most five years
earlier than the current year.
 Check the reference list while making sure to consider the correctness of the formatting style.
  Use a concept map or a graphic organizer to note your existing ideas and knowledge on the
topic.
2. During Reading
 Annotate Important parts of the text.
o Annotating a text can help you determine essential ideas or information, main ideas or
arguments, and new information or ideas. Here are some ways to annotate a text.
o Write key words or phrases on the margins in bullet form.
o Write something on the page margin where important information is found.
o Write brief notes on the margin.
o Write questions on information that you find confusing.
o Write what you already know about the ideas
o Write the limitations of the author’s arguments
o Write notes on the reliability of the text
o Comment on the author’s biases
o Use a concept map or any graphic organizer to note down the ideas being explained.
o React on the arguments presented in the text.
o Underline important words, phrases, or sentences
o Underline or circle meanings or definitions
o Mark or highlight relevant / essential parts of the text
o Use the headings and transition words to identify relationships in the text.
o Create a bank of unfamiliar or technical words
o Synthesize author’s arguments at the end of chapter or section
o Determine the main idea of the text
o Identify the evidence or supporting arguments presented by the author and check their
validity and relevance.
o Identify the findings and note the appropriateness of the research method used.
3. 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.
4. Other Reading Strategies
 In addition to the given strategies before, during, and after reading, there are other reading
strategies that you can employ to ensure critic reading not only of academic text, but also of
other texts in general.
 SQ3R Method of Reading
The SQ3R method stands for Survey (Skim), Question, Read, Recite (or Recall), Review.
I. Question
- Annotate the headings with your questions
- Develop questions on the types of information you expected from the text.
II. Read
- Look for answers to your questions as you read the text.
- Stop and slow down if the passage is not clear.
- Make sure to proceed reading only when you already understand the previous texts.
III. Recite
- Recount the main points of the text.
- Recall by writing a summary or synthesis based on what you understand of the text.
- Highlight or underline the important points you read.
IV. Review
- After finishing the text, go back and re-read the questions you wrote and see if you
can answer them; if not, refresh your memory
- Evaluate what you learned to ensure that you are convinced and satisfied with the
information presented in the text.
 KWL Method
- The KWL Method guides you in reading and understanding a text. To apply KWL
method, simply make a table with three 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 in
the last column, write down what you learned (L).

Locating Main Ideas

o Understanding and Locating the Thesis Statement
 The thesis statement presents or describe or describes the point of an essay. In an academic
text, the thesis statement is usually presented in the abstract or executive summary or found
at the last part of the introduction. It is written in a declarative sentence.
 In some cases, in academic text, the thesis statement located at the last part of the
introduction is replaced with a purpose statement.
 Unlike the thesis statement, the purpose statement is introduced by signal phrases that
announce the purpose, scope, or direction of the text as well as its focus.
 These signal phrases include: “This study, examined…”, “This paper examines…”, “The aim of this
essay is to…”, “This paper begins with…”, “In this paper, I hope to…”, “The primary objective of
this paper is to…”, and “The purpose of this essay is to…” among other.
o Strategies in Locating the Thesis Statement
The Following strategies are also useful in helping you locate the thesis statement of a text.
 Read the title of the text and make inferences on its purpose.
 If the text has no abstract or executive summary, read the first few paragraphs as the
thesis statement is usually located there.
 In other cases, you may also check the conclusion where authors sum up and reviews
their main points.
o Understanding and Locating Topic Sentences
 The Topic Sentence presents or describes the point of the paragraph; in other words, it is the
main idea of a paragraph. It can be located in the beginning, middle, or last part of a paragraph.
o Strategies in Locating the Topic Sentence
The following strategies are useful in helping you locate the topic sentence in a paragraph.
 Read the first sentence of the paragraph very carefully because most authors state
their topic sentence in the beginning of the paragraph.
 Browse the sentences in the paragraph to identify what they describe. The sentence
that best describe the topic of the paragraph is the topic sentence.
 Find the concept or idea being tackled, which in colloquial term is the “big word” in the
paragraph. The sentence that defines the big word is usually the topic sentence.
 Identify the purpose of the paragraph. The sentence that presents or describes the
purpose is the topic sentence.
 Observe the writing style of the author. Focus specifically on where he/ she usually
places his/ her topic sentence.
o Finding Main Ideas in Passages
The main idea of a passage is the thought that is present from the beginning to the end.
Paragraphs usually have 2 types of sentences:
 A topic sentence, which contains the main idea
 One or more detail sentences, which support, prove, provide more information, explain,
or give examples.
o Rules for Finding the Topic Sentence
1. The topic sentences are usually first, but could be in any position in the paragraph
2. A topic sentence is usually more “general” than the other sentences, that is, it talks about many
things and looks at the big picture. Sometimes it refers to more than one thing. Plural and the
words “many”, “numerous”, or “several” often signal a topic sentence.
3. Detail Sentences are usually more “specific” than the topic sentence, that is, they usually talk
about one single or small part or side of an idea. Also, the words “for example”, “i.e.”, “that is”,
“first”, “second”, “third”, etc., and “finally” often signal a detail
4. Most of the detail sentences support, give examples, prove, talk about, or point toward the topic
sentence in some way.
o Implied Main Idea
 Some paragraphs have no topic sentence
 This does not mean that there is no main idea in the paragraph
 When a paragraph has no topic sentence, the supporting details suggest the main idea
 The main idea is implied, or unstated, which means that you have to figure it out by yourself
 With the use of detail sentences or supporting sentences you can easily locate the main idea.

Prepared by:
MS. MARY JOAN N. GAYONA, LPT
EAP Instructor