Reviewer on HEN 113: Academic Reading and Writing

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Components of Academic and Professional Writing

 Context – refers to the situation where professional writing is performed.

 Message – refers to the content of your document. It includes the main topic and the details
that support it.
 Language – refers to the channel used to convey the message. It can either be visual or textual,
formal or informal, verbal and non-verbal.
 Purpose – refers to the reason or motive that you have when communication. It has two levels:
general and specific.
 Audience – is the receiver of the message.
 Product – refers to the output that you intend to produce after considering all other
components.

Academic Writing Professional Writing

Academic essay, thesis, dissertation, library Instructional materials, specification, brochure,
research, coursework, reaction paper, book business correspondence (letter and memo),
review, literature review, research report, project business and technical report
proposal, position paper

Academic Writing – refers to a type of writing produced by students in an academic setting.

 Impersonal – uses the third person perspective (he, she, it, they, him, her, them, his, her, hers,
its, their, and theirs) and does not have a direct reference to persons and feelings.
 Formal – adheres to formal English and avoids contractions.
 Field-specific vocabulary – refers to specialized words that are exclusive to a specific field of
study.
 Mechanics – follows the guidelines for language use and mechanics of a well-written texts.
 Structured – follows a certain format. Each paragraph has one main idea and clear topic
sentences. Contains effective thesis statement.
 Citation and referencing – uses effective citation (APA, MLA, IEEE, Chicago, Harvard etc.).
*Check General Tips in Writing Academic Texts (pages 155-157).

Professional Writing – refers to any type of written communication done specifically in professional
contexts: business, technical writing, government corporations and offices, academic institutions.
This aims to communicate information to a particular audience.
 Personal – uses first and second person point of view (I and you), but does not use personal
anecdotes, jokes, and colloquial expressions.
 Format – follows a standard structure and format, and conveys business and technical content.
*Check General Tips in Writing Professional Texts (pages 158-159).

Note: Both academic and professional writing shares a lot of characteristics together.

Academic Similarities Professional

 Incorporates a significant
number of references and
citation
 Less personal than
professional writing
 Used in academic context
 Uses standard English
 Generally informative
and/or persuasive
 Considers context, purpose,
audience, message, and
product
 Uses fewer citations and
references
 More personal than
academic writing
 Used in business context
 Reviewer on HEN 113: Academic Reading and Writing

BOOK REVIEW OR ARTICLE CRITIQUE

Book Review or Article Critique – refers to a critical assessment, analysis, or evaluation of a book or
journal article. It usually ranges from 250-750 words. Book review is different from a book
report.
Structure of a Book Review or Article Critique

Introduction (around 5% of the paper)

 Title of the book/article
 Writer’s name
 Writer’s thesis statement

Summary (10% of the paper)

 Writer’s objective or purpose
 Methods used (if applicable)
 Major findings or claims

Review/Critique (in no particular order) (around 75% of the paper)

 Appropriateness of methodology to support the arguments
 Theoretical soundness
 Soundness of explanation in relation to other available information and experts
 Other perspective in explaining the concepts and ideas
 Coherence of ideas

Conclusion (around 10% of the paper)

 Overall impression of the work
 Scholarly value of the reviewed article/book
 Benefits to the intended audience
 Suggestion for future directions

*Check Guidelines in Writing a Book Review or Article Critique (pages 171-172)

LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature Review – refers to an academic writing that critically analyzes the relationship among
different scholarly works and academic books (but not textbooks). Unlike an annotated
bibliography which presents a summary of a book or article, a literature review combines both
summary and synthesis of different works (i.e., linking different sources).

Annotated Bibliography Book Review Literature Review

Summarizes the references and Evaluates a book Reviews significant number of
explains how important they are in scholarly works to identify what is
addressing the research questions known and not known about a topic

Functions of a Literature Review

 Justifies a research question, method, or theoretical and conceptual framework

 Establishes the relevance of the topic
 Provides necessary information to better understand a specific topic or study
 Shows reviewers familiarity and mastery of the topic
 Establishes the niche of the study
 Resolves conflict among contradictory studies
 Reviewer on HEN 113: Academic Reading and Writing

RESEARCH REPORT

Research Report – refers to an expanded paper that presents interpretations and analyses of a
phenomenon based on experiments and previous information so that readers can better
understand it.

Parts of a Research Report

 Title page
 Abstract – contains the summary of the research finding and conclusion.
o Context of the study
o Research questions/objectives
o Methodology
o Major findings
o Conclusion/implications
 Introduction
 Literature Review
o Related concepts
o Related studies
 Methodology
o Instruments
o Data gathering
o Data analysis
 Results -
 Discussion
 Conclusion
 References

PROJECT PROPOSAL

Project Proposal – a persuasive and informative document that aims to address a particular problem or
issue by offering a project for an individual or group.

Types of Project Proposal

 Solicited internal
 Solicited external
 Unsolicited internal
 Unsolicited external

Parts of Project Proposal

 Cover Letter
 Title Page
 Abstract or executive summary
 Context of the Proposal
 Project Justification
 Personnel Involved
 Project Implementation
o Activity plan
o Resource plan
 Budget
 Monitoring and Evaluation
 Reporting Scheme
 Conclusion
 References
 Reviewer on HEN 113: Academic Reading and Writing

POSITION PAPER

Position Paper – is a type of an academic paper that presents one’s stand or viewpoint on a particular
issue. It takes a position in a larger debate by stating your arguments and proposed course of action.

Parts of a Position Paper

Introduction
 Uses a lead that grabs the attention of readers.
 Defines the issue and provide a thorough background.
 Provides a general statement of your position through a thesis statement.

Body
 States your main arguments and provide sufficient evidence (statistics, interviews with experts,
and testimonies) for each argument.
 Provides counterarguments against possible weaknesses of your arguments.

Conclusion
 Restates your position and main arguments.
 Suggests a course of action.
 Explains why your position is better than any other position.
 Ends with a powerful closing statement (quotation, a challenge, or a question).

LETTERS, MEMOS, AND ELECTRONIC MAILS

Letters

Business Letters – refers to a professional writing that are mainly used for businesses. An effective
business letter elicits the expected response from the readers. This can be achieved through a concise,
tactful, and accurate writing style.

Purposes of Business Letters

 For sales efforts
 For complaints
 For information dissemination
 For relationship building
 For problem-solving, and others

Parts of a Business Letter

 Letterhead – identifies the writer, her/his address, and contact numbers.
 Date – is placed between the letterhead and the inside address
 Inside Address – identifies the reader’s name, position and company, and address; it is placed
immediately below the date
 Attention Line – is used when the writer wishes to address the whole company but wants to
bring it to the attention of a particular person in the company:
o Two formats:
 Attention Dr. Gilda Cores
 Attention: Dr. Gilda Cores
 Salutation – refers to the writer’s greeting to the reader
 Body – contains the message of the letter. Paragraphs are single-spaced internally but double-
spaced to separate paragraphs. If the letter is too short, the body can be double-spaced and
triple-spaced from separate paragraphs.

 Complimentary Close – refers to the expression used to end a letter.

 Reviewer on HEN 113: Academic Reading and Writing

o Level of formality:
 Highly formal – Respectfully yours, Respectfully, Very respectfully
 Polite and Formal – Very truly yours, Yours very truly, Yours truly
 Less Formal – Sincerely yours, Yours, Cordially yours
 Informal and Friendly – As ever, Best regards, Kindest regards, Regards
 Signature Block – includes the signature and the typed name of the sender. The typed name can
be in all caps (HARRY DAMUS) or capitalize initial letters (Harry Damus)
 Identification Initials – indicates the typist’s initials if the sender is not the one who personally
typed the document.
 Enclosure Notation – are the attachments to the letter.
 Copy Notation – indicates the name of the secondary recipients of the letter.
It is indicated by cc: which means carbon copy or courtesy copy.

*Check sample letter on page 265

Three Formats of a Business Letters

 Full Block Most commonly-used format
 Modified Block Another widely-used format
 Semi Block Least-used format

Memorandum

Memorandum – also known as “memo” is meant to inform as well as to persuade people within an
organization. It follows an inverted pyramid structure which means that the most important information
comes first.

Types of Memo
 Instruction Memo – provides the information needed by the readers to accurately perform
directions.
 Request Memo – asks readers to provide certain information or take certain actions.
 Announcement Memo – provides information about an event, person, or thing.
 Transmittal Memo – serves as a cover note for a more formal or lengthy document
 Authorization Memo – gives permission.

*Check sample memos on pages 266-270

E-Mail

E-mail or Electronic mail – used for sending messages through the internet.

Guidelines in Writing an E-mail

 Do not change the subject line when you reply to an e-mail
 The To line should only contain the names of the primary readers. Secondary readers must be
placed in the cc line.
 Never publish an e-mail without the permission of the creator
 Use a standard memo format
 Maintain professionalism. Be careful in using emoticons and informal internet jargons like LOL
and BRB.
 If attaching a file, make the filename of the attached document meaningful. For instance,
instead of using “jsbletter”, use “jessiebarrot-coverletter.”
 Use formal email address. Avoid email address like gandakho143@gmail.com. Use more formal
and identifiable email address like sirmercades@gmail.com.