ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND It can be achieved through the following ways : Poor example: How can these
Poor example: How can these problems be
PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
ACADEMIC WRITING
It is a process that starts with posing a
question, problematizing a concept, evaluating
an opinion, and ends in answering the question
or questions posed, clarifying a problem and/or
arguing for a stand. Just like other kinds of
writing, academic writing has a specific purpose,
which is to inform, to argue a specific point, and
to persuade.
Academic writing is thinking; you cannot just
write anything that comes to your mind. You
have to abide by the set of rules and practices in
writing. You have to write a language that is
appropriate and formal but not too pretentious.
Aspects of Professional and Academic
Language
Four Important features of language use that
you need to know
1. Formality
refers to your dignified stance in your
writing as a member of the academic
community. This means that since your audience
are fellow members of the academic
community, the language you use requires
precision to make it a “legitimate” piece of
academic writing.
o choosing expanded modal forms over
contracted forms, such as using cannot
instead of can’t, do not instead of don’t.
o choosing one verb form over two-word
verbs, such as damage instead of mess
up.
o choosing expanded terms over their
abbreviated equivalents, such as soon as
possible instead of ASAP.
o avoiding colloquial/trite/idiomatic
expressions, such as kind of like, as a
matter of fact, I need to go to the John.
2. Objectivity
This means that writing must be impersonal
and maintain a certain level of social distance.
Objectivity can be achieved by:
1. Avoiding the use of personal pronouns
such as you, I and we.
Poor example: You need to conduct the
experiment
Improved version: The researchers need to
conduct the experiment.
2. Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks
“closeness” with the reader and constantly
seeks his/her attention.
solved?
Improved version: Certain measures must be
discovered to solve the problems.
3. Avoiding emotive language that shows biases
and lessens objectivity.
Poor example: The investigators were very
shocked to see the outcome of the tests.
Improved version: the investigators did not
expect the results.
3. Explicitness
Academic writing demands the use of signposts
that allow readers to trace the relationships in
the parts of the study.
*If you intend to show a change in your line of
argument, make it clear by using however.
Example:
It is apparent that the government hopes to
provide assistance to the poor. However, giving
dole outs to the “poorest of the poor” does not
work in the long term.
The following phrases may be useful in making
ideas explicit:
1. This is due to the…
Example: A number of MERALCO consumers
trooped to the City Hall to claim a PHP 500 cash
incentive. This is due to the Supreme Court
ruling that overcharges must be returned to the
end users whose electric consumption for the
April-May period was below 100kw/hr.
2. This resulted in…
Example:
With the Supreme Court ordering MERALCO
to return overcharges to the end users,
government offices have been tapped to
operate as claim centers. This resulted in a
number of MERALCO consumers trooping to the
City Hall to claim the PHP 500.OO cash incentive.
*When two ideas seem the same, express each
one clearly.
Example:
The study showed that eighty percent of the
200 participants involved in the study were
dissatisfied with the operations of MERALCO.
Similarly, the study revealed that majority of the
participants were not aware of the charges
imposed on them by MERALCO.
*If you intend to give extra information in your
sentence, make it clear by writing “In
addition”…
MERALCO has been operating as a business
conglomerate involving foreign stakeholders and
independent power produces or IPP. In addition,
MERALCO owns major IPPs operating in the
region.
*If you are giving examples, do so explicitly by
writing “For example…”
The MERALCO issue has led to disputes
between opposition and administration
senators. For example, those who have been
labelled as against the president considered the
issue as the administration’s way of avoiding the
NB-ZTE scandal.
4. Caution
Academic writing requires care since
knowledge is built from proven theories and
concepts. Therefore, caution is needed to avoid
sweeping generalizations.
Examples:
Government officials are corrupt.
* The statement is not completely true and the
rhetorical impact of the statement may be
misleading. The statement can be improved
through the use of devices such as modal verbs,
adverbs, or verbs.
Improved versions:
Some government officials may be corrupt.
(modal verb)
Corruption is commonly linked to some key
government officials. (adverb)
A number of government officials tend to be
linked with cases of corruption. (verb)
In academic writing, caution needs to be
observed in the following parts of your paper:
1. When a hypothesis needs to be tested
2. Drawing conclusions or predictions from your
findings that may generalize certain matters or
may not be conclusive
3. Referencing others’ work to build on your
paper
*Adverbs of Frequency: often, sometimes,
usually
Example: The essays that were given marks
were usually high.
Since Academic writing draws on previous
writings done related to your topic (in the case
of research writing), it is important that creating
knowledge is expressed through means that do
not lead to sweeping generalizations that may
directly attack other writers’ point of view.
If your results show something different from
another author’s ideas, there are possible ways
in writing these points:
1. The results contradict Meyer’s findings
2. The results appear to be different from
Meyer’s findings
5. Structure
Aside from language, sentences need to be
constructed in such a way that they show a level
of complexity that reflects the sophistication of
an academic writer.
*In combining ideas effectively, you will need to
avoid redundancy and at the same time, make
sure that ideas are packed effectively.
Example:
The earthquake caused loss of life.
The earthquake caused massive property
damage.
The earthquake changed the landscape of the
village.
They can be rewritten this way:
The earthquake was a disaster that caused loss
of life, property damage and permanent changes
in the landscape.
Nominalization and Passivization
In nominalization, the verbs are made central as
they denote action. Transforming verbs into
nouns helps readers focus on the action not on
the doer of the action.
Examples:
1.The company created software to manage
the transactions successfully.
Nominalization:
Examples:
1. The researcher conducted experiments to
validate the hypothesis.
Passivization:
Experiments were conducted to validate the
hypothesis.
2.An engineer built a saltwater lamp to help
communities with no electricity.
Passivization:
A saltwater lamp was built to help
communities with no electricity.
CRITICAL READING OF TEXT
Critical Reading
involves scrutinizing any information that you
read or hear. Critical Reading means not easily
#4 Evaluate the text
Example:
Girls most likely do well in academics during high
school years but boys get ahead of them in
college.
Female teenagers are more concerned with their
physical appearance than male teenagers.
Critical Reading as Reasoning
Assertions are declarative sentences that claim
something is true about something else. Simply
put, it is a sentence that is either true or false.
Four types of Assertion
Assertion of fact
 This is a statement that can be proven
objectively by direct experience,
testimonies of witnesses, verified
observations or the results of research.

The creation of software to manage
transactions was a success.
2. The president announced a three-day
holiday this September.
believing information offered to you by a text. It
is an active process of discovery.
How can you be a critical reader?
#1 Annotate what you read.
 Example:
The Sampaguita’s roots are used
for medicinal purposes, such as
anesthetic and a sedative.

Nominalization: #2 Outline the text.

The president’s announcement of a three-day Thesis Statement: Assertion of Convention
holiday for September was released.
 A convention is a way in which
Supporting details: something is done, similar to traditions
Point 1 : and norms. Conventions depend on
In passive construction, the results of actions are Point 2 : historical precedent, laws, rules, usage,
highlighted. In academic writing, all the results Point 3 : and customs.
of the action are a product of the writer’s work.
#3 Summarize the text.
  Example: Filipinos are known for being
hospitable, religious and resilient.
Assertion of Opinion
 Opinions are based on facts, but are
difficult to objectively verify because of
the uncertainty of producing
satisfactory proofs of soundness.
 Example:
The popularity of Sampaguita flowers is
most evident in places of worship.
Assertion of Preference
 Preferences are based on personal
choice; therefore they are subjective
and cannot be objectively proven or
logically attacked.
 Sampaguitas are the most beautiful and
most fragrant of all flowers.
Plagiarism
■ Is defined as the copying verbatim of
language and ideas of writer and taking
credit for them.
■ There are two types of Plagiarism:
-Plagiarism of Language
-Plagiarism of Ideas
Plagiarism of Ideas
■ occur when credit for a work is ascribed
to oneself untruthfully. To address this
proper citations should be done.
Author-oriented citation
■ starts with the surname of the author,
followed by the year of publication in
parenthesis. Verbs of statement such as
argues, believes, posits, and emphasizes
at the start or paragraph or sentence
may be used.
EXAMPLE
■ Pulido (2012) believes that language in
an online environment can be
understood if other modes of online
communication are further analyzed to
provide a full account of interaction in
virtual worlds.
Text-oriented citation
■ In a text-orientation citation, a
paragraph or sentence from a source is
followed with the surname of the author
of the work and the year of publication.
The citation must be enclosed in the
parenthesis.
■ EXAMPLE:
Unless educators realize the importance
of reading and writing across subject
areas, problems, in comprehension of
subject matter will be a prominent issue
in the teaching earning process (Estacio,
2010)
Another way of citation
■ Start the sentence or paragraph by using
the phrase “According to...” followed by
the surname of the author and the year
of publication enclosed in parenthesis.
EXAMPLE
■ According to Mendoza (1990), by the
end of the century, our fuel reserves will
be reduced to half, scarcity of energy
supplies will be a big problem.
Plagiarism of Language
■ Happens an author uses the
language of another writer and
claims it as his or her own. To
address plagiarism of language,
effective note-taking techniques
should be used.
■ There are three types of note-taking
techniques:
using direct quotations,
summarizing, and paraphrasing.
■ Using direct quotations is employed
for statements that are so closely
associated that altering the words
may lose its rhetorical impact.
■ Using direct quotations means to lift
text and enclose them in quotation
marks. In addition to the author’s
name, the page numbers are
included.
Example: “Globalization is just a
 covert term for colonization.” (Reyes,
1994, p. 2)
■ If the text is too long, you may omit
certain parts and replace them with
an ellipses (three dots). If the words
omitted are at the end of the
statement, another dot is added,
making it four.
Example: “Smartphones resulted
from global innovations in
technology… and therefore,
consumers need to be updated on
the latest trends it they want to
maximize opportunities offered by
these gadgets to make daily
activities more convenient.” (De
Claro, 2010., p. 7)
■ Interpolation may be done to insert
notes within the directly quoted
passage to help readers understand
the context of the statement.
Interpolation is marked by open and
Summarizing is a short restatement of the main
closed brackets.
idea of a text.
■ Example:
For developing the summary, the following tips
“ De Quiros, Zabala, Uy, and Lee
may be useful:
believe that the education sector should
address the material conditions of
schools to improve teaching and
learning.” (Danao, 2011, p. 7)
“[Educators] believe that the
education sector should address the
material conditions of schools to 2. After getting the main idea/s, use your
improve teaching and learning.” (Danao, own words in your summary. Make sure
2011, p. 7) to check if the relationships between the
ideas are established.
■ Using too many direct quotations
does not reveal your identity as an 3. When done with your summary, recheck
author. your output with the original to see if
your output does not stray from the
■ As a rule of thumb, twenty percent original text.
of the total length of the work may
employ direct quotations.
PARAPHRASING
PARAPHRASING is a restatement in your
own words of the main idea and
supporting details of a text.
The following are several ways in
paraphrasing..
Continuous Story Telling
1. Literal Paraphrasing – replaces
vocabulary terms from the original text
2. Structural Paraphrasing – This type
changes the sentence structure
Summarizing
1. Make sure to read the text thoroughly
and highlight the important details in
the text. Bear in mind that certain
details have relationships and these
need to be noted as well.
 CREATIVE WRITING VS. ACADEMIC PRE-WRITING Stages of Pre-writing
WRITING (first step to writing) BRAIN STORMING
STYLE What is Pre-writing? - Thinking of ideas
- IS THE CHIEF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC What are the questions that should be - Gathering ideas
AND CREATIVE WRITING. considered when it comes to Pre-writing?
Free Writing
In what way can these questions help us in Pre-
writing? - Listing down of idea

Prewriting is the first stage of the writing - Write anything related to topic
process, and includes all the things you do
Clustering
before you are ready to write out the first
version of your text. Organizing ideas using Graphic Organizer

1. What is my Purpose for writing? (Is it to Journalistic Questions

inform, to persuade, or to express?)
Asking WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN
2. For whom am I writing? (Who is my audience
(WH and H Questions)
or reader?)
Looping
3. What message do I want to communicate
(send)? ( What is the content or substance of my Using information from the other stages of pre-
text?) writing which can be expounded
4. What is the best pattern of writing for this
message that I am sending? (Is it narrative,
descriptive, comparison/contrast, or definition?)

5. How do I want to sound to my

audience/readers? (What should my tone be?)