Background to

1EEE CHAPTER

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writing
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Most academic courses assess students through written
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9 assignments. These include coursework, which may take weeks
20 to write, and exam answers, which often have to be written in an
1 hour or less. This unit deals with:
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3 • The names of different writing tasks
4 • The format of long and short writing tasks
5EEE • The use of sentences and paragraphs
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9 1 The purpose of academic writing
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1 Writers should be clear why they are writing. The most common reasons
2 for writing include:
3 • to report on a piece of research the writer has conducted
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• to answer a question the writer has been given or chosen
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6 • to discuss a subject of common interest and give the writer’s view
7 • to synthesise research done by others on a topic
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9 ■ Can you suggest any other reasons?
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2 In all cases it is useful to bear in mind the likely readers of your work.
36222 How can you explain your ideas to them effectively? Although there is no
4 Part 1 The writing process

fixed standard of academic writing, it is clearly different from the written

style of newspapers or novels. Similarly, it is generally agreed that academic
writing attempts to be accurate and objective. What are its other features?

■ Working alone or in a group, list your ideas below.

• Impersonal style
____________________________________________________________

• ____________________________________________________________
• ____________________________________________________________
• ____________________________________________________________

2 Common types of academic writing

Below are the most common types of written work produced by students.

■ Match the terms on the left to the definitions on the right.

Notes A piece of research, either individual or group

work, with the topic chosen by the student(s).

Report The longest piece of writing normally done by

a student (20,000+ words) often for a higher
degree, on a topic chosen by the student.

Project A written record of the main points of a text or

lecture, for a student’s personal use.

Essay A general term for any academic essay, report,

presentation or article.

Dissertation/ A description of something a student has done

Thesis e.g. conducting a survey.

Paper The most common type of written work,

with the title given by the teacher, normally
1000–5000 words.