Assumption College of Nabunturan

Senior High School Department

Mobile Number: 09054093947/09167585780
Emails: sirwhilmarkmuca@gmail.com/ sierte.joyce@gmail.com
Consultation hour: Every Activity Hour

August 8, 2020

APP 1: ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Microsoft Teams:

Dear Student,

We are pleased that you have chosen to study with us here at the College of Teacher
Education of Assumption College of Nabunturan. It is our privilege that we will be able to
provide the support and information you need to succeed in this subject.

We are one of the assigned teachers of this subject and will be your primary point of
contact in relation to any academic matters concerning your study in this subject. Our contact
details and our course code in the Microsoft Teams are as shown above. We look forward to
connecting with you, particularly by email or text messages. We also expect your complete
participation in our incoming discussions in Google classroom. If you have questions with the
concepts presented, feel free to inquire for clarification by posting questions in the dialog box.
Due to the new normal systems, some activity requires submission through electronic way for
assessment and evaluation. It requires a student to have their essential contacts; such as
emails, to utilize the virtual class management.

This module was made primarily as an alternative way of extending education thru
remote learning; as part of the new normal system. A work textbook which is compliant with one
of the core subjects under the K to 12 Senior High School Curriculum. It aims at the
development of reading and writing skills of learners developing academic writings.

It is with great optimism that this textbook will be beneficial tool to all Senior High School
students as they board into a new learning journey under the K to 12 Basic Education
Curriculum.

Subject Teacher:

Christine Joyce Sierte

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

TABLE OF CONTENTS pages

UNIT 1: A GLIMPSE AT THE WORLD OF WRITING

LESSON 1: Nature of Academic Texts 1
LESSON 2: Critical Reading and Thesis Statement 8
LESSON 3: Paraphrasing and Summarizing 17
LESSON 4: The Writing Process and Avoiding Plagiarism 27

UNIT 2: AN ENTRANCE TO THE REALM OF ACADEMIC WRITING

Chapter 1 – The Reaction Paper
LESSON 1: Nature of a Review 43
LESSON 2: Writing of a Review 48

Chapter 2 – The Concept Paper

LESSON 1: Nature of a Concept Paper 57
LESSON 2: Writing a Concept Paper 67

Chapter 3 – The Position Paper

LESSON 1: Nature of a Position Paper 73
LESSON 2: Writing a Position Paper 79

REFERENCES 87
ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

UNIT 1 A GLIMPSE AT THE WORLD OF WRITING

DESCRIPTION

This unit lays out the intermediate approach to writing and reading structure using
the English language. It covered the fundamental structures in academic writing; its nature
and the essential topic to learn before engaging to the intensive writing process.

In this unit, you will start learning the nature of academic texts and applying
effective ways by using your critical thinking skills in reading, to process valuable
information for your writings in various disciplines.

The unit measured your reading and writing skills through various activities
formulated for the new normal system with its selected learning competencies ensuring
the feasibility of the subject. At the end of this unit, you are expected to equip with skills
intended for the writing process which is a necessary tool for the next unit’s discussion.
LESSON 1: NATURE OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

Lesson Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
 Determines the structure of a specific academic text;
 Differentiates language used in academic texts from various disciplines;
 Explains the specific ideas contained in an academic texts.

Motivational Activity

Complete the missing link below by following the context clues or hints.

1. This is related to education and scholarship

- _____ C _____ D _____ M _____ _____

2. A book or other written or printed work, regarded in terms of its content rather than its
physical form.
- _____ E _____ T

Processing Activity

Ponder on this: What you know

1. From Item 2, what do you think are the works which can be considered as such?

2. Have you ever read school paper articles? or a magazine? How will you differentiate
these two?
 Key Takeaways

Lesson Spotlight
Academic writing is a type of writing which is related to the school, your studies
or your education. The term academic means relating to education or educational
studies. This type of writing is usually done by students as a class requirement or by
teachers for a specific purpose. Writing informative and persuasive essays is an
example. Conducting a research study is also considered as academic writing. How can
we differ this from other types of writing? Let us discuss further the characteristics of
academic writing. Through this we can distinguish academic writing from the other
forms of writing.

Academic writing is a process that starts with posing a question, problematizing a

concept, evaluating an opinion, and ends in answering the question, clarifying a
problem, and arguing for a stand.

It has specific purpose which is:

-to inform;
-to argue a specific point; and
-to persuade.

It also addresses specific audience. In most cases it is your teacher who will
check what you have written. It could also be your classmates or peers who will
evaluate your work. There are also instances that the academic community will read
your work. In academic writing you need to assume that your audience is composed of
people who are knowledgeable on the topic you are writing about. That is why you need
to be careful and you need to demonstrate a thorough understanding of your subject at
hand.

This makes academic writing different from other forms of writing like a personal
narrative, creative essay, or a legal document, in which the knowledge of the writer is
assumed greater than that of the readers.

Academic writing is thinking; you cannot just write anything that comes to your
mind. There are set rules and practices in writing that you should follow. You have to
write in a language that is appropriate, formal and not too pretentious. Be mindful of the
words that you use in writing because you need to consider the knowledge and
background of your readers.

Writing academic papers requires deliberate, thorough, and careful thought and
that is why it involves research. Through research you can make sure that you can back
up your statements with strong and valid evidence.
 Students, professors, and researchers in every discipline use academic writing to
convey ideas, make arguments, and engage in scholarly conversation. Academic
writing is characterized by evidence-based arguments, precise word choice, logical
organization, and an impersonal tone. Though sometimes thought of as long-winded or
inaccessible, strong academic writing is quite the opposite: It informs, analyzes, and
persuades in a straightforward manner and enables the reader to engage critically in a
scholarly dialogue. (Valdes, 2019)
Academic writing is, of course, any formal written work produced in an academic
setting. While academic writing comes in many forms, the following are some of the
most common, (literary analysis, research paper, dissertation, etc.). In this lesson, read
some given articles or sample readings to start with the lesson.

TEXT A

Dr. John Doe

Director of Research
Widget Algorithms
Concordia University
New York, NY 23456
USA

Dear Dr. Doe,

We are pleased to invite you to the “International Conference: Using Widgets in

the next phase of Small Devices Integration,” scheduled from 28-30 March 2016
in Washington DC. This Conference will be a joint effort of the University of
Concordia and the University of Michigan.

The Vice Chancellor of the University of Michigan Dr Samuel Golden, will

inaugurate the Conference and the President of Bell Industries is expected to
address the Closing Ceremony.

The Conference deliberations will be on the following themes:

 Using Widgets for whatever
 Transforming widgets to whatever
 Reusing Widgets

It is an honour and privilege to invite you to participate in this Conference

as Speaker for the Workshop on “Using widgets for whatever”. We believe
 that your contribution to this field is unparalleled and a workshop on this topic will
be of great benefit.
We look forward to a positive confirmation, an honour for us indeed. Kindly RSVP
by February 20, 2016 to the Conference Secretary, Ms. Mary Longe, at
info@widgetconference2016.com

Your Faithfully,

Dr Mark Loner
Conference Planning Chair
Dept of Electronics
Mark University, Michigan.

TEXT B
Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the
end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high
expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus
Good."

Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in

this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture
and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or
rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and
understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully
fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to
such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I
remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my
hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the
time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been
able to appreciate it fully. […]
 Exercise 1.1

Let’s find out in this activity. Read and evaluate these two texts and answer the
following questions after reading them.

1. In your opinion, which of the texts is an academic text?

2. Why did you consider it as an academic text?

Exercise 1.2

How then do you distinguish an academic text from a business letter or a

personal essay?
Find a partner and discus your answer regarding the articles. Below is a table
that will help you answer this question. Reread the two texts and fill out this table based
on your evaluation of the texts.

Text A Text B
What is the text about? (subject/focus)

What is the writer’s goal in writing the

text? (purpose)

Who is the target reader of the text?

(audience)
What is the point of view used in text?
(first person, second person, third
person)

How much does the writer know of the

subject? (writer’s knowledge)

Evaluation

Based on the learning you have from this lesson, define and give the features of
academic writing.

Academic writing is ______________________________________________________

Academic writing requires _________________________________________________

Academic writing is different from a creative essay, a business letter, and a legal
document in terms of ____________________________________________________