An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for

University Study

Academic essay
Video transcript

So here we have an academic essay.

In academic writing each section of the essay is of ten divided into headings and subheadings which help to
indicate the structure. The structure of ideas needs to be clear. Look in the introduction at how one idea is
explained bef ore moving on to another idea. The writer makes a general statement about the problem of food
waste, then moves onto how much f ood is wasted and the sources of f ood waste. This will lead into a
discussion of the value of f ood waste, and how it can be recycled. The ideas are logical ly structured, roughly
f ollowing a typical ‘situation - problem – solution’ structure.

What about the language and style of the writing? There is a more f ormal style here. The reader is not
addressed directly as ‘you’, as in the newspaper article, and ‘I’ and ‘In my opinion’ are not used. Instead, we
have a ‘distance’ f rom the reader. Look at how the statement is introduced in the f irst sentence “f ood waste is
considered a major nutritional and environmental problem.” And in the f inal sentence, “this proj ect will
demonstrate this potential, by explaining the value of f ood waste and introducing some recycling methods”.
There is no use of personal ‘I’. Instead, dif ferent language structures - such as the passive voice in this case -
are used to make the writing more impersonal.

However, through the choice of vocabulary, and in particular adjectives, the writer’s viewpoint on the topic is
made clear: “several extensive yet harmf ul ef f ects”, “a considerable economic loss”, “it can potentially have
huge value economically”.

Did you notice the use of more cautious language? “Even economic development and the environment can
be negatively impacted by f ood waste (Gustavsson et al, 2011)”. And again, “Although f ood waste at the
retail stage may be considered small in comparison with the amount of f ood waste overall, it is still an issue
which can lead to considerable economic loss as well as environmental problems”. The use of ‘might’ and
‘can’ shows that the writer is either making a claim that is not yet f ully p roven, or accepts that there are
dif f erent viewpoints on an issue and this use of cautious language is characteristic of academic writing. In the
academic world, knowledge is constructed socially, and there is an expectation that new ideas, theories, or
interpretations are tested thoroughly, bef ore they are accepted into the mainstream.

You will see that another major dif f erence is that academic writing ref ers to dif f erent sources to support the
points that are made. Here the writer ref ers to data f rom the European Commission, to show the extent of
f ood waste, to show how serious a problem it is. There is another ref erence to a publication by Gustavsson.
You also see there is a particular convention f or citing these sources, “The European Commission (2011)
estimated” and, “(Gustavsson, 2011)”.

One of the most important aspects of academic writing is making use of sources, the ideas of other people
f rom books, journals and other reading material, as you need to show that you have read about the topic and
understood the materials that you have studied. You can use these ideas and f indings in your writing. The
correct use of outside sources also lends credibility to any essay, and provides evidence of an ability to think
critically, to relate one’s reading to the needs of the assignment and one’s own viewpoint. These sources are
also listed at the end of the essay in a ‘List of Ref erences’ section.

In this course we will be looking in more detail at all of the f eatures discussed here.