ACADEMIC WRITING
there is a persuasive element in at least the
- A process that start with posing a question,
problematizing a concept, evaluating an opinion
and ends in answering the question or question
posed, clarifying the problem, and/or arguing
for a stand.
PURPOSE:
- To inform
- To argue a specific point
- To persuade
- You have to write in a language that is
appropriate and formal but not pretentious.
- Consider the knowledge and background of
your audience
- You have to make sure that you can back up
your statement with a strong and valid evidence
CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING AREAS AS YOU
WRITE:
• CONTENT - clarity of the purpose and the
thesis statement, relevance of the supporting
points to the thesis statement, knowledge on
the subject matter.
• STRUCTURE – coherence and logical sequence
of the ideas
• LANGUAGE AND STRUCTURE – word choice,
sentence construction
• MECHANICS – grammar, punctuations,
capitalization, formatting, documation
TYPES OF ACADEMIC WRITING
• DESCRIPTIVE – an article or a report of the
result of an experiment
• ANALYTICAL – article about theories that deal
with social context
• PERSUASIVE – most essays are persuasive and
discussion of a research article.
• CRITICAL – critique of a journal/article
ACDEMIC WRITING
 CLEAR –it is easy to understand or interpret
 CONCISE – a word should be related to the
subject/topic
 PRECISE – exact word/meaning
 COHERENT – well-organized or logically
connected
 FACTUAL –backed-up with evidence
CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
1. Planned and focused – demonstrated the
understanding of the subject
2. Structured – logical order, well organized
3. Evidence – factual
4. Formal in tone of style (tone- attitude of the
writer)
WAYS IN WRITING ACDEMIC TEXT
 The first step to writing academically is to
clearly define the purpose of the writer and the
audience.
 Most academic writing were given a set of
criteria, wherein a certain or right person will
make your work based in what you have
written.
 Once you have a clear idea, of what your
subject or topic, you may now start planning
your research and gather evidences.
 Once you have plan for writing, you can use this
plan to create the structure of your writing.
ACADEMIC WRITING USUALLY FOLLOWS THE
SAME OVERALL STRUCTURE:
 INTRODUCTION – outlines the main direction
the writing will take, gives you necessary
background.
 BODY – each point is presented, explored,
developed. Point must be set out in a logical
order, to make it easier for the reader to follow
and understand
 CONCLUSION – brings together the main points,
highlight key messages or argument you want
the reader to take away.
CRITICAL WRITING
- Is the intellectually disciplined process
of actively and skilfully conceptualizing,
applying, analysing, synthesizing,
and/or evaluation information gathered
from, or generated by, observation,
experience, reflection, reasoning, or
communication, as a guide to belief and
action.
CRITICAL READING
- Engaging oneself in a text or any
material that you are reading
- Refers to a careful, active, reflective and
PRACTICE SQR
analytic reading
CHARACTERISTICS OF CRITICAL READING
 They are honest with themselves
 They overcome confusion
 They ask question
 They base judgements on evidence
“ CRITICAL THINGKING IS THINGKING ABOUT
THINGKING WHILE YOU’RE THINGKING IN
ORDER TO MAKE YOUR THINGKING BETTER”
WAYS ON HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CRITICAL
READING SKILLS
1. READ IT MORE THAN ONCE
- A single read-through of an
article is usually not enough to
read it critically. Depending on
the complexity and length, it
may be necessary for you to
read it a few times in order to
really understand.
2. TAKE NOTE
- It’s not on paper, print a paper
copy so you can use a
highlighter to highlight major
points, underline, jot down
notes and questions in the
margins. Engaging in the text
this way allow you to recognize
main arguments and important
facts.
3. DISCUSS IT WITH OTHERS
- Engaging other in a discussion
about the article is a great way
to increase your understanding
of it.
4. WRITE A CRITICAL SUMMARY
- A great way to make sure you
really understood the text is to
write a summary of the article
1. SURVEY – skim the text in order to get
the gist of it, looking out for main
points, dates, name and important
descriptions.
2. QUESTION – before you do an in-depth
reading, make a list of questions
relevant to the subject or assignment
you’ve been given based on the
skimming you did.
3. READ – read the article thoroughly,
taking notes as you go along.
4. RECALL – write down the main points
and arguments that you remember
from the text.
5. REVIEW – go over you recall notes
carefully and give the text another
reading. Fill in any gaps the are missing
 in your notes based on your new
reading.
CRITICAL READING STRATEGIES
1. ANNOINTING – underlining or
highlighting the important ideas or
points in a text like thesis statement,
topic sentence, supporting details, body
of material and the conclusion.
2. CONTEXTUAL READING – a reader
studies the author of the text, the time
or period when the author wrote it and
the important events that occurred
during the time the text was written
3. OUTLINING – an outline is an overview
of a document in which information and
ideas are arranged accordingly to
hierarchy-the main idea at the top filled
by the rest of the supporting ideas or
subtopics.
PARTS OF PARAGRAPH
PARAGRPAH – a set of related sentences having
only one embodies in a topic sentence.
 TOPIC SENTENCE – the sentence that
contains the thesis or main idea of a
paragraph
 SUPPORTING SENTENCE – the sentence
that develops or supports the thesis or
main idea of the paragraph.
Paragraphs presented in different ways: some
paragraphs have the topic sentence stated in
the beginning. Other have stated in the end.
The placement of the topic sentences
determined the patterns of developing
paragraphs.
PATTERNS OF PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT
 DEDUCTIVE PATTERN – topic sentence
is stated in the beginning
 INDUCTIVE PATTERN – topic sentence
is stated in the end
 DEDUCTIVE – INDUCTIVE PATTERN –
topic sentence stated in the beginning
and restated in the end
 INDUCTIVE – DEDUCTIVE PATTERN –
topic sentence is stated in the middle
 HINTED PATTERN – topic sentence is
not stated, but implied
CLASSIFICATION OF PARAGRAPHS
 INDEPENDENT PARAGRAPH – a
paragraph that stands on its own, it
usually serves as a composition peers,
having a thesis of its own.
 INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH –
paragraph that introduces the thesis
(main idea) of the entire composition, it
is also called first, opening, starting or
beginning
 DEVELOPMENTAL PARAGRAPH – a
paragraph that develops/ supports the
thesis of the entire composition; it is
also called developing or supporting
paragraph.
 TRANSITIONAL PARAGRAPH –
paragraph that connects two or more
paragraphs; it is also called connecting,
linking or joining paragraph.
 CONCLUDING PARAGRAPH – paragraph
that serves to end the entire
composition; it is also called closing,
ending, finishing or last paragraph
LANGUAGE USED IN ACADEMIC TEXTS:
- Ordinarily, the language used in
writing academics text such as
those in language and social
sciences courses is language
used by LAYMEN. However,
among the natural sciences and
technical fields, a language
 specific to that discipline is
used; such language is called
JARGON, the language of a
certain profession or
occupation.
 MEDICALESE – language of doctors,
terms used in the field of medicine
- Osteoporosis, scoliosis,
meningococcemia,
dysmenorrhea, vasectomy,
ulcer, insomnia
 LEGALESE – language of lawyers, terms
used in the field of law
- Criminologist, penology,
habeas corpus, bonfire,
complainant
 JOURNALESE – language of journalist,
terms used in the field of
journalism/newspapering
- Yellow journalism, lead,
headline, banner, by-line,
layout artist
 COMMERCIALESE/MERCANTILESE –
language of businessman, term used in
the field of commerce and industry
- Expenditures, revenue,
merchandising, ceiling price,
collateral, liabilities
 TECHNICALESE – language of
technocrats, term used in the field of
science and technology
- Halogen, kinetic energy
aerodynamics, barometer,
solar energy, altitude
 DIPLOMATESE – language of diplomats,
term used in the field of foreign service
- Ambassador of god will,
courtesy call, deportee, state
visit, immigration, diplomatic
corps
 TEACHERESE – language of teachers,
term used in the field of education
- Special education, teaching
strategy, assessment,
classroom performance, open
university
 TELEGRAPHESE – language of texters,
term used in telegraphy/texting
- Low batt, wifi, sms, http, www,
txtmsg
 COMPUTERESE – language of computer
specialist, term used in information
technology
- Kilobyte, octal system, website
designer, cybercrime,
database, memory,
programming
DISCOURSE
-defined in linguistic as “any stretch of language
larger than a sentence, wheter spoken or
written, having a logically consistent and unified
structure (book, a glossary entry, a lecture, or a
speech)
DISCOUSE CAN BE:
- Written or verbal exchange
- Conversation between two or
more people
- Discussion with others
FORMS OF DISCOURSE
 EXPOSITION – form of discourse that
serves to explain or inform; it appeals to
the intellect
 DESCRIPTION – serves to describe or
state the qualities or characteristics of
something/someone; it appeals of the
senses
 NARRATION – serves to narrate or tell a
story; it appeals to the emotion
  ARGUMENTATION – serve to argue or - change the sentence structure and
persuade and/or taken an action grammar
- change phrases rather than single
ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS: PARAPHRASING
words
AND SUMMARIZING
 Check that you have included a suitable
WHY DO I NEED TO PARAPHRASE OR in-text reference and noted the details
SUMMARIZE? for conclusion in your reference list.

-to show that you are able to understand and

analyse information from a source
HOW DO I SUMMARIZE?
-to avoid plagianising information to integrate
Following a similar process as
evidence into your writing.
paraphrasing may assist you in summarizing
PARAPHRASE SUMMARY well.
-is a similar length to -is shorter than the
 Read the original text and understand
the original original
the main ideas
-has the same -is an overview of the
 Write down the key points in your own
meaning as the main ideas
words
original
 Check that you have included a suitable
-includes examples -does not include
in-text reference (without page
and details examples
number) and noted the detail for
-is usually used to-is usually used as
inclusion in your reference
provide evidence orbackground
support an argumentinformation OUTLINING ACADEMIC TEXT
-uses an in text -uses an in-text
Writing is a process consisting of three
reference/footnote reference footnote
stages: PRE WRITING, WRITING, POST
with page numbers without page
WRITING. One of the steps in the pre-writing
numbers
stage is organization of ideas or outlining. The
HOW DO I PARAPHRASE?
writer list down all ideas relevant to the topic,
It takes practice to paraphrase well. It is sorts them all into major and minor ones, and
a skill that you need to develop. Following these creates an outline our of them. A good writer,
steps may help: whether technical or not, uses an outline to
serve as a skeletal framework for his
 Read the original text composition. Materials are well-organized,
 Highlight or write notes of the key when an outline is made prior to collecting
ideas/facts in your own words information or writing the draft. Indeed, an
 Re-read the original to ensure your outline helps the writer present his ideas in an
notes are correct orderly fashion.
 Write in complete sentences to
integrate the paraphrase into your These are two systems of outlining, the
writing first is the ALPHANUMERIC (number-letter)
- change the order of the ideas system, which make use of roman and hindu-
arabic number as well uppercase and lowercase n long or short short
letters. The second one, the decimal system, short compositio composition
makes use of symbols that look like decimal compositio n
numbers. n
Parallelis Parallelism Parallelism Parallelism
m of words, of not
phrases or coordinate essential
clause of sentence
coordinate
heads
WRITING THE REACTION
PAPER/REVIEW/CRITIQUE

REACTION PAPER:

According to WIKIHOW “a reaction or

ALPHANUMERIC AND DECIMAL SYSTEM OF response paper requires the writer to analyse a
OUTLINING text, then develop commentary related to it. It
is a popular academic assignment because it
Outline are classified into topic,
requires thoughtful reading, research, and
sentence, and paragraph outlines. These three
writing. “as the term suggests, a reaction paper
types of outlines primarily differ based on the
is a written discourse which expresses the
structures used as entries. TOPIC OUTLINES
writers reaction to a certain piece of writing or a
have words and phrases as entries, whereas
response to an event, incident, program,
sentence and paragraph outlines have
project.
sentence, the lest type, however, has topic
sentence containing the main ideas of the FACTS, OPINION AND CLAIMS
paragraphs in the composition.
A reader is bombarded with ideas as he
CLASSIFICATION OF OUTLINES read an article or a text. A good reader is able to
clarify ideas encountered through reading into
POINTS OF TOPIC SENTENCE PARAGRAP
facts and opinions. A fact is a truth, a reality or
CONTRAST OUTLINE OUTLINE H OUTLINE
thing that exists or existed whereas an opinion
Entries Word, sentences Topic is a person’s view appraisal or judgements.
phrases, sentence About, or attitude toward a certain thing. Truly,
clauses one of his tasks is to distinguish between facts
Members Four to six Two to four Only one and opinions.
of levels Another task of a reader is to criticize is
Mechanics No period Period Periods to analyse and evaluate, to judge the merits and
at the end make the mark the the demerits of the reading material. Thus, a
of entries end of end of critical reader formulates evaluate statements
entries entries after he has carefully and thoughtfully read the
Applicatio Used for a Used for Used for
material. These statements come in these researcher, these includes books, periodicals
forms: (newspaper & magazines), Internet or Online
Materials and other sources not included
1. Claims or assertion about the content
among the primary sources
and properties includes statements
about the length and complexity of the
text, its structure and organization,
readership, authorship, the author’s
writing style. Language, diction, point of
view, and similar items.
2. Meaningful counterclaims in response
to claims made in a text. These includes
the reader’s claims (facts, policy, and
value) that counteract the claims made
by the author in his text.

For example, if the writer claims that his

present system of government is better
than a federal system of government, the
reader may state his counterclaim, that is,
that a federal system of government is
better than the present system of
government.

Aside from formulating evaluate

statement the reader must be able to
determine textual evidence to validate
assertions, and counterclaims made about a
text read. The textual evidence comes in
the form of quotations or citations.

SOURCES TO SUPPORT CLAIMS

Evidence to validate assertions and

counterclaims can be gathered from primary
and secondary sources of information. Primary
sources are those which provide first-hand
information to the researchers: these include
persons, organizations, plants and animals,
artifacts, documents and the like. On the other
hand, Secondary Sources are those which
provide second-hand information to the