Seminar 1: Introduction to Academic Writing

Exercise 1

Which of the following are examples of academic writing? Mark ‘A’ for Academic, and ‘NA’ for
Not Academic.

1. A letter to a newspaper. NA
2. An essay on the topic “Why I love my country”. NA
3. A report by the college president on the academic year. A
4. A letter to a friend. NA
5. An essay on the question “How have technology and internationalization affected business
research?” A
6. An article in a published journal, for instance in the Journal of Albanian Economic Studies. A
7. A report by a student on a field experiment that involved counting the number of insect species present
in a given area. A
8. A chapter in a best-selling book on how to be a great businessman. NA
9. A chapter in a book reporting the results of a large scale study on the psychological factors that lead to
success in business. A
10. An essay on the topic “Globalisation is a major threat to Chinese culture and identity. To what extent
do you agree with this claim?” A

Exercise 2

The following sentences contain examples of poor academic writing. Underline all the
examples you can identify.

1. More and more students from Asian countries, like China, Vietnam and so on, are signing up for
British universities.
2. We have to do something to stop global warming. But governments don’t seem to care very much.
3. What can we do to solve the problems of drug abuse among teenagers? There are three things.
4. If the present economic crisis goes on for a few more years, we’ll all be in trouble.
5. When you look into the causes of poverty in Africa, you have to consider that environmental factors
are important. But these things are often ignored.
6. In my opinion, the biggest environmental problems in Bhutan are things like deforestation, pollution
and the irresponsible dumping of waste.
7. There are lots of things we need to consider when we try to figure out what’s caused the current
financial crisis.
8. Populations of marine mammals are going down all around the world, because the condition of the
oceans is getting worse and worse. Sadly, ocean pollution is a really big problem.
9. It’s madness to suggest that global warming is not caused by human activity, even though there are
a few idiotic, so-called scientists who hold this view.
10. I think there’s plenty of evidence that television is good for children, though lots of educationalists
disagree.

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Exercise 3

Which of the following statements are: 1. Facts 2. Opinions 3. Beliefs 4. None of the above

1. Women tend to have better verbal skills than men, while men more commonly excel at tasks requiring
spatial skills.
2. The retreat of the Himalayan glaciers is likely to lead to severe water shortages, potentially threatening
the economic and political stability of the entire region.
3. There are arguments both in favour of and against the use of genetic engineering in food production. 4.
Capital punishment is legalised murder, and killing another human cannot be acceptable under any
circumstances.
5. There are three main reasons why the Java programming language has become so successful.
6. The spread of the English language has a negative effect on other cultures and languages, and is
leading to the increasing homogenisation of the world.
7. The Earth revolves around the Sun.
8. The world’s population stood at over 6 billion at the start of the 21st century.
9. The primary goal of all sciences should be to increase human health and happiness.
10. Eating meat is wrong.

Answers: 1. Facts: 7, 8 2. Opinions: 1, 2, 6, 3. Beliefs: 4, 9, 10 4.

None of the above: 3, 5

Exercise 4

You are studying Tourism Marketing. Read the text extracts 1-4 below and decide which are
the most suitable for academic use, and why.

Text Suitability

1
yes – it summarises some relevant research, and includes citations

2
no – apparently an informal personal report

3
–
possibly appears to be a newspaper article but includes relevant
information

4
yes – an academic article with citations

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 1 To promote tourism and market destination, it is important to
study the tourists’ attitude, behaviour and demand. The studies of Levitt (1986) and
Kotler and Armstrong (1994) suggest that an understanding of consumer behaviour
may help with the marketing planning process in tourism marketing. The research
of consumer behaviour is the key to the underpinning of all marketing activity,
which is carried out to develop, promote and sell tourism products (Swarbrooke
and Horner, 1999; Asad, 2005). Therefore, the study of consumer behaviour has
become necessary for the sake of tourism marketing.

2 The romance of travel has always fascinated me, and our recent
trip to Thailand lived up to expectations. We flew from Dubai and after a
comfortable flight arrived in Bangkok just as the sun was rising. Our stay in the city
lasted only a couple of days before we set off for the hill country around Chang Mai,
where we were planning to visit some of the indigenous tribes who live in this
mountainous region. When we arrived the weather was rather disappointing, but after
a day the heavy rain gave way to sparkling clear sunshine.

3 Holiday trips to the Antarctica have quadrupled in the past decade

and last year more than 46,000 people visited the land mass and surrounding
oceans. However, safety fears and concerns about the impact visitors are having on
the delicate frozen landscape have soared and members of the Antarctic Treaty – an
agreement between 28 nations, including the UK, on the use of the continent – are
now meeting to discuss ways to regulate tourism.

British officials are seeking to establish a ‘strategic agreement for tourism’ around the
South Pole. If successful, it will see treaty members introduce new measures to
improve the safety of tourist trips, while also reducing the impact that visitors will
have on the environment. The regulations could see limits on the number of ships and
landings, restrictions on how close they come to shore, a ban on building tourist
facilities and hotels on the continent, and rules on waste discharges from ships.

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 4 Equally, from a political perspective, the nature of state
involvement in and policies for tourism is dependent on both the
political-economic structures and the prevailing political ideology in the
destination state, with comparisons typically made between market-led and
centrally planned economies. For example, the Thatcher–Reagan- inspired
neo-liberalism of the 1980s, and the subsequent focus on privatisation and the
markets in many Western nations contrasted starkly with the then centrally
planned tourism sectors in the former Eastern Europe (Buckley and Witt,
1990; Hall, 1991). At the same time, of course, it has also long been
recognised that the political-economic relationship of one nation with another
or with the wider international community (that is, the extent of political-
economic dependency) may represent a significant influence on tourism
development (Telfer, 2002). Thus, in short, tourism planning and
development in the destination tends to reflect both the structures and political
ideologies of the state and its international political- economic relations.

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Exercise 5

Change the grammar of these sentences to make them more formal.

A. Change to the 3rd person.

1. My essay will cover four main areas.

2. You need to take all factors into consideration.
3. We should monitor the results more closely.
4. In my opinion, the evidence seems flawed.
5. I will challenge this idea in my essay.
6. If you want to improve writing, you need to practise a great deal.
7. We feel that the government should take action.
8. When you go to college, you must organise your time effectively.
9. I do not agree with this solution.
10.If we want to help the situation, we could raise money.

Answers:

1. This essay will cover four main areas. / Four areas will be covered in this essay.

2. All factors need to be taken into consideration.

3. The results should be monitored more closely.

4. The evidence seems flawed. / It could be argued the evidence is flawed.

5. This essay will challenge this idea. / This idea will be challenged in this essay.

6. To improve writing, a great deal of practice is needed. / If a person wants to improve their writing, they
need to practise a great deal.

7. The government should take action. / Action should be taken by the government.

8. When a person/student goes to college, they must organise their time effectively. / On going to college,
time management is important.

9. This solution is open to question/controversial. / It is possible to argue against this solution. / It could
be argued that this is not the solution.

10. If people want to help the situation, they could raise money. / To help the situation, money could be
raised.

B. Change to a passive. (Hint – reverse the sentence, so start your sentence with the
underlined words.)

1. Because of snow, the Principal has closed the college.

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2. The teacher cancelled the classes.
3. Someone has called an election.
4. We should not ban smoking.
5. The government raises money from taxation.
6. The bank gave her a loan. (Hint – can start with ‘She’ or ‘A loan’.)
7. My essay will cover four main areas.
8. We should monitor the results more closely.
9. We can complete the project in a week.
10.We can argue that this is not the solution. (Hint – start with ‘It can/could’)

Answers:

1. Because of snow, the college has been closed by the Principal.

2. The classes were cancelled by the teacher.

3. An election has been called.

4. Smoking should not be banned.

5. Money is raised from taxation by the government.

6. She was given a loan by the bank. / A loan was given to her by the bank.

7. Four main areas will be covered in my/this essay.

8. The results should be monitored more closely.

9. The project can be completed in a week.

10.It can/could be argued that this is not the solution.

C. Change the underlined sentences/verbs to nouns, making any other changes as necessary.

1. This essay will discuss how much this option will cost.
2. It was difficult to understand what he meant.
3. This essay will discuss why the accident happened.
4. This essay will discuss how fast the Internet grew.
5. The report looked at how large the population was.
6. They treated women differently.
7. After they met the director, the issues were resolved.
8. They changed their mind when they saw the final product.
9. If you do not explain the problem clearly, it is difficult to follow.
10.When there is too much coursework, students become stressed.

Answers:

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1. This essay will discuss the cost of this option.
2. It was difficult to understand his meaning.
3. This essay will discuss the reasons for the accident.
4. This essay will discuss the speed of Internet growth.
5. The report looked at the size of the population.
6. The treatment of women was different.
7. After meeting the director / After a meeting with the director, the issues were resolved.
8. They changed their mind on seeing the final product.
9. Without a clear explanation of the problem, it is difficult to follow.
10. Excessive / Too much coursework leads to student stress.

D. Which of the words in italic would be more suitable for an academic paper?

1. The government has made good / considerable progress in solving environmental problems.
2. We got / obtained encouraging results.
3. The results of a lot of / numerous different projects have been pretty good / encouraging.
4. A loss of jobs is one of the things that will happen / consequences if the process is automated.

E. Complete the following:

1. According to a recent survey, 26% of all American adults, down from 38% thirty years ago, now
smoke. This ………… can be partly attributed to the mounting evidence linking smoking and fatal
diseases, such as cancer.

a. decline b. reduction c. improvement d. decrease e. drop

2. Early in September each year, the population of Ann Arbor, Michigan, suddenly increases by about
20,000 as students arrive for the new academic year. This ……….. changes the character of the town in a
number of ways.

a. influx b. increase c. invasion d. rise e. jump

3. Nowadays, laptop computers are lighter, more powerful, and easier to use than they were five years
ago. These ………… have led to an increase in the sales of these machines.
a. changes b. developments c. advances d. improvements

F. Critical Thinking Task

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 In the sentence below, one of the examples is not relevant. Cross out the irrelevant
example.
1. Cash is particularly useful for small purchases such as a cup of coffee, a newspaper or a
new car.
2. Economics is one of a number of social sciences – e.g. politics, physics and sociology --
which are concerned with human activity and decision making.
3. In order to cope with emergencies, setbacks or uncertain futures, companies develop
contingency plans. Contingency plans deal with new situations resulting from changes in
factors which the company cannot control. Training programmes, new government safety
regulations and technological developments are all factors for which companies draw up
contingency plans.
4. The message is conveyed through a channel, which could be a note, a memo, a computer,
a report, a telephone call or a face-to-face meeting.
5. A Gantt chart is a planning and monitoring device showing the project broken down by task
in the form of a bar chart showing the time to be taken for each task. A Gantt chart could be
useful, for example, in preparing an exhibition guide for publication or showing changes in
output.
6. Entrepreneur is the term used to describe an enterprising person who notices opportunities
and co-ordinates resources, such as prices, labour, and capital.

Exercise 6

Read the following short pieces of student writing. Which sounds more 'formal' in to you?
Why?

1. Export figures won't improve until the economy is stronger. — Export figures will not improve until
the economy is stronger.
2. The analysis didn't yield any new results. – The analysis yielded no new results.
3. The government didn't allocate much funding for the program. - The government allocated little
funding for the program.
4. This problem doesn't have many viable solutions. — This problem has few viable solutions.

5.What can be done to lower costs? — We now need to consider what can be done to lower costs, or
We now need to consider how costs may be lowered.

6. The recession occurred because too many consumer goods were produced. - The recession occurred
because of an over-production of consumer goods.
7. Germany invaded Poland in 1939. This was the immediate cause of the Second World War breaking
out. - Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 was the immediate cause of the outbreak of the Second
World War.
8. In conclusion, in this essay I have argued that multiculturalism is good for economic development. - In

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conclusion, in this essay it is argued that multiculturalism is beneficial for economic development.
9. What is a team? A team can be one person but will usually end up including many more. - A team can
include one person but usually involves many more.
10. We conducted the research over a six-month period. - The research was conducted over a six
month period.
11. Everybody knows that we have had a good year. You can see from the graph that sales have gone up
significantly over the quarter. - It is generally accepted that this year has been favourable with
respect to profit margins. As can be seen from the graph, sales have increased significantly over the
quarter.

12. New immigrants may not speak English properly. They often drive taxis for a living. Many
people say that they should not have a licence. The committed has heard this view. - Many people have
argued that if immigrants cannot speak English properly, then they should not be given taxi
licences, and this position was recently put forward to the Committee.

13. Sometimes people smoke on buses, taxis and planes. Other people may complain. They also
complain when the windows are open. - The majority of non-smokers object to smoking on public
transport even when ventilation is adequate.

Answer the following questions

1- How do you define academic writing?

Academic writing generally refers to all writing tasks assigned to students for the purpose of
study at the college level. It is a formal way of writing. It is different from creative writing and
various other informal and fictional writings.

2- List the distinctive features of academic and non academic writings.

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3- Discuss the genres in academic writing and their distinctive uses.

The genres of academic writing include essays, research papers, book review, textual analysis,
literature review, project report, proposals, dissertation/ thesis and case study. Most academies
use essays to assess students’ progress. An academic essay is written to answer a question or to
defend an argument or opinion on a topic supporting evidence. A research paper provides
detailed information on a topic through different sections like literature review, methodology,
discussion and conclusion. A proposal is what you present to explain objectives, purpose,
methodology, and detailed plan for a proposal. Literature review is the summary of relevant
previous writings on the topic under discussion. The main purpose of review of literature as an
academic writing activity is to display your knowledge of the subject. Dissertation / thesis are

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often used as interchangeably to refer to the mandatory final projects in certain academic
projects. Case study is widely used in Social Science and Science subjects like Medicine.

4. What are the prerequisites for learning academic writing?

Academic writing is to be understood as higher order of writing skill. It is apparent that to learn academic
writing one should possess basic skills to use writing for communication. The following are the
prerequisites for learning academic writing.
1. Start free writing: Write continuously without worrying about the correctness, grammar mistakes, or
logical order. You need to encourage yourself to write something.
2. Keep a journal: Make it a habit to write something in a notebook specifically meant for the purpose.
Keeping a personal journal can be used as a practice for developing academic writing as well.
3. Reading and writing: Reading is an important prerequisite for aspiring writers. If you take into
account others’ opinions and findings it will help you to improve your writing skill.
4. Think critically: It is a process of inspecting something closely and reflecting on it. Writing and
thinking are complementing each other; that is, thinking will refine your writings and writing will
strengthen your thoughts.
5. Develop research skills: Developing research skills will help you to find out and make use of the
sources of information.
6. Learn language of your discipline: To write on your discipline you need to get a systematic initiation
into the fundamentals of your discipline. The fundamentals include the key words and phrases frequently
used in that discipline.

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