English for

Academic and
Professional
Purposes
Presented by: Mr. Ivan Jayson A. Macabenta
Most Essential Learning Competencies

Differentiates Uses knowledge of

language used in text structure to glean
academic texts from the information he/she
various disciplines needs
 Learning Targets
At the end of the lesson, I can
1. Define academic text;
2. Compare and contrast the different characteristics of an
academic text;
3. Identify the different types of academic texts ;
4. Differentiate forms of academic texts;
5. Enumerate the different factors to consider in academic
writing
What is an
Academic Text?
An academic text is a reading
material that provides information
which include concepts and
theories that are related to the
specific discipline.
Common
Characteristics
• contains list of sources/ references
• advancement of human
understanding
• can be challenging for novice/
beginning readers
• informative, argumentative and
objective in nature
 TYPES OF
ACADEMIC TEXT

DESCRIPTIVE PERSUASIVE

ANALYTICAL CRITICAL
 DESCRIPTIVE
Its purpose is to provide facts or
information. An example would be a
summary of an article or a report of
the results of an experiment.

KEYWORDS: 'identify', 'report',

'record', 'summarize' and 'define'.
 ANALYTICAL
These kinds of texts organize the
facts and information you describe
into categories, groups, parts, types
or relationships.

KEYWORDS: 'analyze', 'compare’,

'contrast', 'relate', and 'examine'.
 PERSUASIVE
These includes an argument,
recommendation, interpretation of
findings, and/or evaluation of the work
of others. It needs to be supported by
some evidence.

KEYWORDS: 'argue', 'evaluate',

'discuss', and 'take a position'.
 CRITICAL

Critical writing requires you to consider

at least two points of view, including
your own.

KEYWORDS: 'critique', 'debate',

'disagree' and 'evaluate'.
SCHOOL BOOKS RESEARCH/ JOURNAL
AND TEXTBOOKS ARTICLES

NEWSPAPERS & THESIS &

MAGAZINE ARTICLES DISSERTATIONS

Different Forms of Academic Texts

SCHOOLBOOKS/ TEXTBOOKS

Textbooks are specifically designed to

help the learner. Textbooks vary in
style, tone and level depending on their
audience. They are a good place to
start when learning about a new topic.
 PERIODICALS

A periodical is a type of publication that

appears at regular, predictable, short
intervals. They include such items as
magazines, scholarly or professional
journals, industry/trade journals,
newspapers, and newsletters.
NEWSPAPERS/ MAGAZINE ARTICLES
A newspaper is a serial publication which
contains news on current events of special or
general interest. The individual parts are listed
chronologically or numerically and appear
frequently, usually at least once a week but
sometimes fortnightly or monthly.

A magazine is a periodical publication which is

printed in gloss-coated and matte paper. Magazines
are generally published on a regular schedule and
contain a variety of content. They are generally
financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by
prepaid subscriptions, or a combination of the three.
RESEARCH/ JOURNAL ARTICLES
Journal articles are shorter than
books and written about very specific
topics. A journal is a collection of
articles (like a magazine) that is
published regularly throughout the
year. Journals present the most recent
research, and journal articles are
written by experts
THESIS AND DISSERTATIONS

The main difference between a thesis

and a dissertation is when they are
completed. The thesis is a project that
marks the end of a bachelor's program,
while the dissertation occurs during
doctoral study.
 The two are actually quite different in their purpose, as
well. A thesis is a compilation of research that proves you are
knowledgeable about the information learn throughout your
program. A dissertation is your opportunity during a
doctorate program to contribute new knowledge, theories or
practices to your field. The point is to come up with an
entirely new concept, develop it and defend its worth.
 Structure of
Academic Texts
The structure of academic texts
depends not only on the logical
development of a topic but also on
conventions within disciplines.
 The three-part essay structure is a
basic structure that consists of
introduction, body and conclusion. The
introduction and the conclusion should
be shorter than the body of the text.
INTRODUCTION BODY CONCLUSION
several paragraphs restate thesis
identify the topic/ (depending on the statement
purpose of the topic length of the
assignment) summarize
thesis statement main points
provide more detailed
information about the include final insights
topic & recommendations
WELL-WRITTEN ACADEMIC TEXT
• all asked questions have been
answered or addressed
• the reader understands where the
writer is going
• all accounts appear to be relevant
to the whole
• the theory you have described is
used to analyze and interpret data
• the method is described well and
corresponds to your research
issue
• the results correspond to the aim
• the discussion links empirical data,
theory and method together
• the conclusions are justified by the
results of the discussion
AUDIENCE ORGANIZATION FLOW

PURPOSE STYLE PRESENTATION

Factors to Consider in Academic Writing

Taking your audience into
account will affect the
content of your writing.
For example, if you assume
that your readers are familiar
with the subject you are
writing about, you will not
provide much background
information. AUDIENCE
There are several established
patterns of information
organization which all writers
make use depending on the
nature of their paper:
problems and solutions,
comparison-contrast, cause-
effect, and classification etc. ORGANIZATION
It means moving from one
statement in a text to
another. It is obvious that
by keeping the flow and
making clear connection of
ideas and concepts you
will help your audience to
follow the text. FLOW
The purpose of your
writing is a decisive factor
because this will be the
product of knowledge and
expertise about your
subject.
PURPOSE
You have to make sure
that your writing is based
on an appropriate style.
Style should be consistent
and suitable both in terms
of audience and the
message.
STYLE
Proofreading means carefully
checking for errors in a text
before it is published or
shared. It is the very last stage
of the writing process, when
you fix minor spelling and
punctuation mistakes, typos,
formatting issues and
inconsistencies. PRESENTATION
Language is a system of conventional spoken, manual (signed),
or written symbols by means of which human beings, as
members of a social group and participants in its culture,
express themselves.

Academic Language refers to the oral, written, auditory, and

visual language proficiency required to learn effectively in
schools and academic programs. It is the language that
students are expected to learn and achieve fluency in.
Academic writing in English has a
distinctive style –
it is formal and
uses particular language norms
that you need to learn.
 Aspects of Academic and
Professional Writing

COMPLEXITY FORMALITY ACCURACY

Aspects of Academic and
Professional Writing

EXPLICITNESS OBJECTIVENESS
Aspects of Academic and
Professional Writing

PRECISENESS HEDGING
 THE USE OF LANGUAGE
APPROPRIATE IN ACADEMIC
AND PROFESSIONAL
SETTINGS

FOLLOWS ACCEPTED
RULES, FORMS, AND
CONVENTIONS OF WRITING
IN A PARTICULAR FORMALITY
COMMUNITY OR DISCIPLINE
TO MAKE YOUR WRITING FORMAL, TRY TO:
1. Replace informal words that are associated
with chatty spoken styles (contractions, etc.)
to more formal vocabulary
2. Avoid rhetorical questions that reader cannot
answer
3. Use full words instead of contractions
4. Avoid unspecified categories (vague category)
5. Avoid colloquial language
6. Avoid sub-heading, numbering, bullet point
• Correct grammar and • Lack formal grammar and
vocabulary vocabulary
• No contractions • Contractions
• No idiomatic expressions • Idioms
• No phrasal verbs • Phrasal verbs
• No abbrevations • Abbreviations
• No imperative sentences • Imperatives
USAGE OF MORE LEXICAL WORDS
THAN GRAMMATICAL WORDS

SHORTER IN LENGTH, BUT USES

LONGER, MORE COMPLEX AND
WORDS AND PHRASES

COMPLEXITY
 All organisms reproduce and sometimes when they
reproduce, the children vary. This is an important characteristic
of life. If organisms did nor reproduce, life would quickly come
to an end. How did the earliest single-celled organisms
reproduce?
They duplicated their genetic material and then they divided
in two. Two daughter cells resulted from this process; they were
identical to each other and to the parent cell. But sometimes as
the genes duplicated, they changed or mutated. These errors
are not very common but they provide the basic material for life
to evolve. So when the genetic material duplicates, they
reproduce and they make errors. As a result, there is a change in
what the genes are composed of. When these processes
combine, life evolve.
 Reproduction with variation is a major characteristic of life.
Without reproduction, life would quickly come to an end. The
earliest single-celled organisms reproduced by duplicating
their genetic material and then dividing in two.
The two resulting daughter cells were identical to each
other and to the parent cell, except for mutations that occurred
during the process of gene duplication.
Such errors, although rare, provided the raw material for
biological evolution. The combination of reproduction and
errors in the duplication of genetic material results in biological
evolution, a change in the genetic composition of a population
of organisms over time.
Because the jobs are even more complex,
programs to train people will take longer.

The increased complexity of tasks will lead

to the extension of the duration of training
program
Formal written English uses nouns more
than verbs. For example, "judgement" rather
than "judge", "development" rather than
"develop", "admiration" rather than "admire".
Changing a verb or other word into a noun is
called nominalization.
The participant was admitted to the
graduate program. It came to him as a
surprise
The participant admission to the graduate
program came to him as a surprise
How much money will be invested should be
determined

The amount of money to be invested should

be determined
 THIS MEANS THAT THE MAIN
EMPHASIS SHOULD BE ON THE
INFORMATION THAT YOU
WANT TO GIVE AND THE
ARGUMENTS YOU WANT TO
MAKE, RATHER THAN YOU.
THIS IS RELATED TO THE
BASIC NATURE OF ACADEMIC
STUDY AND ACADEMIC
WRITING, IN PARTICULAR. OBJECTIVENESS
 Academic language is impersonal in that you generally
don’t refer to yourself as the performer of actions. This
involves avoiding the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For
example, instead of writing ‘I will show’, you might write ‘this
report will show’. The second person, ‘you’, is also to be
avoided.
 In my opinion, this a very interesting study."
This is a very interesting study.“

"You can easily forget how different life was 50 years ago."
"It is easy to forget how difficult life was 50 years ago."
 We don't really know what language proficiency is but many
people have talked about it for a long time. Some researchers
have tried to find ways for us to make teaching and testing more
communicative because that is how language works. I think that
language is something we use for communicating, not an object
for us to study and we remember that when we teach and test it.
 The question of what constitutes "language proficiency" and
the nature of its cross-lingual dimensions is also at the core of
many hotly debated issues in the areas of bilingual education and
second language pedagogy and testing. Researchers have
suggested ways of making second language teaching and testing
more "communicative" (e.g., Canale and Swain, 1980; Oller, 1979b)
on the grounds that a communicative approach better reflects
the nature of language proficiency than one which emphasizes
the acquisition of discrete language skills.
 Most people take drug overdoses because they find that it's
difficult to sort out their problems clearly. That's why you should
treat your patients in a clear way. That means you should treat
your patients in a way that helps them to tell the difference
between their problems and find ways to deal with them.
 Most overdoses are taken when individuals are finding it
difficult to sort out their life problems in a clear way. For this
reason, the approach to treatment must, above all else, be a clear
one; that is, one which helps the patient separate out each of his
problems and plan ways of dealing with them.
As a writer of academic English, it is
your responsibility to make it clear to
your reader how various parts of the
text are related. These connections
can be made explicit by the use of
different signaling words.

It also refers to the relationship and

connection of ideas in the academic
text. EXPLICITNESS
 Transitional devices are like bridges between parts of your
paper. They are cues that help the reader to interpret ideas a
paper develops. Transitional devices are words or phrases that
help carry a thought from one sentence to another, from one
idea to another, or from one paragraph to another. And finally,
transitional devices link sentences and paragraphs together
smoothly so that there are no abrupt jumps or breaks between
ideas.
 In academic writing, it is prudent
to be cautious in one’s statements so
as to distinguish between facts and
claims. This is commonly known as
“hedging.” Hedging is the use of
linguistic devices to express
hesitation or uncertainty as well as to
demonstrate politeness and
indirectness. HEDGING
• to minimize the possibility of another academic opposing the
claims that are being made
• to conform to the currently accepted style of academic writing
• to enable the author to devise a politeness strategy where they
are able to acknowledge that there may be flaws in their claims
1. Playing violent video games causes more aggression,
bullying, and fighting.

2. Mars is the focus of much scientific study and the

foremost planet for human colonization.
1. It is assumed that playing violent video games may cause
more aggression, bullying, and fighting.

2. Mars is certainly the focus of much scientific study and often

considered the foremost planet for human colonization.
In academic writing you need to be
precise when you use information,
dates or figures.
Misrepresentation of identifying
features, such as the journal title,
volume or page number of an article,
will obviously make the source difficult
to find for readers, whereas incorrect
in-text citations may lead to actual
misrepresentation of the source text. PRECISENESS
 Sentences are free from
grammatical errors

In academic writing you

need to be accurate in your
use of vocabulary.

ACCURACY