An Introduction to

English for Academic

Purposes (EAP)
Retno A. Hapsari, S.Gz, MNutrDiet
What makes English
“academic”?
Some definitions

“Academy” = place of study, university

“Academic” = doing things the way they are done in the academy

“Academic writing”
= writing in the way that is expected of people at university
 What is Academic English?
⬤ EAP is concerned with those communication skills in English
which are required for study purposes in formal education
systems
⬤ EAP = typical English used in academic setting
⬤ It is different from everyday spoken English
⬤ EAP is the type of English you need for
• Reading and understanding your study materials
• Writing about your subject

More focus on
READING and
Academic English
WRITING

⬤ READING ⬤ Journal articles, research text

⬤ WRITING ⬤ Essay writing

⬤ LISTENING ⬤ Formal lectures, guest lectures

⬤ SPEAKING ⬤ Oral presentation, group

discussion

Academic English
The language may be MORE COMPLEX than in
everyday English

⬤ Objective
⬤ Straightforward
⬤ Impersonal tone communicating ideas and
information (how to express your idea)
⬤ Academic vocabulary
⬤ Clear and logical structure

⬤ Describe an object, a situation, a process or how something

works — Explain something.
⬤ Much of Academic English is about expressing the relationship
between ideas. Good academic writers aim to be as clear,
precise and simple as possible.
⬤ They think about what their readers know already, and aim to
guide them towards less familiar areas and topics.

 “
So what makes spoken or written
English “academic” is not the ideas but
the way the ideas are presented and
expressed.
How are ideas presented?
⬤ In a logical order
⬤ With evidence to support them
⬤ Objectively

 How are ideas expressed?

⬤ Using formal language without any slang or colloquial
expressions
⬤ Using specialist vocabulary where appropriate
⬤ Using words and phrases that are expected in writing by
people at university

In a logical order
๏ Start with a plan
๏ Jot down any ideas that you have as you think of them
๏ Group your ideas about the same point together and present
them in the same paragraph
๏ Start each paragraph with a sentence that shows what you
are going to write about in that paragraph – the topic sentence
๏ Put your points in order so that they follow on from each other
๏ Develop the main idea in the topic sentence with
your other points

With Evidence

๏ Read and make notes from different sources

๏ Use sources that are reliable and/or recommended to you
๏ Make notes of where different writers agree or disagree so
that you can compare different views
๏ Remember that things are usually more grey than black and
white

Objectively

๏ Make suggestions, not strongly emotional comments

๏ Avoid stating your personal opinion
๏ Do not involve the reader directly by asking questions

Using formal language

๏ Write in full sentences

๏ Do not use abbreviations or contractions
๏ Use impersonal forms

Use specialist vocabulary

๏ Check the meaning of specialist terms in your subject

๏ Note examples of how these terms are used in the books
and articles that you read
๏ Do not use terms that you do not understand

Use words and phrases that are

expected

๏ Academic writers are expected to be cautious

๏ Readers expect phrases that act as signposts to guide them
through the text

It is mainly used by
⬤ The academic community or academics
⬤ Professional researchers and writers
⬤ Professors and lecturers
⬤ Research students
⬤ Undergraduates and post-graduates

 It covers various field of study

๏ Literature ๏ NUTRITION
๏ Linguistics ๏ Law
๏ Medicine ๏ Animal science
๏ Accounting ๏ Natural science
๏ IT ๏ Social science
๏ Economics ๏ And so on..

These should be put into consideration

⬤ How data is collected

⬤ What cheating, plagiarism and paraphrase mean
⬤ How academics should relate to each other
⬤ How facts are established and theories disproved

You may find them

easily on
⬤ Academic journals
⬤ Conferences and reports
⬤ Learned societies
⬤ Seminars and lectures
⬤ Theses and dissertations
⬤ Books



 The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is recognized as an
effective dietary intervention to reduce blood pressure (BP). However, among
randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the DASH diet–mediated BP
Example of an
reduction, there are significant methodological and clinical differences. The
purpose of this study was to comprehensively assess the DASH diet effect on BP
in adults with and without hypertension, accounting for underlying methodological
academic study
and clinical confounders. We systematically searched Medline and the Cochrane
Collaboration Library databases and identified 30 RCTs (n = 5545 participants)
that investigated the BP effects of the DASH diet compared with a control diet in
hypertensive and nonhypertensive adults. Both random-effects and fixed-effect
models were used to calculate the mean attained systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic
BP (DBP) differences during follow-up. Subgroup and meta-regression analyses
were also conducted. Compared with a control diet, the DASH diet reduced both
SBP and DBP (difference in means: −3.2 mm Hg; 95% CI: −4.2, −2.3 mm Hg; P <
0.001, and −2.5 mm Hg; 95% CI: −3.5, −1.5 mm Hg; P < 0.001, respectively).
Hypertension status did not modify the effect on BP reduction. The DASH diet
compared with a control diet reduced SBP levels to a higher extent in trials with
sodium intake > 2400 mg/d than in trials with sodium intake ≤2400 mg/d, whereas
both SBP and DBP were reduced more in trials with mean age < 50 y than in trials
of older participants. The quality of evidence was rated as moderate for both
outcomes according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment,
Development and Evaluation approach. The adoption of the DASH diet was
accompanied by significant BP reduction in adults with and without hypertension,
although higher daily sodium intake and younger age enhanced the BP-lowering
effect of the intervention.This meta-analysis was registered at
www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero as CRD42019128120. Adv
Thank you!
Do you have any questions?