Academic Writing Techniques and strategies

- Kind of writing used in school

Knowledge
Subject - Amount of information poured into the
text
- Topic of the text
- Shows the expertise of the author on
his/her tropic

Tone
- Attitude of the author about the topic Explicitness
- Observable through the author’s word
- Information should be precise and exact
choice (diction)
- Direct to the point

Purpose
Purpose of academic texts
- The message the author aims to -convey
- To inform
- The author’s goal in writing the text
- To persuade
- To argue

Language
- Words used by the writer in discussing REMEMBER: Academic Text
the topic
- Formal language is used in academic
- Expected to be formal in academic
texts
writing
- Avoid using colloquial or jargon words
- Avoid using hifalutin words
- Language must be in layman’s term
Audience (easily understood)
- Readers of the text

Point of view FOUR FEATURES OF LANGUAGE

- How an author tells the information 1.) Formality
- First person, second person, third person
- Diginified stance in writing
- Avoid colloquial words of expressions

Ways to achieve Formality

Style
1. Choosing expanded forms over
- How an author arranges his/her writing contracted forms
 EXAMPLES
Don’t - do not 4. Caution
Shouldn’t – should not The careful attention to avoid sweeping
generalization
2. Choosing one-word verbs over two-
word verbs Ex. Government officials are corrupt
(generalized)
EXAMPLES
Mess up – run/damage
Added up – calculated
Academic text
Carry on – continue, proceed
- Is the kind of writing used in school
Find out – explore
- Used formal language
- Aims to inform, to persuade, or to argue
- Is written by experts and professionals
3. Avoid using Abbreviations - Shortened
forms of words
4. Avoid using colloquial/idiomatic
Essay contains/structure
expressions
5. No vulgar and very conversational Intro, Body, Conclusions
language

Reaction Paper
2. Objectivity
- Essay with your response about
The focus of information is on the topic rather something you have seen, watched, or
than the writer him/herself experience to provide valuable
information for an evidence

Ways to achieve objectivity

- Avoid using personal pronouns (I , you,
my, we, mine, us, our) Position paper
- We need to follow instructions, the
- Essay with your arguments about a
researchers need to follow instructions.
debatable issue supported with valid
- Avoid rhetorical questions
evidences from credible sources
- Avoid emotive language

STRUCTURE OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

3. Explicitness
- It is the clarity of the writing structure
FIRST STRUCTURE
- Clear and precise language
I,B,C
- Using clear conjunctions and other connections
(Introduction, Body, Conclusion)
 - exposes a topic by provided facts to
explain it
Introduction
- Requires extensive research and
- Provides a background about a topic unbiased information
- Sets and prepares the minds of the - No topic shifting
readers of what the topic is about
- Gives prior knowledge
Descriptive writing
- Describes the topic
Body
- Becomes more effective with the use of
- Discusses the topic elaborately sensory images
- major points to explain the topic
- longest part of an essay 1. Visual – sight
2. Gustatory – taste
3. Auditory – hearing
Conclusion 4. Olfactory – smell
5. Tactile – touch
- Closes the essay
- Summary of the major points
- Usually has a closing statement Persuasive writing
- known as argumentative writing
- Argues an opinion on a debatable topic
SECOND STRUCTURE - Requires extensive research for
evidences
I.M.R.A.D
(Introduction, Methods, Results, And,
Discussion) Summarizing
- When retelling a movie, how your day
was, stories about your love life.
- Brief restatement of a text’s main points
Writing styles - Selecting out key features of a text to
create a shorter version
- Way of writing
- Through stories, facts, descriptions, or
arguments
TWO AIMS OF SUMMARIZING
1. To reproduce the main idea and key
FOUR MAIN WRITING STYLES points of a text
2. Restate these in as few words as
Narrative writing possible.
-tells a story fictional or non-fictional REMEMBER: To summarize
- Main idea – topic sentence
Expository writing
 - Key points – supporting
details/arguments used to explain the
main idea

BENEFITS OF SUMMARIZING
1. It helps you learn to identify key ideas
of a text and ignore irrelevant
information
2. It improves our memory and by
extension, our comprehension
3. It is an effective tool to self-evaluate
what is understood about the original
text

SUMMARIZING TIPS
1. Read the text very carefully

2. Ask yourself these questions

- What is the main idea
- What are the crucial details necessary
for supporting the ideas?

3. Highlight, underline, or jot down what

you think are the main points of the text.

4. Outline the writer’s argument

5. Summarize in chronological order