Academic 

Writing
Skills Development
Academic Characteristics

writing – The writing process

an
overview Introductions

of the Writing paragraphs 

seminar Using sources

 A mechanical exercise

Groups of grammatically correct sentences

What is The clear expression of ideas, knowledge, information

academic A form of self-expression

writing?
A way of exploring, addressing and expressing academic issues

A way of communication results and information

Recognising academic writing
 What is words used with a specialised meaning

special
about  neutral and very formal expressions

Academic 
English? extensive use of noun phrases
 Everyday words are used with a specialised
meaning.

 Academic
English The research underlines the importance of
international trade agreements.

We have no solid evidence that radiation has

caused the problem.
Academic English
• In writing academics use many expressions which are neutral but they also use
very formal expresions which are not common in everyday language.

Neutral More formal

in short, briefly, basically in sum, to sum up
only sole(ly)
almost, more or less virtually
pri
m a ri
atte ly
try i nl y, m pt
ma stly 
mo
 Academic language
puts a lot of
information into noun
phrases rather than
spreading it out over a
whole sentence.

 Academic Englis
h The accidental Radiation
release of radiation was accidentally
over a 24 hour released over a 24
period caused hour period,
widespread long- damaging a wide
term damage. area for a long time.
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 Study skills

noun verb adjective adverb

accident accidental accidentally

quantity/ quantitative/
quantification quantifiable
Study skills

a new approach

on the subject of

beyond the scope of

 The purpose of academic writing or being
clear why you are writing!
The most common To report on a piece
reasons for writing of research the
include: writer has conducted

To discuss a subject
To answer a question
of common interest
the writer has been
and give the writer's
Common
types of
academic
writing
Which genres and sub-
genres are you familiar Тази снимка от Неизвестен автор е лицензирана по CC BY-SA-NC.

with and can name?

 Common types of academic writing  - answers
Notes A written record of the main points of a text or lecture, for a student's
personal use.

Report A description of something a student has done, e.g. conducting

Project A piece of reserach, either individual or group work, with the topic
chosen by the students(s).

Essay The most common type of written work, with the title given by the
teacher, normally 1000-1500 words.

Dissertation/Thesis The longest piece of writing normally done by a student (20,000+

words) often for a higher degree, on a topic chosen by the student.

Paper A general term for any academic essay, report, presentation or article.
 How about you?

• Which types of academic writing have you done

in the past or are currently working on?
• What difficulties do you have with writing in
English or in your own language? What do you
do when you have difficulties?
• Are there any special ways in which you organise
the writing process?

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 The process of writing 
• Think about your
own writing When you write an important text, do you make more than one draft?
processes:
Do you prefer to write on paper or use a computer? Have you ever asked yourself why?

What do you do before you start writing?

How do you start writing? Do you begin at 'the beginning' or jump in wherever you have some ideas? Do you
think one approach is better than another?

 What do you do while you are writing? Do you stop and think? Do you ever go back to the beginning and start
again?

When you finish your first complete draft, what do you do next?
The process of
academic writing
Essay questions and
introductions
Understanding introductions
You have been asked to write an essay on the
following topic. How would you start?

• The problems of population growth 

Look at the following sentences from an introduction to an
essay on The problems
of population growth.

A) This growth has created many problems, especially in capital cities. 

• Decide which would be the B) This essay will discuss the situation that has led to the development of these
problems and describe some of them. 
most obvious order of the
sentences.
C) The population of the world has been growing rapidly over the last thirty
years. 

D) It will then suggest some possible solutions to the problems and evaluate
their viability, 

E) The problems include housing, pollution, unemployment, and food and water
shortages. 
Together with a classmate complete the paragraph plan for the
example introduction. The first suggestion has been done for you.
Paragraph Plan Introduction

1. Introduces the topic (a general
statement related to the topic)
2.  development of these problems and describe
1. The population of the world has been growing
rapidly over the last thirty years. 2. This growth
has created many problems, especially in capital
cities such as housing, pollution, unemployment,
and food and water shortages. 3. This essay will
discuss the situation that has led to the
some of them. It will then suggest some possible
solutions to the problems and evaluate their
viability.

3.
INTRODUCTIONS
Introductions often involve
PARAPHRASING the
(essay) question

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Parahrasing techniques
Look at the sentences below and try to paraphrase them. Try changing
the underlined word into an +ing noun (gerund) and the words in italics
to a synonym. Change the grammar where necessary.

1. It is not easy to solve the problem of noise 2 It is important for politicians to encourage
near airports. environmentally friendly forms of transport.
Look at the sentences below and try to paraphrase them. Try changing
the underlined word into an +ing noun (gerund) and the words in italics
to a synonym. Change the grammar where necessary.

2. Encouraging eco-friendly forms of transport

1.  Solving the problem of noise near airports is
is a priority for lawmakers/ people in
difficult.
government.
To sum up
• In general introductions in
academic essays may have a
variety of patterns depending
on: the length of the essay, the
topic, the purpose, the
conventions of the subject
specialists. However, there are
certain core elements of
academic essays that you may
find useful to adopt and are
commonly taught as being
appropriate in western-based
culture. They are summarised
in the table.
 A paragraph

Writing
paragraphs 
• develops a single topic
• starts with a topic sentence
• develops the main point with examples or explanation
• may end with a concluding sentence
 Which of the following items is the topic of the paragraph?

UNIVERSITIES      PHARMACEUTICAL AND AGRICULTURAL COMPANIES      RESEARCH

1
.................................................... 2 Universities do reserch in all academic
subject areas, such as medicine, and companies carry out research into a
wide range of products and services, from new models of cars to what
people buy in supermarkets. 3 For example, research by pharmaceutical
companies leads to the development of new medicines and agricultural
companies research new varieties of vegetables and grains to provide
better quality food for our tables. 4 However, universities are essential for
research, because they are where students learn research methods. 5
These examples show that research is a widespread and essential activity
in universities and in the business world.
 topic sentence: to
introduce the topic rationale: to explain why
of the paragraph the topic is important

•1 Research today is carried out by both universities and companies. 2 Universities do

reserch in all academic subject areas, such as medicine, and companies carry out research
into a wide range of products and services, from new models of cars to what people buy in
supermarkets. 3 For example, research by pharmaceutical companies leads to the
development of new medicines and agricultural companies research new varieties of
vegetables and grains to provide better quality food for our tables. 4 However, universities
are essential for research, because they are where students learn research methods. 5
These examples show that research is a widespread and essential activity in universities
and in the business world.
concluding sentence: to restate
development: to develop the the main point and evaluate
main point with examples and briefly
explanation
 a  Another important change was that people had the
freedom to live and work wherever they wanted.
b  The earliest significant change was for farming
Read the families, who were no longer isolated.
following c   The final major change brought by the automobile
scrambled was the building of superhighways, suburbs, huge
shopping centres and theme parks such as Disney
paragraph and World in Florida.
find the topic d  The automobile revolutionized the way of life in the
sentence. United States.
Rearrange the e  The automobile enabled them to drive to towns
other  sentences. and cities comfortably and conveniently.
f  In fact, people could work in a busy metropolitan
city and drive home to the quiet suburb.
 1d 2b 3e 4a 5f 6c
  The automobile revolutionized the way of life in
the United States. The earliest significant
change was for farming families, who were no
longer isolated. The automobile enabled them
The to drive to towns and cities comfortably and
conveniently. Another important change was
paragraph in that people had the freedom to live and work
wherever they wanted. In fact, people could
the correct work in a busy metropolitan city an drive home
order. to the quiet suburb. The final major change
brought by the automobile was the building of
superhighways, suburbs, huge shopping
centres and theme parks such as Disney World
in Florida.
Using sources 
When you write an
academic assignment
such as an essay, you will
need to use material
from other sources, such
as textbooks and
academic articles.

https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/09/references-
versus-citations.html
Citations
and
references
Citations appear in the body of your paper and point your
reader to your references at the end of the manuscript.

https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/09/references-versus-
citations.html
 Black, I., Hashimzade, N., & Myles, G.D. (2009). Oxford Dictionary of
Economics (3rd ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.     

Herlihy, J., Gleeson, K., & Turner, S. (2010). What assumptions about human
behaviour underlie asylum judgements? International Journal of Refugee Law,
22: 351-366. 

Understanding Hothersal, S. J. (2008). Review of human behaviour and the social

environment micro level: individuals and families, Katherine van Wormer,
Oxford University Press, USA, in British Journalof Social Work, 38: 1447-
references 14449. 

Jones, K. & Creedy, D. (2008). Health and Human Bahaviour (2nd ed.) Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 

Brown, R. (2019). Henri Tajfel: Explorer of Identity and Difference. London and
New York: Routledge. 
 One of the most influential models for speech production views it as a progression of four successive
stages: (1) conceptualization, (2) formulation, (3) articulation, and (4) self-monitoring. Source: Scovel, T.
(1998). Psycholinguistics: Oxford Introductions to Language Study. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Referring
There are four stages of speech production (Scovel, 1998). These are the
conceptualization stage, the language formulation stage, the articulation
stage and self-monitoring.

to sources Scovel (1998) argues that there are four stages of speech production: the
conceptualization stage, the language formulation stage, the articulation
stage and self-monitoring.

Scovel (1998) states the model of speech production with most influence is a
'"progression of four successive stages: (1) conceptualization, (2) formulation,
(3) articulation, and (4) self-monitoring'.
 if you know

Writing in
English is why

easy 
how
 if you

Writing in
English is read

easy 
a lot
Thank you for coming and
participating in our seminar
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR STUDIES