THE ACADEMIC

WRITING STYLE
 ACTIVITY 1

Parking Lot
 GUIDE QUESTIONS:

• What were your difficulties in writing instructions for your

audience?
• Do you think the recipients of your instructions will safely get
to their destination? What difficulties do you think they will
encounter and how can these be addressed?
• If you can improve your set of directions, what revisions can
you make?
 CHARACTERISTICS

• Topic – What is the text about? What details am I imparting to

the readers?
• Role – Who am I as a writer? Do I write as a sibling? A
student? A son/a daughter? A customer?
• Purpose – Why am I writing this in the first place?
• Audience – Who is reading this piece? What knowledge does
he/she need to understand in my writing?
 ACADEMIC WRITING

• It takes the form of a formal paper that follows specific

standards such as the use of a formal language, referencing
where sources are given credit and specific grammatical
patterns, organization and argument.
 ACADEMIC WRITING

• It is different from other types of writing such as creative

writing and journalistic writing due to its distinct content and
format.
 ACADEMIC WRITING FEATURES

• Formality
In general this means in an essay that you should avoid:
a. Colloquial words and expressions; “stuff, a lot of, thing, sort
of”
b. Abbreviated forms: “can’t, doesn’t, shouldn’t”
c. Two word verbs: “put off, bring up
d. sub-headings, numbering and bullet-points in formal essays-
but use them in reports
e. Asking questions
 OBJECTIVITY

Academic writing requires special knowledge and use of more

complex language and objectivity. This means that the writing
must me impersonal and maintains a certain level of social
distance.
OBJECTIVITY CAN BE ACHIEVED BY:

1. Avoiding the use of personal pronouns such as you, I, and

we.
2. Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks “closeness” with
the reader, and constantly seeks his/her attention.
3. Avoiding emotive language that shows biases and lessens
objectivity
 EXPLICITNESS

Academic writing demands the use of signposts that allow

readers to trace the relationships in the parts of a study.

The following phrases may be useful in making ideas explicit:

This is due to the…
This resulted in…
In addition…
For example…
 CAUTION

Academic writing requires care since knowledge is build from

proven theories and concepts. Therefore, caution is needed to
avoid sweeping generalizations.