ACADEMIC

READING &
WRITING
(UB00402)
PHOTO BY COLLECTIVE / CC BY-SA 3.0
COURSE REQUIREMENTS

◼ Upload copies of the following at the ‘Academic Reading & Writing’

homepage in Smart UMS:
◼ SMP registration form (listing courses including AR&W)
◼ MUET / IELTS / TOEFL results (MUET Band 4 [211] / IELTS Band 6.0 /
TOEFL 550 / CEFR B2)
OR
◼ Forecast MUET / IELTS / TOEFL results
◼ If actual results are below MUET Band 4, change course before add/drop
deadlines (See next slide)
◼ If actual results are only submitted at end of semester and are below required
level, no credit points for course.
DEADLINES!
COURSE REQUIREMENTS

◼ Do NOT let other lecturers schedule classes during allotted AR&W elective
time (11am – 2pm generally)
◼ Email copy of Medical Certificate (MC) or formal letter in case of absence
◼ Warning letters (3 maximum) will be issued for absence without reason
following which student may be prevented from taking the final assessment
◼ Failure to submit one or more course assessments = COURSE FAIL
COURSE SYNOPSIS

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of the course, you will be able to:
◼ Identify organisational and structural elements of academic texts
◼ Communicate academic ideas in written form in accordance with the conventions of
the academic essay
◼ Present and summarise your ideas via oral presentations
◼ Evaluate and respond critically to ideas in academic texts
 Assessment Percentage
Writing Assignment:
Argumentative Essay

Mind map (Brainstorming) Feedback

Essay outline 15%
Draft Essay Feedback
25%*
COURSE
Oral presentation
Final Essay 30% ASSESSMENTS
*10% group mark, 15% individual mark

Reading and Writing Test 30%

Total 100%
INTRODUCTION TO
ACADEMIC
READING &
WRITING
WHAT DOES ACADEMIC LANGUAGE LOOK LIKE?
 FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING

Exercise
Individually or in pairs:
1. Read the 4 text extracts
2. Rank them on a scale of 1 to 10 according to which is the
most academic and which is the least academic.
3. Make a list of the features that mark each text as
academic or non-academic.
4. Report back on your findings.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS
Text Purpose Style Language Linking Most / Least
No. / e.g. e.g. e.g. Words between Academic?
Type
explain, persuade, formal / informal / expository / persuasive, Unusual vocabulary, repeated words / clauses and between
Entertain, etc… etc.. phrases / common word types e.g. verbs, sentences
nouns, etc… e.g. but, and, Mark / 10
although

1 To inform Moderately formal Technical terms e.g. and 6

Tech To persuade Expository ‘’optimised digital output’’ / ‘’input while Mildly
Magazine Journalistic reporting style latency’’ despite academic
(The Verge)

2 To entertain Narrative Descriptive, simple verbs, and 4

Novel (1984) (To persuade?) Descriptive adjectives and adverbs: ‘’slipped who Non-academic,
quickly’’ / ‘’énormous face’’ / which but potentially
‘heavy black moustache’’ / ‘’fruity but academic
voice’’ / dulled mirror’’
3 To inform Moderately formal, Complex noun phrases: and 7
Online article To persuade Persuasive ‘’demographic internet while Somwhat
(Neilson) Journalistic penetration’’ / ‘’changing with academic
consumption behaviour / but
hypercognitive ‘always-on’
generation’’

4 To inform, Formal Complex noun phrases: ‘’time and 9

Research paper To persuade Academic bound and context specific conversely Academic
Persuasive behaviour’’ / ‘’replicable however
Intertextual associations’’ / longitudinal for instance
perspective studies’’
Academic vocab. / Citations
 Academic writing -
1) evaluates ideas of others
2) makes connections between ideas clear
SUMMARY: 3) proposes new ideas and theories
FEATURES OF 4) states source of ideas (citations/references)
5) exhibits a formal format and style (less personal
ACADEMIC pronouns)

WRITING 6) contains specialised vocabulary

7) contains long noun phrases e.g. ‘engineering design
processes’
8) expresses new ideas with caution (perhaps, may, can)
 • DESCRIBE
KNOWLEDGE
TELLING
(EASY)
• e.g. narrative description, instruction

• EXPLAIN
• e.g. expository, cause / effect

• PERSUADE
KNOWLEDGE
TRANSFORMING
(DIFFICULT)
• e.g. persuasion, argument
 ◼ Academic essay
◼ Report
◼ Research proposal
TYPES OF ◼ Dissertation/thesis
ACADEMIC ◼ Final year project

WRITING ◼ Article critique

◼ Reflective writing (journals/ reflections)
◼ Conference paper
◼ Research article
THINGS TO CONSIDER

◼ Audience (who are the readers and what do they know)

◼ Purpose (e.g. to inform/ to persuade/ to suggest)
◼ Text type (academic essay/ case study/ lab report/
research proposal/ article critique, etc.)
◼ Register
 REGISTER?

Register = a style of writing used in a particular context

(e.g. when writing a job application letter)
 TYPES OF REGISTER

Hi,
Need to see you later about the trip.
Gotta go.
Jack
1) PERSONAL
This register is normally used between people who know
each other well and is very casual. Features of this register
are incorrect grammar, spelling, punctuation and writing
usually contains colloquialisms associated with everyday
speech, e.g. ‘What’s up?’ ‘How are you doing?’
 TYPES OF REGISTER

In transforming the nation into a developed one, we need

to be focusing on the importance of education. The
policy of ‘No Child Should be Left Behind’ should be
upheld.

1) Ceremonial (speeches)

Generally formal and can be academic if required. Level of formality

depends on the audience.
 TYPES OF REGISTER

It was discovered that the financial depreciation can be attributed to

foreign currency speculation with the involvement of international
monetary conglomerates.

3) FORMAL
This register is the mostly used in academic writing. It does not break
any of the rules of written grammar and is characterised by significant
nominalisation and the absence of colloquilisms.
e.g. judge (verb) – judgement (noun); depreciate - depreciation
.
PRACTICE

Write (T) for True and (F) for False for the following statements

1 Academic writing lacks rules and practices.

2 Academic writing incorporates a certain tone and strictly uses

conventional spelling, punctuation and grammar rules.
3 The focus of academic writing is the writer.

4 As a writer, a student is responsible for providing evidence to

support his/her claims in his/her writing.
5 Academic writing requires abstract thoughts as you need to
discuss philosophies, concepts and theories in the topics.
6 A student should not cite experts of a particular topic in
academic writing.
 PRACTICE: ANSWERS

Write (T) for True and (F) for False for the following statements

1 Academic writing lacks rules and practices. F

2 Academic writing incorporates a certain tone and strictly uses T

conventional spelling, punctuation and grammar rules.
3 The focus of academic writing is the writer. F

4 As a writer, a student is responsible for providing evidence to T

support his/her claims in his/her writing.
5 Academic writing requires abstract thoughts as you need to T
discuss philosophies, concepts and theories in the topics.
6 A student should not cite experts of a particular topic in F
academic writing.
WHAT
READING
METHODS OR
STRATEGIES
DO YOU USE?
 1) Skimming
◼ reading for general information
◼ (When we are assessing whether a text is likely to be
interesting or useful to us)
TWO COMMON
READING 2) Scanning
◼ reading for specific information
STRATEGIES ◼ (When we know the questions and we are looking for the
answers)
◼ Exercise:
◼ Read the text on the next slide:
◼ First reading (30 secs): What is the text about?
 Some scientists believe all dreams are a physiological response to
our brains’ night-time activities. “They are simply our awareness of
automatic activation of the brain during sleep,” says J. Allen Hobson,
M.D. , a psychiatry professor at Harvard University and author of The
Dreaming Brain. The brain stem sends signals to the cortex (the centre
of vision and thought), and the cortex turns those signals into dream
stories. Your own experiences and emotions do contribute to the dream,
however. Stored in your memory, they organise the story that you
dream. “But dreaming is largely a random process,” adds Dr. Hobson.

Not so, say other experts, who view repeated dreams as messages
from a person’s deepest self, or the “royal road” as Freud wrote, to the
unconscious. “Dreams offer an unfailing view of the conflicts within a
person,” contends Edward N. Brennan, M.D., an assistant professor of
clinical psychology at Columbia University – and they present that view
through metaphors and symbols.
TOPIC: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DREAMS
Second reading (2 mins):
What are the two opposing ideas put forward?
 Some scientists believe all dreams are a physiological response to
our brains’ night-time activities. “They are simply our awareness of
automatic activation of the brain during sleep,” says J. Allen Hobson,
M.D. , a psychiatry professor at Harvard University and author of The
Dreaming Brain. The brain stem sends signals to the cortex (the centre
of vision and thought), and the cortex turns those signals into dream
stories. Your own experiences and emotions do contribute to the dream,
however. Stored in your memory, they organise the story that you
dream. “But dreaming is largely a random process,” adds Dr. Hobson.

Not so, say other experts, who view repeated dreams as messages
from a person’s deepest self, or the “royal road” as Freud wrote, to the
unconscious. “Dreams offer an unfailing view of the conflicts within a
person,” contends Edward N. Brennan, M.D., an assistant professor of
clinical psychology at Columbia University – and they present that view
through metaphors and symbols.
 ANSWERS TO EXERCISE

General information from skimming:

◼ Text puts forward two contrasting ideas about the significance of
dreams

Specific information from scanning:

◼ The two contrasting ideas are:
◼ Dreams are simply a physiological process and content has no
significance
◼ Dreams reveal the subconscious or the dreamer’s hidden desires and
fears