ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Academic Text and

Non-Academic Text
 Learning
Objectives
Recognize the importance
01
of reading academic texts;

Differentiates language used in academic

02 texts from various disciplines;
(CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Ia-c-4 ) and

03 Determines the structure of a

specific academic text.
 Academic Texts
• Written by professionals in the given field

• Well-edited and often takes years to publish

• Use formal language

• Contains words and terms specific to the
field (jargons)
 Academic Texts
• Contains list of sources and references

• main goal is to advance human understanding in a

particular discipline
• Can be challenging for beginner readers

• Informative, argumentative, or objective

in nature
 Academic Text
01 School books
Examples

02 Journal articles

03 Research Papers

04 Newspaper articles

05 Thesis
Types of Academic Text
DESCRIPTIVE
• Provides facts and
information
• Identify, report, record,
summarize, define
 Types of Academic Text
ANALYTICAL
• Organizes facts and information
into categories, groups, parts,
types or relationships

• Analyze, compare, contrast,

relate, examine
 Types of Academic Text
PERSUASIVE
• Includes argument, recommendation,
interpretation, or evaluation of the work
of others with the addition of your own
point of view
• Needs to be supported by evidence
• Argue, evaluate, discuss, take a
position
 Types of Academic Text
CRITICAL
• Requires you to consider at
least two point of view,
including your own
• Critique, debate, disagree,
and evaluate
 Non- Academic Texts
• Written for the mass public

• Published quickly and can be written by anyone

• Often doesn’t involved research or sources

• Use informal and more conversational
language
• May contain slang
 Non- Academic Texts
• Author may be unknown

• Usually delivers simple and basic information

• Can be read and easily understood by any kind of reader

• Personal, emotional, impressionistic, or

subjective in nature
 Non - Academic Text
01 Blog Posts
Examples

02 Fiction Books

03 Letters

04 Diaries
ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Factors that Shape

Academic Writing
 ASPECTS OF PROFESSIONAL AND
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
Formality reflects your dignified stance in your writing as a
member of the academic community. This means that since
your audience are fellow members of the academic community,
the language you use requires precision to make it a
“legitimate” piece of academic writing.
1.
Avoid Colloquial/trite/idiomatic expressions, such as kind of like, as a
matter of fact, I need to go to the John.
A definite statement: Industrialization is viewed as
a superior way of life.
To make it more tentative or cautious we can change
or add some words: Industrialization tends to be
viewed as a superior way of life.
Explicitness- if you intend to show a change in your line of
argument, make it clear by using however, this is due to, this
resulted in,

Structure- sentences need to be constructed in such a way that

they show a level of complexity that reflects the sophistication of
an academic writer.
In combining ideas effectively, you will need to avoid redundancy
and make sure that ideas are packed effectively.
The earthquake caused a life loss.
The earthquake caused a massive
property damage.
The earthquake changed the landscape
of the village.

The earthquake was a disaster that

caused loss of life, property damage,
and permanent changes in the
landscape.
 Passive- since the writer of the paper is presumed to
have done the collection and analysis of data, it is
understood that all results of the action are a product of
the writer’s work.

The researcher conducted experiments to validate the

hypothesis.

Experiments were conducted to validate the hypothesis

Academic or Non-Academic?

Academic text

Non-academic text