EAPP ASSIGNMENT #2

Ganilyn D. Ponciano. STEM 12-A September 23, 2021

Directions: Answer each of the following questions in NOT LESS THAN 5 SENTENCES. Each item is worth
20 points.

1. What is academic writing?

- Academic writing is clear, concise, focused, structured and backed up by evidence. Its
purpose is to aid the reader's understanding. It has a formal tone and style and it does
not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary. Academic writing in
English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part
contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or repetitions. Its
objective is to inform rather than entertain.

What are its features?

- There are ten main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic
writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible.
It uses language precisely and accurately. It is also well organized and planned.

 Complexity - Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written
language has longer words, it is lexically more-dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. It
uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter and the
language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more
passives.
 Formality - Academic writing is relatively formal. In general, this means that in academic
writing you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
 Precision - In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.
 Objectivity - Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has
fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis
should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make,
rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives),
rather than verbs (and adverbs).
 Explicitness - Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it
is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various
parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different
signaling words.
 Accuracy - Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with
narrow specific meanings. Linguistics distinguishes clearly between "phonetics" and
"phonemics"; general English does not.
  Hedging - In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about
your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different
subjects prefer to do this in different ways. A technique common in certain kinds of
academic writing is known by linguists as a ‘hedge’.
 Responsibility - In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to
provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible for
demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.
 Organization - Academic writing is well organized. It flows easily from one section to the
next in a logical fashion. A good place to start is the genre of your text. Once you have
decided on the genre, the structure is easily determined.
 Planning - Academic writing is well planned. It usually takes place after research and
evaluation, according to a specific purpose and plan.

2. What is the importance of academic writing?

- Academic writing serves as a tool of communication that conveys acquired knowledge in
a specific field of study. Writing academically will help students analyze, convey
understanding, think critically and focus on technique and style. In higher institutions of
learning, it can be difficult for students to explain what they know, especially on
complex subjects, if they are poor in academic writing. Writing and essays will allow
students to explain what they understand and know by using the correct phrases and
styles and make the information understood by others. Academic writing has a strong
focus on technique and how it should be used to best convey ideas. If students learn
about style and how to write essays early on in their academic careers, they will find it
much easier to write papers throughout university.

3. How is academic writing different from a personal letter?

- Academic writing is a writing that is clear, concise, focused, structured, and backed up
by evidence. It uses formal language and colloquialism and slang are not used rather,
casual language should only be used for emphasis. Academic writing does not employ
"I" or "we" pronouns. On the other hand, personal letter can be formal or informal
depending on the purpose. But sometimes personal letter usually contains casual and
slang words. However, unlike academic writing, personal letter employs second-person
pronouns, colloquial language, casual diction, and humor (at times).

How about from a court order?

- Academic writings are not enforceable. Academic writings are informative and, perhaps,
persuasive. Anyone can draft a document that could qualify as an academic paper. Court
Orders are only issued by courts and they are enforceable and coercive. They direct
parties to do an act or refrain from an act. They are not informational or persuasive.
They are directives that must be obeyed.
4. Why is academic writing equated to thinking?
- Academic writing is equated to thinking because it is done by students, researchers,
professors, and writers to convey scholarly thoughts and ideas. This writing is basically
based on evidential arguments, logical reasoning, factual representation, precise and
apt writing which all involves thinking to a great extent. This requires high thinking skills
since the writing level should meet the level of the learned audience according to their
age and intellectuality. Moreover, the basic academic writing types, - descriptive,
analytical, persuasive, and critical - all the names suggest that a lot of thinking go into
academic writing. Academic writing requires a lot of researching, referencing,
comprehending and correlating skills, all of which attributes to thinking skills.

5. If you use the first-person point of view in writing academic papers, is it still considered
academic?
- Yes. In general, it is acceptable in to use the first-person point of view in abstracts,
introductions, discussions, and conclusions, in some journals. Even then, avoid using “I”
in these sections. Instead, use “we” to refer to the group of researchers that were part
of the study. Use the first-person singular pronoun appropriately, for example, to
describe research steps or to state what you will do in a chapter or section. Cite credible
sources to support your scholarly argument.