WHAT IS ACADEMIC WRITING

? A process that starts with posing a QUESTION, PROBLEMATIZING A CONCEPT ,

EVALUATING AN OPINION, AND ENDS IN ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS POSED,
CLARIFYING THE PROBLEM, AND/OR ARGUING FOR A STAND

Academic writing relies on facts and the use of straightforward and businesslike
language.

ACADEMIC WRITING IS THINKING.

ACADEMIC WRITING INVOLVES RESEARCH.
ACADEMIC WRITING RELIES ON FACTS.

Academic text is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts

or professionals in a given field using formal language.

Academic texts, therefore, is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal) and

technical. It is formal by avoiding casual or conversational language, such as
contractions or informal vocabulary.
avoiding direct reference to people or feelings, and instead emphasizing objects,
facts and ideas.
🡪 are technical by using vocabulary specific to the discipline.
EXAMPLE OF ACADEMIC TEXT
Articles - published in scholarly journals

- offers results of research and development that can either impact the academic
community or provide relevance to nation-building.

Scholarly Journals 🡪 are periodicals that contains articles written by experts in a

particular field of study. The articles are intended to be read by other experts or
students of the field and are usually much more sophisticated and advanced than
the articles found in popular magazines.

e-Books
e-Databases
e-Journals
The structure of the academic texts are:
typically formal
clearly structured introduction, body, and conclusion
includes information from credible sources which are, in turn, properly cited
includes a list of references used in developing the academic paper

Structure is an important feature of academic writing. A well-structured text

enables the reader to follow the argument and navigate the text.

A. The Three-Part Essay Structure The three-part essay structure is a basic

structure that consists of introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction and
the conclusion should be shorter than the body of the text. For shorter essays,
one or two paragraphs for each of these sections can be appropriate. For longer
texts or theses, they may be several pages long.
1. Introduction – it clearly tells the reader the topic, purpose, and structure of
the paper. As a rough guide, an introduction might be between 10 and 20 percent
of the length of the whole paper and has three main parts:
 The most general information, such as background and/or definitions.
 The core of the introduction, where you show the overall topic, purpose, your
point of view, hypotheses and/or research questions (depending on what kind of
paper it is).
 The most specific information, describing the scope and structure of your paper.

NOTE: You should write your introduction after you know both your overall point
of view (if it is a persuasive paper) and the whole structure of your paper. You
should then revise the introduction when you have completed the main body.

2. The Body - it develops the question, “What is the topic about?” It may
elaborate directly on the topic sentence by giving definitions, classifications,
explanations, contrasts, examples and evidence. This is considered as the heart of
the essay because it expounds the specific ideas for the readers to have a better
understanding of the topic. It usually is the largest part of the essay.

3. Conclusion – this is closely related to the introduction and is often described as

its ‘mirror image’. This means that if the introduction begins with general
information and ends with specific information, the conclusion moves in the
opposite direction. The conclusion usually begins by briefly summarizing the main
scope or structure of the paper, confirms the topic that was given in the
introduction, ends with a more general statement about how this topic relates to
its context. This may take the form of an evaluation of theimportance of the topic,
implications for future research or a recommendation about theory or practice.

B. The IMRaD Structure The sections of the IMRaD structure are:

1. Introduction - usually depicts the background of the topic and the central focus
of the study.
2. Methodology - lets your readers know your data collection methods, research
instrument employed, sample size and so on.
3. Results and Discussion - states the brief summary of the key findings or the
results of your study.

Content and Style of Academic Texts

Academic texts include concepts and theories that are related to the specific
discipline they explore. They usually exhibit all the properties of a well-written
text, i.e., organization, unity, coherence and cohesion, as well as structure
adherence to rules of language use and mechanics.

In general, authors observe the following when writing academic texts:

 They state critical questions and issues.
 They provide facts and evidence from credible sources.
 They use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon and colloquial
expressions.
 They take an objective point-of-view and avoid being personal and subjective.
 They list references.
 They use hedging or cautious language to tone down their claims