English for Academic and

Professional Purposes
Quarter 3-Module 1
Language Used in Academic Texts

NegOr_Q3_EAPP_Module1_v2
 English for Academic and Professional Purposes – Grade 12
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 3 – Module 1: Language Used in Academic Texts
Second Edition, 2021

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Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio

Development Team of the Module

Writers: Grace A. Cimafranca
Editors: Ellen E. Edrial EdD/ Esteria J. Macajelos/
Teofan C. Gallosa
Reviewers: Ellen E. Edrial EdD and Esteria J. Macajelos
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Layout Artist/Typesetter: Josephine V. Austero
Management Team: Senen Priscillo P. Paulin, CESO V Rosela R. Abiera
Joelyza M. Arcilla, EdD Maricel S. Rasid
Nilita l. Ragay, EdD Elmar L. Cabrera
Marcelo K. Palispis, EdD
Anna Lee A. Amores, EdD

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Office Address: Kagawasan, Ave., Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Tele #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117
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 Introductory Message
This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners, can continue your
studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are
carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.
Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you
discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.
Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will tell
you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facilitator or
your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you
need to answer the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each
activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.
In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the Teacher are also provided to our
facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they can best help you on your
home-based learning.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of this SLM. Use
a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and tests. And read the instructions
carefully before performing each task.
If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the tasks in this
module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.
Thank you.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENT PAGES

TITLE PAGE i

INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE --------------------------------- ii

WHAT I NEED TO KNOW --------------------------------- 1

Learning Competency --------------------------------- 1

WHAT I KNOW 2
Task 1 2

WHAT’S IN 2
Task 2 2

WHAT’S NEW 3
Task 2 3

WHAT IS IT 4

WHAT’S MORE 8

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED --------------------------------- 10

WHAT I CAN DO ---------------------------------------- 10

ASSESSMENT 11

ANSWER KEY 12

REFERENCE LIST 13

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INTRODUCTION

Academic writing is usually seen as a tasking endeavor. Most of the time,

students and even professionals have second thoughts when asked to hand in
academic papers. They seem to have a notion that writing academic papers
requires skills that very few possess.

This is true for most students. They probably equate academic writing to
research writing. There is a big possibility that they dread writing papers, be it a
reaction paper, argumentative essay, or proposal. This imposing manner of
looking at academic writing has to be changed; students have to see that
academic writing is an activity that is within their grasp. Hence, it is important
for students to know what academic writing is and be able to write in this style.

In this module, you will be able to learn the language used in academic texts
from various disciplines.

MOST ESSENTIAL LEARNING COMPETENCY

Differentiates language used in academic texts from various disciplines.

Please take note that all answers shall be written in your activity
notebook, and there should never be any markings placed in this module.

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 WHAT I KNOW

Task 1
Direction: Write T if the statement is true and write F if the statement is
incorrect.

1. Academic writing is intended for a scholarly audience.

2. The main aim of academic writing is to entertain the audience.
3. The tone of academic writing is objective and formal.
4. Contractions are discouraged in an academic text.
5. Newspaper articles are some examples of non-academic writing.
6. Like academic writing, non-academic writing often does not
have a rigid structure.
7. Academic writing may not be based on research.

WHAT’S IN

Task 2

Directions: Arrange the words/phrases where they belong. They are used to
describe either academic text or non- academic text.

Personal opinions Validate idea Subjective Formal

No fixed structure Informal essays Objective
Research paper Diaries Scholarly Audience

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Task 3
Direction: Read the sentence from a student’s essay:

Articles on women's sports were placed on the left page and often at the bottom,
which is a place skipped by many readers.

Which two sentences below express the same idea using more formal
language?

1. Articles on women’s sports were placed on the left page, often at the
bottom, which is an area often overlooked by readers.

2. Articles on women’s sports were placed on the left page, often at the
bottom, which is an area most readers jump over.

3. Articles on women’s sports were placed on the left page, often at the
bottom, which is a less prominent position.

B. Match the informal vocabulary in the list below with the more
appropriate formal options underneath.
English often has more than one way to express an action. The choice is usually
between a phrasal verb (often verb + preposition) and a single word. Phrasal verbs
(e.g. give up, write down) are often used in conversation; however, in academic
writing single verbs are used wherever possible.

1. Look at – 6. A lot of -
2. Go over - 7. A bit -
3. Show - 8. Fix-
4. Begin - 9. Make sure-
5. Good -
Solve , repair, amend Demonstrate, indicate, illustrate

Commence, initiate, undertake A great deal of, many, an abundance

Confirm, determine, verify Revise, review

Consider, monitor, analyze Somewhat, fairly, quite

Satisfactory, positive, favorable Excellent, perfect, accurate

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 WHAT IS IT

What is Academic Writing?

Academic writing is a formal and rather impersonal mode of writing that is

intended for a scholarly audience. It tends to depend heavily on research, factual
evidence, opinions of educated researchers and scholars. Scholarly essays,
research papers, dissertations, etc. are some examples of academic writing. All
these types of writings have rigid structure and layout, which include an
introduction, thesis, an overview of topics discussed, and a well-written
conclusion. The main aim of academic writing is to inform the audience while
providing non-biased information and backing up the writer’s claims with solid
evidence.

Moreover, academic writing heavily contains vocabulary typical to a specific

field. Citations and a list of references or sources are another important feature
in academic writing. Moreover, the tone in academic writing should always be
objective and formal.

Each subject discipline will have certain writing conventions, vocabulary

and types of discourse that you will become familiar with over the course of your
degree. However, there are some general characteristics of academic writing that
are relevant across all disciplines.

Sources:https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-academic-writing-and-non-
academic-writing and https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/14011/writing/106/academic_writing

Some Tips for Academic Writing

Always use formal language. Avoid using colloquialism or slang.

Don’t use contractions (shortened verb forms).
Use the third-person point of view and avoid the first-person point of view.
Don’t pose questions; convert the questions into statements.
Avoid exaggerations or hyperbole.
Don’t make sweeping generalizations
Be clear and concise and avoid repeating.

Source:https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-academic- writing- and-non-

academic-writing/

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 What is Non- A c a d e m i c Writing?

Non-academic writing is writing that is not intended for an academic

audience. They are written for a lay audience or the mass public. This type of
writing may be personal, impressionistic, emotional, or subjective in nature.

The language in non-academic writing is informal or casual. Some types of

non- academic writing may even contain slang. Newspaper articles, memoirs,
magazine articles, personal or business letters, novels, websites, text messages,
etc. are some examples of non-academic writing. The content of these writings is
often a general topic, unlike academic writing, which mainly focuses on a specific
field. Furthermore, the main aim of a piece of non-academic writing is to inform,
entertain or persuade the readers.

Most non-academic writings do not include references, citations or a list of

sources. Nor are they extensively well-researched as academic writing. Moreover,
non-academic writing often does not have a rigid structure as academic writing.
It is often free-flowing and reflects the style and personality of the writer.

Source:https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-academic-writing- and-
non-academic-writing/

Examples of non-academic texts are the following:

1. Email messages
2. Personal opinions
3. Newspapers
4. Magazine
5. Blog article

Point of view of non-academic text

Subjective and personal – It is based on personal opinions and feeling
rather than on facts that comes from reliable sources.

Asking rhetorical questions – It is a self-evident, and used for style as an

impressive persuasive device. It may have an obvious answer, but the
questioner asks it to lay emphasis to the point.

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 Source: https://brainly.ph/question/605392

What is academic language?

Academic language is the language used in the classroom and workplace, the
language of text, the language assessments, the language of academic success
and the language of power.

The term academic language may be used to refer to formal English rules,
structure, and content for academic dialogue and text, and the communicative
conventions that allow students to meet the demands of school environments.

“Academic English is the language of the classroom, of academic disciplines

(science, history, literary analysis), of texts and literature, and of extended,
reasoned discourse. It is more abstract and decontextualized than
conversational English” (Gersten, Baker, Shanahan, Linan-Thompson, Collins, &
Scarcella, 2007, p. 16).

Features of Academic Language

Academic language has a unique set of rules: it should be explicit, formal and
factual as well as objective and analytical in nature. Students often think that
academic language should sound complex and be difficult to write and
understand but that is not necessarily the case. Instead, academic writing should
be clear and concise in order to communicate its contents in the best way. It is
important to remember that academic texts are written with an academic
audience in mind and your writing style needs to conform to the conventions of
the field you are studying.

The language used at university has various features which distinguish it

from the language styles used in other contexts. Consider the language used in
novels, conversation, newspapers or law courts. Each has its own style, with
varying degrees of formality and objectivity. Academic language is:

formal
objective
impersonal
precise

These features ensure that ideas and arguments are communicated in a

clear,convincing and professional manner.

Formal
Formal writing requires considerable effort to construct meaningful
sentences, paragraphs, and arguments that make the text easy to comprehend.
Choose words precisely and carefully so that the reader can accurately
understand the concepts within the text.

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 The tone used in academic writing is usually formal, meaning that it should
not sound conversational or casual. You should particularly avoid colloquial,
idiomatic, slang, or journalistic expressions in favor of precise vocabulary.
Informal and colloquial language is often imprecise, so is open to
misinterpretation, and can be inaccessible to non-native English speakers.

Academic writing requires that you use full forms rather than contractions.
For example, write ‘do not’ instead of ‘don't’, ‘it is’ instead of ‘it's’, ‘they have’
insteadof ‘they've’ and ‘we will’ instead of ‘we'll’.

Objective

Academic writing is based on research and not on the writer’s own opinion
about a given topic. When you write objectively, you are concerned about facts
and not influenced by personal feelings or biases. When presenting an argument
to the reader, try to show both sides if you can and avoid making value
judgments.

At the same time, you will probably have to do an analysis or a discussion.

In order to convey attitude without using for example “I think”, you may use
words such as “apparently,” “arguably,” “ideally,” “strangely” and
“unexpectedly.” Note that the attitude you are expressing should not be based
on personal preferences but rather on the evidence that you are presenting.

Impersonal

Academic language is impersonal in that you generally do not refer to yourself

as the performer of actions. This involves avoiding the personal pronouns ‘I’ and
‘we’. For example, instead of writing ‘I will show’, you might write ‘this report will
show’. The second person, ‘you’, is also to be avoided.

Avoiding personal pronouns

If you need to avoid using the first or second person, in your writing, here
are some ways of doing it:

Using passive voice:

‘We administered the questionnaire...’ (active voice)
‘The questionnaire was administered...’ (passive voice)

Using third person:

‘I discovered that…’ becomes ‘Research reveals that…’
‘We can see that….’ becomes ‘It is evident that…’

Making things rather than people the subject of sentences:

‘I show...’ becomes ‘The report shows...’
‘I interpret the results as...’ becomes ‘The results indicate...’

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PRECISE

The facts are presented accurately. The choice of words is appropriate.

The use of technical terms to achieve precision is applied.

Source: https://www.monash.edu/rlo/research-writing-
assignments/writing/features-of-academic-writing/academic-language

Directions: Read the articles below. Evaluate these two texts and answer the
following questions. Write your answers on your notebook.

1. In your opinion, which of the texts is an academic text?

2. Why do you consider it as an academic text?

A. The Impact of COVID-19 on Drug Testing

Brian P. Feeley

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has created hesitation as far as workplace drug
testing is concerned, it can still be done in a safe and effective manner.

The COVID-19 pandemic is responsible for what could be the greatest economic
collapse of all time. Since March 1, 2020, thousands of businesses have been forced
to close their doors—at least temporarily—causing literally millions of Americans
to become unemployed. Now, over half a year later, employers areanxious to reopen
their businesses and those who lost jobs are eager to find employment and get back
to work.

While states are taking plans to reopen at different speeds, one constant remains—
the question of workplace drug testing and safety during the pandemic. This
article will give an overview of the general impact of COVID-19on the industry,
alternative testing methods during the pandemic and best practices for returning to
work.

B. 2021 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting

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 Thu, 27 May 2021 12:00:00 AM – Sun, 30 May 2021 11:59:59 PM
We are excited to announce the theme of the 2021 Annual Meeting that will take
place in Chicago from May 27-30! Please keep an eye out for the official Call for
Papers later this fall

The 2021 Law and Society Association Annual Meeting will be held, we hope, in
Chicago, a city that embodies inequality and violence but also has a long history
of reform and re-imagination. In this setting, we invite scholars in the law and
society tradition to submit panels and papers that speak to the themes of law
and justice in crises and disasters, but also in healing and reparations, in building
sustainable systems, in reshaping social practices and imaginaries, and in
creating new possibilities. A conference focused on crisis foregrounds the
present, but it also looks to the past and to the future with the themes of healing
and re-imagining. As scholars, we have a special role in re-imagining law and
legal institutions to make our societies and institutions more resilient and just.
We can also contribute to a multi-faceted understanding of healing, which opens
new and different entry points to old problems. These themes cut across
disciplines and invite creative thinking beyond law and beyond social science, to
encompass the humanities, the arts, medicine, and the natural sciences.

Questions include, but are not limited to:

▪ Health: How has law contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic response and to the
racial and economic inequities in exposure and morbidity? What might be the
role for law and justice in creating a sustainable system for access to health in its
wake?

▪ Democracy: What is the role of law and legal institutions in facilitating or

retarding the global erosion of democracy?

▪ Race: The mass demonstrations against police brutality that followed the death
of George Floyd in 2020 spread around the world. Can policing and the carceral
state be re-imagined in response to what many now refer to as the pandemic of
violence against racialized minorities? What might defunding look like in
practice?

▪ Environment: Climate change has caused many to question whether we are

reaching the limits of the planet’s ability to sustain human society in its current
form. What role has law played in getting us here, and what role might it play in
creating an economic system that is resilient and sustainable?

▪ Economy: The set of legal institutions that governed the expansion of trade over
the past decades are being rapidly undermined. What role will law play in an
economic downturn and recovery?

▪ Law: How has law contributed to the various crises we find ourselves in? How
might legal institutions themselves be re-imagined?
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 9

Task 5
Directions: Write your reflection in your notebook by completing the
unfinished statements below.

I have learned that .

I have realized that .
I will apply .

WHAT I CAN DO

Task 6
Directions: Paste in your notebook two (2) examples of academic texts from
various disciplines. Then, evaluate the characteristics of the
academic language found in the academic texts using the criteria
below.

Characteristics of Text A Text B

Academic Language
Does the text use a
formal language?
(Yes/No)
Is the language
impersonal? (Yes/No)
Are the choice of words
appropriate for an
academic text? (Yes/No)
Does the text use
technical terms? (If yes,
write 1 term found in the
text./No)
Is the academic text
objective? (Yes/If No,
write 2 phrases that
indicate subjectivity.)

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Task 7
Directions: Read each statement carefully and identify whether each statement
is true or false. Write T if the statement is true and F if it is false.

1. Non-academic text is based on personal opinions and feeling.

2. Academic texts are written for a lay audience or the mass public.
3. Academic texts can use first person point-of-view and include one’s
emotional attachment to the topic.
4. The tone used in academic writing is usually formal, meaning
that it should not sound conversational or casual.
5. Academic writing is based on research and not on the writer’s own
opinion about a given topic.
________6. Scholarly essays, research papers, dissertations, etc. are
some
examples of non-academic writing.
7. The features of Academic language are informal, objective, precise,
and impersonal.
8. Both academic and non-academic texts employ the use of informal
language.
9. Academic language is impersonal in that you generally don’t refer to
yourself as the performer of actions.
10. The main aim of academic writing is to inform the audience while
providing non-biased information and backing up the writer’s
claims with solid evidence.

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Answer Key

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Author, N. ((n.d.), (n.d.) (n.d.)). MidMich. Retrieved from Michigan College :
https://www.midmich.edu/student-resources/lls/library/find-articles/academic-
articles

Author, No. No date . University of Leeds . Accessed June 6, 2020.

https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/14011/writing/106/academic_writing.

Feeley, B. (2021, March 1). OHS online . Retrieved from Occupational Health :
https://ohsonline.com/articles/2021/03/01/the-impact-of-covid19-on-drug-
testing.aspx

Hasa. 2019. Difference Between.Com. February 1. Accessed June 6, 2020.

https://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-academic-writing-and-non-

Saqueton, G (n.d.). English for Academic and Professional Purposes. Rex Book Store Publishing
Company.
Scarcella, R. (2021, February 25). Retrieved from Academic Language for English Language
Learners:www.colorincolorado.org.

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 For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:

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Kagawasan, Avenue, Daro, Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Tel #: (035) 225 2376 / 541 1117

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