CHAPTER 9

COMMUNICATION FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

Genres are categories of texts which follow specific:

1.rules which simply mean the things that can and cannot be done
2.Convention which refers to the traditional or expected ways of doing things.

Genre: a) offers consensual, structured ways of writing, reading and thinking

b) serves as a contract between the writer and the reader in which particular expectations are
observed and followed.

Academic genres are those genres of written and oral communication privileged in places of higher
learning like professional and comprehensive universities.

Genres of Academic Writing

1. Abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, conference proceeding or

any in-depth analysis of a particular subject or discipline.
2. Book review typically evaluates recently-written works.
3. Laboratory report details the results of experimental research projects and are most often
written in experimental psychology (lab) courses.
4. Conference presentation this is where researchers present papers on the research they
completed and obtain feedback from the audience.
5. Research paper is the culmination and final product of an involved process of research,
critical thinking, source evaluation, organization

Research is a logical and systematic search for new and useful information on a particular topic.

Types of research

1. Fundamental or basic research:

Basic research is an investigation on basic principles and reasons for occurrence of a
particular event or process or phenomenon. It is also called theoretical research.
2. Applied research:
In an applied research one solves certain problems employing well known and
accepted theories and principles.
3. Action research Fact findings to improve the quality of action in the social world
4. Policy-Oriented Research
Reports employing this type of research focus on the question ‘How can problem
‘X’ be solved or prevented ?’

Kinds of Research Report

1. What is an academic research paper?

An academic paper begins with a thesis - the writer of the academic paper aims to
persuade readers of an idea or solution to a problem based on EVIDENCE - not personal
opinion
2. Commissioned research means research, survey or other work, the costs of which are
wholly paid for by the customer

Common Elements of a Research Paper

1. Research Title presents the capsule of the study; hence, it should not be the first to be
written.
2. Abstract presents the research objectives and research problems, methodology,
summary of the findings and conclusions or further implications of the study.

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 3. Introduction presents the research problems and significance of the study.
The introduction must vividly discuss all the important key terms of the research.
4. Methodology
The methodology must be carefully crafted according to the objective of the
study. It must comprehensively present the:
a) Design. This sub-part of the method states the approach and design or the
strategy of inquiry that will be used in the study. A definition of the design
according to an authority need to be included.
b) Population and Locale. This part presents the setting of the study, the
number of respondents or key informants, the manner of choosing the
respondent, and the rationale behind the choice of the respondents and/or
the setting.
c) Data Gathering Tool. It presents the tools and the descriptions of the tools
that will be used in gathering the data. .
d) Data Collection Procedure or Data Gathering Procedure. This part presents
the how or the steps that will be followed in order to collect data for the
study.
e) Data Analysis. It presents the process of systematically applying statistical
and/or logical techniques to describe and illustrate, condense and recap, and
evaluate data.
f) Ethical Consideration. This is one of the most important parts of the method
for it addresses ethical concerns in research.
5. Results/Findings and Discussion show the processed data and is presented according
to the research problems. A discussion follows after the presentation of the findings.
6. Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions are considered as the extension of the findings while
recommendations are considered extension of the conclusion.
7. References list the sources or authorities cited in the study.

Writing an Analysis Paper

An analysis paper is a type of essay that analyzes, examines, and interprets things
such as an event, a book, poem, play or other work of art.
Key features when doing textual analysis are:
1. A summary of the text
2. Attention to the context
3. A clear interpretation or judgment
4. Reasonable support for your conclusions

Guidelines in writing textual analysis:

1. Choosing a text to analyze.

2. Considering the rhetorical situation.
a. Purpose.
b. Audience.
c. Stance.
d. Media/Design.

Writing a Literary Analysis

A literary analysis makes a point about a literary piece. It examines, questions, and
evaluates a work of literature.

Elements of Literature

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 1. Plot – the series of events in the story – beginning, middle, end
2. Characters – The people/animals in the story who carry out the action
3. Setting – the where and when the story takes place
4. Theme – the central belief of the story, usually something abstract that unifies the c
whole plot like love, friendship, etc.
5. Tone – the attitude that a writer has towards the subject

Literary Criticism Approaches

Literary criticism is the comparison, analysis, interpretation and/or evaluation of

works of literature. It evaluates the value and merit of a literary work using certain
parameters, approaches or concepts in literature.

Writing an Analysis Paper

An analysis paper is a type of essay that analyzes, examines, and interprets

things such as an event, a book, poem, play or other work of art. An analytical essay
means you will need to present some type of argument, or claim, about what you are
analyzing.

According to Bullock and Goggin (2013), there are key features when doing
textual analysis, and these are:

1. A summary of the text

2. Attention to the context
3. A clear interpretation or judgment
4. Reasonable support for your conclusions

Guidelines in writing textual analysis:

1. Choosing a text to analyze.

2. Considering the rhetorical situation.
a. Purpose.
b. Audience.
c. Stance.
d. Media/Design

Writing a Literary Analysis

A literary analysis makes a point about a literary piece. It examines, questions, and
evaluates a work of literature.

Elements of Literature

1. Plot – the series of events in the story – beginning, middle, end

2. Characters – The people/animals in the story who carry out the action
3. Setting – the where and when the story takes place
4. Theme – the central belief of the story, usually something abstract that unifies the c
whole plot like love, friendship, etc.
5. Tone – the attitude that a writer has towards the subject

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Literary Criticism Approaches

Literary criticism evaluates the value and merit of a literary work using certain
parameters, approaches or concepts in literature. Approaches to literary criticism are
used as bases of literary analysis.

Literary Approaches

1. Cultural – an approach in knowing the culture of the people and one of the
pleasurable ways of appreciating the literature of the people.
2. Formalistic – based on the literary elements
3. Moral / Humanistic – close to the morality of literature , to questions of
ethical goodness and badness. Conclusion
4. Historical – sees literature as both a reflection and a product of the times and
circumstances in which it is written.
5. Impressionistic Approach - seek to capture a feeling or experience rather
than to depict accurate depiction and perfection.
6. Psychological – considers literature as the expression of “personality”, of
“inner drive” of neurosis.
7. Sociological - analyzes both how the social functions in literature and how
literature works in society.

CRITICAL APPROACHES

1. BIOGRAPHICAL APPROACH
It views literature as a reflection of an author’s life and time or of the
characters’ life and times.
2. FEMINISM APPROACH
Concerned with the place of female writers. Concerned with the roles of
female characters within works.
3. READER-RESPONSE APPROACH
Literature may be judged according to how the reader perceives it
instead of what the author intends.
4. DECONSTRUCTIONIST APPROACH
Texts must be read many times to be able to get the real meaning of a
text. The texts can have multiple meaning .
5. MYTHOLOGICAL APPROACH
This type of criticism draws on the insights of anthropology, history,
psychology, and comparative religion to explore how a text uses myths and
symbols drawn from different cultures and epochs.

PARTS OF A LITERARY ANALYSIS

1. The Introduction should capture the reader’s interest.

2. The Body is the development of the thesis statement. Each paragraph in the
body has a topic sentence that supports the thesis statement and each topic
sentence is elaborated with evidence.
3. The Conclusion should echo the thesis statement. It should not be presenting
new ideas which were not developed in the body.
4. The Reference list entries cited in the literary analysis text.

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 APA Referencing Basics: Reference List

A reference list is a complete list of references used in a piece of writing including

the author’s name, date of publication, title and more. An APA reference list must:

 Be on a new page at the end of the document;

 Be centered;
 Be alphabetically arranged by name of first author or title if the author is not
known, in this case, a, an, and the should be ignored.
 If there are multiple works by the same author, these are ordered by date. If the works are in the
same year, they are ordered alphabetically by the title and are allocated a letter (a, b, c, among
others) after the date; and
 Contain full references for all in-text references used.

1. APA Referencing Basics: In-Text Citation

In-text references must be included following the use of a quote or paraphrase

taken from another piece of work. It is also known as in-text citations and are found
within the main body of the text and refer to a direct quote or paraphrase. They
correspond to a reference in the main reference list. These citations include the surname
of the author and date of publication only. Using an example author James Mitchell, this
takes the form:

Mitchell (2018) states… OR…(Mitchell, 2018).

The structure changes depending on whether a direct quote or parenthetical

citation is used:

 Direct Quote: The citation must follow the quote directly and contain a
page number after the date, for example:

“Presentation skills require a juxtaposition of content and

performance” (Mitchell, 2018, p. 104).

 This rule holds for all of the various listed.

 Parenthetical: The page number is not needed.

a. Two authors. The surnames of both authors are stated with either “and” or
an ampersand “&” between.

Mitchell and Smith (2017) state… OR…(Mitchell & Smith, 2017).

b. Three, Four, or Five Authors. For the first cite, all names should be listed:

Example:

Mitchell, Smith, and Thomson (2017) state... OR ... (Mitchell,

Smith, & Thomson, 2017).

a. Six or More Authors. Only the first author's surname should be stated
followed by et al. (see the above example).

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 b. No Author. If the author is unknown, the first few words of the reference
should be used. These words serve as the title of the source. Hence, the title
of a book, periodical, brochure or report should be italicized.

Example:

A guide to citation, 2017.

However, if this is the title of an article, chapter, or web page, it should be in

quotation marks.

Example:

“APA citation,” 2017.

c. Citing Authors with Multiple Works from One Year. Works should be
cited with a, b, c, among others following the date. These letters are assigned
within the reference list, which is sorted alphabetically by the surname of the
first author.

Example:

Mitchell, 2017a OR Mitchell, 2017b

d. Citing Multiple Works in One Parenthesis. If these works are by the same
author, the surname is stated once followed by the dates in chronological or
reverse chronological order.

Example:

Mitchell (2007, 2013, 2017) OR (Mitchell, 2007, 2013, 2017)

If these works are by multiple authors, the references are ordered

alphabetically by the first author separated by a semicolon.

Example:

Mitchell & Smith, 2017; Thomson, Coyne, & Davis, 2015

e. Citing a Group or Organization. For the first cite, the full name of the group
most be used. Subsequently, this can be shortened.

Example:

First Cite: International Citation Association, 2015

Further Cites: Citation Association, 2015

f. Citing a Secondary Source. In this situation the original actor and date
should be stated first followed by "as cited in” followed by the author and date
of the secondary source.

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 Example:

Lorde (1980) as cited in Mitchell (20)7) OR

Lorde, 1980, as cited in Mitchell (2017)

2. Citations of Different Source Types. An in-text citation does not vary depending on
source type, unless the author is unknown. However, reference list citations are highly
variable depending on the source.

How to Cite a Book (Title, not chapter) in APA Format?

Book referencing is the most basic style. It matches the template above, minus the URL
section. So, the basic format of a book reference is as follows:

Examples:

Mitchell, J. A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide to citation. London,
England: My Publisher.
Jones, A. F. & Wang, L. (2011). Spectacular creatures: The Amazon rainforest
(2nd ed.). San Jose, Costa Rica: My Publisher.

3. Citation of an Edited Book in APA Format. This reference format is very similar to the
book format apart from one extra inclusion: (Ed(s)). The basic format is as follows:

Example:

Williams, S. T. (Ed.). (2015). Referencing: A guide to citation rules

(3rd ed.). New York, NY: My Publisher.

4. Citation of a Chapter in an Edited Book in APA Format. Edited books are collations
of chapters written by different authors. To reference a single chapter, a different format
is needed. The basic structure is as follows:

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 Exampl
Troy, B. N. (2015). APA citation rules. In S. T., Williams (Ed.). A guide to
citation rules (2nd ed., pp. 50-95). New York, NY: Publishers.

In the given example, B.N. Troy is the author of the chapter and S.T. Williams is
the editor.

5. Citation of an e-Book in APA Format. An e-book reference is the same as a book

reference except that the publisher is swapped for a URL. The basic structure is as
follows:

Author surname, initial(s) (Ed(s).*).(Year). Title (ed.*). Retrieved from URL

*optional

Example:

Mitchell, J. A., Thomson, M., & Coyne, R.P. (2017). A guide citation. Retrieved
from https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager.

6. Citation of an e-Book Chapter in APA Format. This follows the same structure as an
edited book chapter reference except that the publisher is exchanged for a URL. The
structure is as follows:

Last name of the chapter author, initial(s). (Year). Chapter title. In editor initial(s),
surname (Ed.). Title (ed., pp. chapter page range). Retrieved from URL

Example:

Troy, B. N. (2015). APA citation rules. In S. T. Williams (Ed.). A guide to citation

rules (2nd ed., pp. 50-95). Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/
reference-management/reference-manager

7. Citation of a Journal Article in Print or Online in APA Format. Articles differ from
book citations in that the publisher and its location are not included. For journal articles,
these are replaced with the journal title, volume number, issue number and page
number. The basic structure is:

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Examples:

Mitchell, J. A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important? Mendeley Journal, 67(2),

81-95.

Mitchell, J. A. (2017). Citation: Why is it so important? Mendeley Journal, 67(2),

81-95. Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/referencentanagement
/referencemanagermanagement/reference-manager

8. Citation of Newspaper Articles in Print or Online in APA Format. The basic structure
is as follows:

Author surname, initial(s). (Year, Month ‘Day). Title. Title of Newspaper,

column/section, p. or pp. Retrieved from URL*

NOTE: *Include only if the article is online.

Example:

Mitchell, J A. (2017, June 12). Changes to citation formats shake the research world.
The Mendeley Telegraph, Research News, p.9. Retrieved from
https://www.mendeley.com/referencenmanagement/reference-manager

9. Citation of a Magazine Article in Print or Online in APA Form. The basic structure is
as follows:

Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Title of the Magazine, pp.

Example:

Mitchell, J. A. (2017, June 12). How citation changed the research world? The
Mendeley, pp. 26-28.

10. Citation of a Non-Print Material in APA Format. How to cite an image in APA Format?
The basic format to cite an image is:

Example:

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 Millais, J. E. (1851-1852). Ophelia [painting]. Retrieved from www.tate.
org.uk/art/artworks/millais-ophelia-n01506

11. Citation of a Film in APA Format. The basic format of a film citation is:

Producer surname, initial (Producer), & Director surname, initial (Director).

(Year of Release). Title of film [Motion Picture]. Country of Origin: Studio.

Example:

Hitchcock, A. (Producer) & Hitchcock, A. (1954). Rear window. United States of

America: Paramount Pictures.

12. Citation of a TV Program in APA Format. The basic format is as follows:

Writer surname, initial(s) (Writer), & Director surname, initial(s) (Director). (Year of
Release). Episode title [Television series episode]. In executive producer
surname, initial(s) (Executive Producer), TV series name. City, State of original
channel: Network, Studio or Distributor.

Example:

Catlin, M. & Walley-Beckett, M. (Writers), & Johnson, R. (Director). (2010). Fly

[Television series episode]. In Schnauz, T. (Executive Producer). Breaking bad.
Culver City, CA: Sony Pictures Television.

13. Citation of a Song in APA Format. The basic format to cite a song in APA format is as
follows:

Example:

Beyonce, Diplo, MNEK, Koenig, E., Haynie, E., Tillman, J., and Rhoden, S. M.
(2016). Hold up [Recorded by Beyonce]. On Lemonade [visual album]. New
York, NY: Parkwood Records (August 16).

14. Citation of a Website in APA Format. When citing a website, the basic structure is as
follows:

Author surname, initial(s). (Year, month day). Title. Retrieved from URL

Example:

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Mitchell, J.A. (2017, May 21). How and when to reference? Retrieved from
https://www.howandwhentoreference.com

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