Module 6 Lesson Summary

Academic Style and Common Errors

Lesson Outcomes:

• Learn my top tips for academic style in essay writing

• Learn to correct errors in academic style in your own writing
• See a student paragraph sample and locate the academic style errors

TIP #1: AVOID OVERUSING PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Don’t overuse words like “I, me, my, you, your, we, us, our” in academic writing. Try to be
neutral and objective where possible.

“I believe that we as a society must work together to protect the environment.”

“It is essential that governments and individuals cooperate to protect the environment.”

TIP #2: AVOID CONTRACTIONS and ABBREVIATIONS

Don’t shorten your words in academic writing; write everything in full.

“can’t, shouldn’t, don’t, it’s, etc, e.g., govt., UK.”

“cannot, should not, do not, it is, for example, government, the United Kingdom.”

TIP #3: AVOID EMOTIVE LANGUAGE

This means language that shows your emotions. These are usually strong adjectives that
mean “very _______”. Academic writing should use objective language only.

“terrible, amazing, cute, perfect, wonderful, beautiful, obvious, incredible.”

“negative, significant, positive, considerable, optimal, effective, efficient, beneficial,

evident.”
TIP #4: AVOID QUESTIONS

Do not ask rhetorical questions in your essay! This is unprofessional and more like a speech
or presentation than formal writing.

“But what are the consequences of this? Well, firstly...”

“The consequences of this are evident; firstly, ...”

TIP #5: BEGIN SENTENCES CORRECTLY

You must not begin sentences with “and/but/so” (module 1). These are coordinating
conjunctions and should only be used to connect two clauses.

“And education is also a crucial factor. But this is often overlooked.”

“Furthermore, education is also a crucial factor. However, this is often overlooked.”

TIP #6: AVOID CLICHES/POETIC EXPRESSIONS

Although expressions are useful, you should avoid overused expressions and poetic ones.

“Every coin has two sides/This is a double-edged sword/Since the beginning of

time/broaden horizons, reach for the stars.”

Relevant, specific expressions for the context you are using – you can find examples of these
in my PTE Vocabulary Lists on Quizlet! (link in Module 1)

TIP #7: BE CONCISE

Write as much information as you can in as few words as you can. Don’t just “write lots”
because you think it sounds good.

“As we all know, it is undeniably accepted that one of the most important issues facing
humankind today in the world is the issue of damage by humans to the environment.”

“Environmental degradation is a serious issue.”

A common example of this is adding “for people/humans/individuals” or “in the world” to

your sentences.

“This is a serious issue for people in the world today.”

“This is a serious issue.”

TIP #8: AVOID BASIC WORDS

Some words are just too basic to be in academic writing, and you can always think of a
better alternative!

“stuff, things, good, better, best, bad, worse, worst, a lot of, lots of, plenty of, big, so +
adjective, kind of, sort of, maybe, really, bring, get, actually.”

“aspects, parts, reasons, elements, beneficial, improved, the most _______, negative, less
_______, many, numerous, a great deal of, significant, large, somewhat, perhaps,
particularly, in fact.”

TIP #9 (ADVANCED): AVOID PEOPLE + VERB

This is for the higher level writers. Avoid beginning many sentences with “a group of people
+ verb”. Instead, focus on the most important concept in the sentence – make that your
subject.

“Individuals often use their phones all day every day and this results in reduced social
interaction.” → “Smartphone addiction results in reduced social interation.”

“If”/”When + people” clauses are another common example of this – usually, you can write
a better sentence if you nominalise (change a verb or adjective into a noun).

“If students do homework every day after school, they will be tired and stressed and this
could affect learning outcomes.” → “Daily homework can lead to fatigue and stress, which
can in turn affect learning outcomes.”

TIP #10 (ADVANCED): FOCUS ON THE “BIGGER PICTURE”

When you develop ideas and give examples, don’t think about just one individual – think
BIGGER, about society.

If this is difficult, start with an individual, then imagine many individuals with the same
problem.

“For example, if an individual eats fast food often, they will likely become overweight and
may develop heart disease.”

“For example, widespread consumption of fast food will likely increase rates of obesity and
heart disease.”

Practice on next page!

PRACTICE: Spot the mistakes! (Answers in video lecture)

Student sample: Secondly, everyone knows a stable government is really important. And to
be the best country, you need a strong government to make good decisions for everyone.
Education means citizens have good ideas and know what’s happening in politics. Thus,
they’ll watch the news and read the paper. Although the type of education is important
here; you might have plenty of education but your residents don’t have critical thinking skills
so they cannot decide what is right or wrong and it is actually a double-edged sword. Most
of the time, more education means they will understand politics better and therefore vote
for and support good governments, and this will make the country develop much faster so
they are more prosperous.