Name : Tasya Fauziah Ramadhani

NPM : 2206084574
Class : EFN-C
ACADEMIC WRITING SKILL
Writing is one of the skills that must be mastered by a student. By writing we can express
all our ideas or opinions about something so that people who read our writing also have the same
understanding. As a student, of course, every assignment given must be included in the form of a
group report, essay, journal article, and etc. This writing is referred to as academic writing,
which is when writing made by students can be read by other students (Geyte, 2013). Essays are
still the type of assignment that many students make. This is because essays can be a benchmark
for student’s understanding of the material being studied or can also be used as exam questions.
In writing essays or reports, of course, there are things that must be considered so that the
contents of the writing that we will make are in accordance with the theme of the assignment.
Here are the things to watch out for:
1. Organize Your Writing
Before we begin writing, we must decide what we are going to write about. First, we
must choose a topic, it will help to think of some ideas for what to write about. Next,
we can gather as much as ideas about the topic that we choose and think about what
we will write about that topic. Then, we can organize which idea we’re gonna talk
about first, which to talk about next, and which to talk about last (Zemach &
Rumisek, 2010). One of the most useful ways to organize your writing is in an
“hourglass” shape that mimics the relative scopes of the topics you discuss. At the
top, we can put the broadest information such as, why we choose this topic and
what’s relevant. The explanation should get narrower and narrower towards the
middle of the hourglass when you discuss the details, such as what you will do and
what the result is. Then, you can broaden the result as a whole which forms the base
of the hourglass (How Do I Organize My Writing? Write like a Scientist, 2015).

2. Grammatical range and accuracy

Accuracy is important in all types of academic writing, and it is even more of an issue
when your writing is being assessed. An essay that includes avoidable language
mistakes will annoy your reader, and may even prevent them from understanding
what you are trying to say (Geyte, 2013). Some grammatical errors and accuracy
when writing that are often encountered are :
 Wrong in choosing the right tense for the verb.
 Between the subject and the verb do not match.
 Error in the use of punctuation. If you are not sure about punctuation, read the
relevant section out loud. If there is a natural pause in the sentence, you
probably need a comma. Longer pauses are represented by a full stop.
  Knowing when to use the articles a(n) or the and when not to use an. If you
are not sure if something is known/specific or not, check if you could list it. If
you can, then it is specific and you need to use ‘the’. For example :
1. The other research projects in the Biosciences department at Birmingham
University ...
2. Other research projects in Bioscience departments in the country …

 Pay attention to common errors. We must identify which types of common

errors you might typically make, and try to avoid them. Although these can be
different for each individual, be aware of the types of errors that are often
made by speakers of your first language.

3. Vocabulary and linking words

Writing for academic purposes is written in formal language. Therefore, it is important
for us to understand synonyms so that it is easier to understand the contents. There are
some ideas to help you to develop your structure (Library: Academic Writing:
Linking/Transition Words, 2023) :
 Linking words and phrases join ideas, sentences and paragraphs together. They
should be used within sentences and to move from one idea to another (between
sentences). These words and phrases indicate the direction, order and flow of
ideas. Significantly, they strengthen the quality and structure of your work.
 Hindari penggunaan kata yang berlebihan. It is important to look for phrases
which can be replaced with a single word.

Some examples of transition words:

4. Checking and editing
Checking means we need to double-check what we have written. Check again what is
missing in the essay, we can add information about the essay if needed, or we find
unnecessary information that shouldn't be there. We can also ask our friends to read our
essays and get their opinions and advice. So we can know whether our writing is clear
and effective or not.
Editing means we can see if there are still writing errors, such as typos, font size, word
usage, paper size and so on. Make sure what we write is in accordance with applicable
regulations so that the score that we get is also maximum.
 References

Geyte, E. V. (2013). Writing Learn to write better academic essays . Harper Collins.

How do I organize my writing? Write Like a Scientist. (2015). Middlebury.edu.

https://sites.middlebury.edu/middsciwriting/overview/organization/

‌Library: Academic writing: Linking/transition words. (2023). Staffs.ac.uk.

https://libguides.staffs.ac.uk/academic_writing/linking
Zemach, D. E., & Rumisek, L. A. (2010). Academic Writing from paragraph to essay.

MACMILLAN.