C1 L1: Reading Academic Text

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
 Determine the structure of a specific academic text;
 Differentiate language used in academic text from various disciplines; and
 Explain the specific ideas contained in various academic texts.

Academic

 relating to schools, colleges, and universities, or connected with studying and thinking
(Cambridge dictionary)
 is used to describe things that relate to the work done in schools, colleges, and
universities, especially work which involves studying and reasoning rather than practical
or technical skills. (Collins Dictionary)
Text
 Text is defined by Webster as the main body of a book or other piece of writing
 In linguistics it is defined as “any stretch of language perceived as a connected purposeful
whole”.
 Is any stretch of language that can be understood in context.
Ex. Simple as 1-2 words (such as a stop sign) or as complex as novel
 Text refers to content rather than form. Ex. Don Quixote

Academic Text
an academic text is a piece of language (text) used for academic purposes or in relation to
academic courses (subject) such as textbooks and the like. Academic text is critical, objective,
specialized text written by experts or professionals in a given field using formal language.
Samples:
Research projects, conference papers, essays, abstracts, reports
Additional info: It uses formal objective, concise language and does not use slang and
contractions. Also, it uses referencing and citations.

Structure of Academic Text

An important feature of an academic text is that they are organized and have a clear structure.
3-part essay
IMRaD Structure
Introduction/ Methods/ Results, and/ Discussion
Academic text has two forms:
Minor Grammatical Units: Sentences, clauses, phrases, and words.
Major Grammatical Units: Paragraphs and compositions.

Activity: Venn Diagram

C1L2: Paragraph and its parts
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
 Determines the structure of a specific academic text;
 Uses knowledge of text structure to extract needed information;
and
 Explain the specific ideas contained in various academic texts

Paragraph:
 set of related sentences
 consists of topic sentence and a supporting sentence
Topic sentence: main idea
Supporting sentence: develops or support the main idea. You can present facts, samples,
definitions, descriptions, and explanations.

Example:
It is often said that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but this is not true.
Go asked the forest rangers. Rangers spend their summers as fire-fighters will tell you that every
thundershower bring several bolts of lightning to their look out stations.

Patterns of developing paragraphs

DEDUCTIVE PATTERN

A paragraph whose topic sentence is stated in the beginning.

Ex. “No one eats with a dirty knife, fork, or a spoon. It is important completely wash all utensils
before using them. Clean utensils will not transmit germs and bacteria. They also are more
pleasant to eat with.”

INDUCTIVE PATTERN
A paragraph whose topic sentence is stated at the end.
Ex. “Costs were low that year and the output high. There was a good person for each job and the
market remained firm. There were no losses from fire. All in all,it was the best years in the
history of the company.”

DEDUCTIVE-INDUCTIVE PATTERN
A paragraph whose topic sentence is stated in the beginning and restated in the end.

Ex. “Penicillin is one of the greatest of the wonder drug. It has saved thousands of lives already and will
save more in the future. Unfortunately, it has no effect at all in most of the ills of humankind. Penicillin is
a very good drug, but it is certainly not a cure-all.”
INDUCTIVE-DEDUCTIVE PATTERN
A paragraph whose topic sentence is stated in the middle.

Ex. “There are vast numbers of deer around here. This whole area is a great country for hunters and
fishers. There are bears, mountain lions, and coyotes. To the east there are streams full of trout and there
are ducks and geese.”

HINTED PATTERN
A paragraph whose topic sentence is not stated but implied.

Ex. “Do you wear glasses? Make sure your glasses fit well. The earpieces should be at eye level. Don’t
try to adjust the earpieces yourself. Take your glasses for adjustments to the place you bought them. Keep
your glasses in a case when you’re not wearing them. This will prevent scratches. Keep the lenses clean.
A soft cloth is best for cleaning."

Classifications of Paragraph
Paragraphs are classified according to its function. Some of them are serves to introduce the main idea of
the composition while most of them supports or develop the main idea. Lots of them are used to link or
end the entire composition.

Independent (Isolated) Paragraph

 A paragraph that can stand on its own.
 An independent paragraph usually has three (3) parts
-A topic sentence, Supporting sentences, and
concluding sentence.
Dependent (Related) Paragraph
 Presents ideas from another paragraph.
 Observed in topic that has broader nature which requires more than one paragraph.
o Related paragraph may function as:
Introductory Paragraph : A paragraph that introduce the topic
(main idea) of the whole composition.
- Announce the subject to be discussed
- Arouse intellectual curiosity
Developmental Paragraph : A paragraph that develops and supports the main idea in the entire
composition.
- Consists of 80-90 percent of what you have to say
Transitional Paragraph: A paragraph that connects two (2) or more paragraphs using transitional words
or conjunctions.
- Sum up what has been said before beginning the next unit
Concluding Paragraph : Paragraph that serves to end the entire composition. It summarizes the main
idea of the paragraphs from introduction to body and emphasizes its point.
- Round out the subject announced/stated in the introduction
- Answer the question raised at the beginning