FEATURES OF ACADEMIC TEXT

Mx. Agapito G. Mercades

Filemon T. Lizan Senior High School
 GOALS!
Differentiate the language used in
academic and nonacademic texts;

Explain the different features of

language in the academic text; and

Evaluate the language used in a text.

CS_EN 11 / 12 A- EAPP- Ia- c- 2

 Dress Up!
Hi! I'm Angel!
Angel is attending two events.
The first event is for a job interview, while
the second event is for a party.

Choose one event and dress up Angel by

drawing on the printed copies given to
you.

Explain your style to the class.

 Remember

Just like dressing up, academic writing

is a style of its own.

There are rules and expectations to observe.

Knowing the style and the rules of academic writing will

make the reader and the writer fit in the academic arena.
Find a partner, read the two texts together, and complete the
table that follows.

Remember to pay attention to the language used in the text,

the intended audience or reader, the organization and
sentence structure, and the authors.

Think! Pair! Share!

 Questions Text 1 Text 2

Who do you think is the target audience

of the text?
What is the content of the text?

How is the text organized?

How are the sentences structured?

Are there any grammatical or mechanical

error in the text? Point them out.

How will you describe the language or

tone in the text?
What is the purpose of the text?
Which one is an academic text?

Text 1 Text 2

Think! Pair! Share!

 Academic Text Nonacademic Text

AUDIENCE: Scholarly and academic Mass or general public

CONTENT: Scientific, in-depth, complex Personal or general interest

ORGANIZATION: Logical and analytical Seldom follows a format

STRUCTURE: Complex sentence Simple or compound sentences
GRAMMAR: Must be error free Not strictly followed
LANGUAGE Formal, objective, accurate Informal, colloquial, slang
AND TONE: Professional tone Personal and emotive tone
PURPOSE: To report data, analysis, or Mostly varies but mainly
findings to express
 DEFINITION

AT is written by professionals in a specific field

for a scholarly audience.

EXAMPLES OF ACADEMIC TEXT

Scholarly Articles Academic Critique

Conference Papers Concept Paper

Thesis/Dissertation
Newspaper Movie Review Blogs

Position Paper Performance Critique Thesis

Project Proposal Wikis

Love Letter Social Media Posts

Academic or Nonacademic
 Hedging/
Formality Objectivity Explicitness
Caution

Language Features of Academic Text

This refers to the quality of language
in an academic text.
 Formality refers to the tone and vocabulary used
Formality by academics that is different from-to-day
conversation.

To maintain formality, academic text AVOIDS the

following:

it's, they're, peeps, homies, join in, move in, speak in dollar,
you'll Pinas look over hungry as a cow

Contractions Slang Words Weak Verbs Clichés

 it's, they're, it is, they are,
you'll you will
Contractions Spell Out

shortening phrases by academic text prefers

combining two words to spell out words

peeps, folks, people, friends,

Pinas The Philippines
Slang Words Formal Words

Formality language use in language use in

casual conversations academic conversations
 join in, move in, participated,
look over transferred, inspect
Weak Verbs Strong Verbs

uses verb + preposition, uses a single verb that is

wordy construction accurate and concise

speak in dollar, speak in English,

hungry as a cow famished
Clichés Direct Phrasing

Formality overused expressions straightforward expressions

Read the text and identify the errors in academic writing. Identify if there
is any contraction, slang, weak verbs, or clichés.

"I'm not quite sure but I think that the essay did its very
best to put into writing the process of learning a new
language for you. The first thing it did was to compare
native peeps versus second language folks in learning
how to speak in dollar in Pinas."
Look at this improved text!

Tell us what makes this a good academic text.

“The essay explored how people learn the English

language. First, it compared the language acquisition
between native speakers( NL) and second language
(L2) learners. Then, it proceeded with an analysis of
the process of second language learning in the context
of the Philippines.”
 Objectivity refers to the emphasis on evidence
Objectivity and NOT on opinion and feelings.

To maintain objectivity, academic text AVOIDS the

following:

I think the virus is This evil virus By the looks of it, I can
transmitted from bats. penetrates the cell. tell that it is wrong.

Personal Emotive Unsupported

Phrases Language Opinion
 I think the virus By the looks of it,
came from bats. it is wrong.
Personal Unsupported
Phrases Opinion
use of first-person pronouns baseless assumptions

Experts suggest that the virus

is transmitted from bats.

Objectivity Use Data

report data and cite the resources
 This evil virus The virus penetrates
penetrates the cell. the cell.
Emotive Use Impersonal
Language Language
subjective expressions objective observation

Objectivity
Read the text and identify the errors in academic writing. Identify if the text
used personal phrases, unsupported opinions, and emotive language.

“In my opinion, the evil COVID-19 spreads by touching

the infected person. I know this for sure!"
Look at this improved text!

Tell us what makes this a good academic text.

"According to the World Health Organization ( WHO)

(2022), when an infected person coughs, sneezes,
speaks, sings, or breathes, the virus can spread from
their mouth or nose in liquid particles."
Hedging/ Caution or hedging refers to avoiding quick
Caution generalization or making a statement appear to be
true when it is NOT.
To achieve caution, academic text DOES the
following:

few, many, may, might, somehow,

some, least could, would often, usually

Use of Use of Use of

Quantifiers Modal Verbs Adverbs
Check these two sentences. Which of the two is careful in presenting
the information? Explain your answer.

This research finding will solve all the

problems in the educational system.

Some of the findings of this research may

somehow solve some problems in the
educational system.
 Explicitness refers to the clarity of the purpose of
Explicitness the text or the purpose of a specific section of the
text.

Explicitness in an academic text is OBSERVED

with the following:

FANBOYS, in addition to, The aim of this study is to...

however, firstly, secondly, This chapter reviews...
conjunctive adverbs (similarly) In conclusion...

Use of Conjunctions Use of Signaling Phrases

1. … ever built in Manila. However, even by the end …
2. Partly this was because of the current …
3. . . . control of the land. Similarly, Rizal was interested …
4. . . . his own family. In addition, he has a …
5. . . . between Magdalo and Magdiwang. For example, in
the Philippine context

These conjunctions guide readers to understand the text.

Use of Conjunctions
 1 This paper will explain the importance of education...
2. This chapter reviews current research on COVID-19.
3. After the discussion above, this section will enumerate
the disadvantages of the program.

These signaling phrases inform the reader of the content and

structure of the text and its corresponding parts.

Use of Signaling Phrases

Read the texts and discuss how explicitness is observed in each.

Text 1
This paper will compare and contrast the difference between
Samsung and iPhone products.

Text 2
First, iPhone's older models are still competitive in terms of
features and performance. Second, it has a defined product range.

Use of Signaling Phrases

 Takeaways

Academic text is different from the nonacademic text

in terms of

target audience grammar and mechanics

content language and tone
organization purpose
structure
 Takeaways

The language features of academic text are the

following:

Hedging/
Formality Objectivity Explicitness
Caution

tone and vocabulary emphasis on evidence avoids quick clarity of purpose of

used by academics and avoids opinion generalization the text and its parts
 Are the goals achieved?
Did we differentiate the language used
in academic and nonacademic texts?

Did we explain the different features

of language in the academic text? and

Did we evaluate the language used in a text?

CS_EN 11 / 12 A- EAPP- Ia- c- 2