ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
LESSON 2: DETERMINING THE AUTHOR'S
PURPOSE AND INTENDED AUDIENCE
At the end of this lesson. You will able to:
Identify the characteristics of persuasive,
informative and expressive texts;
Tell what sets each type of text apart from
another; and
Name the factors that distinguish the different
types of audience to whom the authors would
write for.
Let’s play Three- Way Match!

Match the words on the left with the words on

the middle to point out to whom you think the
text in the first column is written for. Write the
letter of your answer in the second column, and
also write the author’s purpose (persuasive,
informative, or expressive) for writing such text
or literature.
 TITLE OF TE INTENDED PURPOSE
PRINTED TEXT AUDIENCE
1. My first ABC’s b. Toddlers Informative
2. The PH TIMES
3. Deceptive Heart
4. Chew, Baby
Chew!
5. Dogs are better
than cats
6. Chemistry 101
7. Advance (sexy
tabloid

a. Babies b. Toddlersc. Street Vendors d. Flight passengers

e. Animal Enthusiast f. Students g. Teenagers
Three Major Purposes
for Writing
 To inform

A piece of writing that informs offers exactly what you’re

thinking: information. It may come in the form of a how-to post,
a list post, a guide to something. You’re offering tidbits of
knowledge to your readers. The goal here is to simply provide
your readers with help for completing a task or becoming better
at something. (This post would count as INFORM.) Usually, an
Inform piece would not necessarily have any other goal —
although it could.
.
 To Persuade
The goal of a Persuade piece is to get your audience to
think a certain way, agree with you, do something.
This purpose has a closely related cousin: the
argument. In fact, these two types of writing are so
close they are often confused. You see these types of
posts all the time: vote for this candidate, try this
product, stop behaving in this way.
 To Express
These are texts that are sometimes more
creative in nature, and the goal of the author
could be to engage the reader’s emotions such
as joy, anger and frustrations. Expressive
texts may have more opinions than facts.
An audience is a collective group of readers and for most
purposes we need to think about our readers as a group and
generalise about what qualities they have. I define three
types of audience for most documents: the target
audience, the secondary audience and the tertiary
audience.
 Things that you should consider
when you assess a text for its
intended audience:
GENDER

AGE
LEVEL
SOCIAL
STATUS
Determining the Author’s Tone
and Point of View
WARMER:

Say “that’s Okay.” in different ways that render

varied emotions such as being joyful, desperate
and casual.
Authors’ Point of View
An author’s point of view refers to his or her position
on an issue or, in other words, the author’s opinion or
belief regarding an issue.
Authors may have conflicting points of view (opinions)
about controversial issues
When authors favor one side of an issue, they are said
to have a bias in favor of that side of the issue.
Authors may be unbiased (neutral or objective).
Author’s Tone
Tone refers to the author’s use of words
and writing style to convey his or her
attitude towards a topic.
If you misinterpret the tone (such as
sarcasm), you may misinterpret the
message.
Tone and purpose go together.
Ask yourself what the author’s voice
would sound like if he or she had spoken
the words rather than written them.
The reader can tell whether the author has a
positive, negative or neutral point of view at a
certain thing or issue based on the tone of the
author’s choice of words.
When the author takes ides in an issue,
the author said to be biased. There are
many factors that affect an author’s point
of view : personal experience and
Cultural experience
Personal experience of a human being is the moment-to-
moment experience and sensory awareness of internal
and external events or a sum of experiences forming an
empirical unity such as a period of life.
Cultural Experience is the set of
shared attitudes, values, goals, and
practices that characterizes an
institution, organization or group or
country.
 Your choice of words may affect the tone of your message.
Identify the tone of the given words if its POSITIVE,
NEGATIVE OR NEUTRAL

What category is "anxious" placed in?

NEGATIVE --
What category is "embarrassed" placed
in?

NEGATIVE --
Dear Alex, 
     Don't forget that our science project is due
tomorrw.  I will revise and edit the report.  You will
finish doing the poster.  Make sure to use neat
handwriting.  I want a good grade, don't be a slacker.
-Brecken
Which word best describes the tone of this note?
A.Bossy CORRECT
B.friendly
C.helpful
D.confused
Dear Dad, 
     Congratulations on completing your first
marathon!  I know that you have had this goal for a
long time now, and you worked really hard to achieve
your goal.  You have shown me that if I work hard, I
can achieve my goals, too!
-Kaleb
A.happy
B.somber
C.compassionate
D.proud CORRECT
Read the excerpt of an essay by Francis Bacon (1561- 1626)
titled “Of Studies. Answer the questions that follows:
"Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. Their chief use for delight is in
privateness and retiring; for ornament, is in discourse; and for ability, is in the judgment
and disposition of business. For expert men can execute, and perhaps judge of
particulars, one by one; but the general counsels, and the plots and marshalling of
affairs, come best from those that are learned. To spend too much time in studies is
sloth; to use them too much for ornament, is affectation; to make judgment wholly by
their rules, is the humor of a scholar. They perfect nature, and are perfected by
experience: for natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning, by study; and
studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded
in by experience. Crafty men condemn studies, simple men admire them, and wise men
use them; for they teach not their own use; but that is a wisdom without them, and
above them, won by observation
Activity 1:
Questions:
1. What is the purpose of the passage? How does the writer achieve this
purpose?

2. According to the passage, why do people study?

3. What does the line ...” natural abilities are like natural plants that need
pruning .... “?

4. What is the difference among crafty, simple and wise men?

5. What is the writer’s attitude toward studies?

Activity 2:
Read the text and rewrite it to make its tone positive or
neutral.

Hi there!

As you know I am about to finish senior high school. I

will leave your school because you do not have the
program that I want, so I will move to St. Michael
University to get a college diploma, I was ordered by the
university to hand in my scholastic records as fast as
possible. I want you to give me a copy of my scholastic
records quickly.