Week 3

Main Objectives :​

1. The Meaning Of Academic Writing.

 
2. Characteristics of academic writing.​

3. How Use Formal Language In Academic Writing.​

4. Academic Voice.​

5. Citation and Reference / Reporting verbs.

6. Referencing.​

7. Paraphrasing .​

8. Summarizing
 • Academic writing is clear, concise, focused,
structured and backed up by evidence.

• Its purpose is to aid the readers’ understanding.

The Meaning Of
Academic Writing.​ • It has a formal tone and style, but it is not
complex and does not require the use of long
sentences and complicated vocabulary.
 • Characteristics of academic writing.​

• Academic writing is:

1. Planned and focused: answers the

 
question

and demonstrates an understanding of the

subject.

2. Structured: is coherent, written in a logical

order, and brings together related points and

material.
 • Characteristics of academic writing.​

3. Evidenced: demonstrates knowledge of the

subject area, supports opinions and arguments
 
with evidence, and is referenced accurately.

4. Formal in tone and style: uses appropriate

language and tones, and is clear, concise and
balanced. It is important to use the correct tense
and voice in your written work.
Use formal language in academic writing:

In academic writing you are expected to use formal language.

• Avoid using colloquialisms or slang terms.

• Write words out in full rather than shortening them. For

example, instead of writing “don't” or “isn't” you would be
expected to write “do not” or “is not”.

• The use of clichés is not appropriate in academic writing.

• These are phrases such as “at the end of the day” or “in the nick
of time.” Instead of this you might write finally or at the critical
moment.
 Academic voice

• When you Write academic papers or essays,

you often need to refer to evidence or research
from other sources.

• The term 'voice' is used to differentiate between

your ideas, or your voice, and that of other
authors.

• An understanding of the use of academic voice

in writing can help in avoiding plagiarism and
increase your academic writing skills.
Academic voice

Other voices
Student voice
• Support your ideas.

• Introduces new
• Provide evidence,
ideas.
examples, data.

• Presents
• Must be labelled
arguments.
and referenced.

• States conclusions
 There are 3 ways to refer to other voices:
External Voice:
• Paraphrases/summaries source
• Source identified outside sentences.
• Information prominent.
01 03
Collaborative activates develop many interpersonal
Direct Voice:
skills such as … (Brown,1999).
• Uses exact words of source
• Source identified as a part of or
outside sentences.
Indirect Voice:
• Use for emphasis.
• Paraphrases/summaries source
02 • Source identified as part of sentences.
• Author prominent. As Aitchison (1981, p.67) states,
"Language is subject to change,
and is not caused by unnecessary
Peters (2007) expresses the point of view that many
sloppiness, laziness or ignorance."
employers request that…
Citation and References:

When you refer to someone else's work in your

assignments, you must include a citation in the
text as well as the full reference at the end of
your work.

When we use someone else's ideas, we should

put them into your own words (paraphrasing),
summaries them, or quote directly.
Citation and References:

Why we use citation and references :

By doing this, you will give the reader enough

information to find the source you have
consulted and support your work with
evidences.
Citation and References:

•Examples of citations using the Harvard style

(which is the most popular style):
- For books:
• The main considerations are "the scope of the
project, the cost and the duration of the work"
(Harris, 2001, p. 20).

- For articles:
•There seems to be a correlation between students'
use of the library and high degree marks (Stone and
Collins, 2012).
Citation and References:

•The format for the citation will vary

depending on the referencing style you
use, so be sure to check.
 Citation and References:

Reporting verbs:

Reporting verbs can be grouped into the three main categories of :

1. Strong verbs convey a degree of certainty about an issue.

2.Neutral verbs do not indicate any value judgements on the

part of the author. They are rather descriptive in tone.

3.Tentative verbs show that the writer tends to feel a certain

way about an issue but is not wholly sure.
Reporting verbs:
Examples of the three types of reporting verb
:
Strong Neutral Tentative
argue assume claim
assert demonstrate hypothesise
challenge describe imply
contend examine intimate
counter the view that illustrate moot
deny indicate posit the view that
emphasise mention postulate
maintain note propose
negate observe question the view that
theorize point out recommend
refute report speculate
reject reveal suggest
strongly believe that show
support the view that state
study
Citation and Reporting verbs:
- Book or article by One Author:
According to Knight (2013)....
It has been contended … (Knight, 2013).

- Book or article by Two-Three Authors:

Banwell and McCash (1994) surmised that...
It was reported that… (Banwell and McCash, 1994).
It was examined that… (Martini, Nath and Bartholomew, 2015).

- Books or article by More than Three Authors:

Pears et al. (2015) believe……
It has been argued that … (Pears et al., 2015).
Referencing:

Book:

Family name, INITIAL(S). (Year) Title. Edition. Place of publication:

Publisher.

Knight, R.D. (2013) Physics for Scientists and Engineers: a strategic

approach with modern physics. 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson.
Referencing:

An Article from Journal:

Family name, INITIAL(S). (Year) Title of article. Journal Title, Volume (issue

number), page numbers.

Petrarca, M. (2015) ‘Ocular complications during pregnancy’. Optometry

Today -Journal of the Association of Optometrists, 55 (3), pp. 46-50.
Referencing:

A Page on a Website:

Family name, INITIAL(S) (or company name). (Year) Title. Available at: URL
[Date accessed].

Casselman, B. (2015) The Mathematics of the Rainbow, Part II. Available at:
http://www.ams.org/samplings/feature-column/fc-2015-02 [Accessed 24
February 2017].
Paraphrasing and summarizing
Paraphrasing
• Step 1 : Read the original text. Make sure you understand it:
 
e.g: Only 9% of the students who work part-time earn sufficient income to
support themselves.

• Step 2: identify the shared language that is we can not change (9%, students)

Note down different words from the original text (part-time jobs, make enough
money, earn a living).

• Step 3: Using the words and phrases from (step 2), write your paraphrase.

Do not look at the original text.

 Paraphrasing

• First draft: Of all the students who work part-time jobs, 9% make enough money to earn a
living.

• Step 4 : Compare your paraphrase with the original.

Check the following:
 
- Does the paraphrase have the same/meaning as the original?
 
- Does the paraphrase use different sentence structure and vocabulary from the original
sentence?
 
- As a general rule, if you have taken more than three words in a row from the original
sentence, you should rewrite that part)
 Paraphrasing

• Step 5: Revise your paraphrase as necessary.

Final paraphrase:

Of all the students who have part-time jobs, just 9% make enough money to earn a living
• Exercise:
Paraphrases of this original sentence:

1- Table computers will not only make textbooks obsolete, but also potentially

revolutionize education.

2- Medical Officials blame sedentary activities like internet use and video games for

the dramatic jump in obesity among teenagers.

1- Table computers will not only make textbooks obsolete, but also

potentially revolutionize education.

- using table computers may change education a lot, and textbooks will no longer

be necessary.

- education could be radically changed with the use of table computers which will

replace textbooks.
2- Medical officials blame sedentary activities like internet use and video

games for the dramatic jump in obesity among teenagers.

-According to medical officials, activities that do not involve movement such as the

internet and video games are responsible for increasing obesity among

teenagers.

-The obesity among teenagers is increasing dramatically because they play

physically inactive games such as the internet and video games, as reported by

medical officials
 Summarizing

A summary includes the main ideas of an author or the essence of their argument/s
and is always substantially shorter than the length of original text
How we can write summaries:

step 1: Read the original passage. Make sure you understand it. 
Step 2: Identify the key point or points. These are supported by specific details,
statistics and examples.
 Summarizing

Step 3: From the key points, identify and write down the shared language, details
from the original using different words.
Step 4 Using only the words and phrases in your notes, write your summary.

Do not look at the original tex.

 Summarizing

Step 5: Compare your summary with the origCheck the following:

1. Does the summary use different vocabulary?

2. Does the summary have a different sentence structure?
3. Does the summary include only key points?(The summary should not include
specific details, statistics, or examples.)
4. Does the summary' avoid using more than three words in a row from the original?

Step 6: Revise your summary as necessary.

Finally:

When you Write an academic papers or

essays, You must pay attention to:​

1. The font type has to be Times

New Roman.​

2. Font size is 12.​

3. The space between the lines is

(1.5).​

4. The space between the

Paragraphs (2).
 Brick, J. (2020). Academic culture: A student's guide to studying at university. South
Yarra,Vic: Macmillan.

References: Style, H.R. An Introduction to the Harvard Referencing Style (Author–Date). Available at:
https://www.dit.ie/media/library/documents/kevinst/Harvard%20Referencing%20Style%
20Guide%20KT.pdf
[Accessed 23 Junuaray 2021].

Wingate, U. (2006). Doing away with ‘study skills’. Teaching in higher

education, 11(4)October, 457-469.