REVIEWER IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

First Quarter Assessment in EAPP

First Semester, SY 2024-2025

A. Academic text is typically used for textbooks, test papers, in classrooms, and in any
other discipline related to the field of academics. It is very different from the structure
of vocabulary and from the structure of everyday conversations through social
interactions. Academic text is a formal way to present words and terms typical for
the field.

✔ Include concepts and theories related to the specific discipline

✔ Have clearly structured introduction, body, and conclusion.
✔ Include information from credible sources that are properly cited.
✔ Include concepts and theories that are related to the specific discipline they
explore.
✔ Usually exhibit all properties of a well-written text --- organization, unity,
coherence, and strict adherence to the rules of language and mechanics.

B. What is a Linguistic Register?

● Linguistic varieties that are linked to occupations, professions, or topics have

been termed registers. The register of law, for example, is different from the
register of medicine, which in turn is different from the language of
engineering---and so on. Registers are usually characterized solely by
vocabulary differences.

● Registers are simply a rather special case of a kind of language being

produced by the social situation.

✔ According to Harold Schiffman (1997) it is a set of specialized vocabulary and

preferred (or misreferred) syntactic and rhetorical devices/structures, used by
specific socio professional groups for special purposes. A register is a property or
characteristic of a language, and not of an individual or a class of speakers.
Stylistic Variation: Degrees of Formality in Language Usage

1. Registers are marked by a variety of specialized vocabulary and turns of

phrases, colloquialisms, and the use of jargon.

2. A register can be considered as a unique way of how a speaker uses language

in different circumstances.

3. Registers encompass all the ways in which humans communicate to one

another in specific parameters.

Some of the Language Registers are as follows:

● Language of medicine/medical science (medical terminologies)

✔ Is used to describe components and processes of the human

body,

Medical procedures, diseases, disorders, and pharmacology.

Simply put, it is the vocabulary that medical professionals use to
describe the body, what it does, and the treatments they
prescribe.

● Law (legal language)

✔ A language used by the persons connected to the legal

profession. The language used by the lawyer, jurist, and the

legislative draftsman in their professional capacities. Law, being a
technical subject, speaks through its own register.

● Journalism (journalistic language)

✔ This type of language helps understand how journalists create

their stories or reports, shape points of view, deliver expected
news and how media language is different from other languages
we encounter.

● Literature (Literary Language)

✔ Register of a language that is used in literary writing.

C. There are six general classifications of academic texts to cover in EAPP.
1. Essay is generally the proforma for all analytical compositions. However, not
all essays are academic. Only those that are written for a professional audience
and exhibit formal tone in subject matter, sentence structure, and language can
be considered academic.
2. Concept paper defines an idea or a concept and clarifies its ‘whatness’; thus,
its most prominent structure is the use of definition.
3. Reaction paper is generally an informed and insightful perspective on art,
popular culture, and a technical topic.
4. Position paper asserts an argument.
5. Report retells data, incident, or event.
6. Research is a highly formal kind of report.

D. Structure of Academic Texts

1. The three-part essay structure, which has the introduction, body, and
conclusion.
a. Introductions or the opening paragraph(s) aims to make a good
impression and put the objective of the text in context by presenting the
situation or the overall rationale. Both must be linked to the most
important goal in writing the introduction – the thesis statement, which
is a one-sentence gist or summary of the entire paper, usually
mentioned at the end of the first paragraph or in the second paragraph.
b. Next is the body which is composed of several paragraphs that
cohesively discuss the thesis. In academic papers, paragraphs are
advised to start with the main topic (Shiach, 2007), also called as the
key or topic sentence. This is because busy readers need to be guided
as to the content of the paragraphs. The body can present evidence
through the point-by-point analysis of hard data, stories, and events.
Depending on the kind of academic text, it can also detail the steps or
procedure of doing something, the parts and mechanisms of a piece of
technology, the possible solutions for a problem, the justifications for a
position, and other important information necessary to ensure the
completeness of a text.

E. Summarizing, according to Buckley (2004) in her popular writing text Fit To Print,
is a strategy of reducing text to one-third or one-quarter of its original size, clearly
articulating the author’s meaning, and retaining main ideas. Diane Hacker (2008),
in A Canadian Writer’s Reference, explains that summarizing involves stating a
work’s thesis and main ideas “simply, briefly, and accurately”. It is a strategy used
to make a concise statement or account of the main points of a text.

Various techniques in summarizing a variety of academic texts (Barrot

and Sipacio, 2017)

1. Clarify your purpose before you read.

2. Read the text at least twice until you fully understand its content. Locate the
gist or main idea of the text, which can be usually found either at the
beginning, in the middle, or in the end.
3. Highlight key ideas and phrases; another strategy is to annotate the text.
4. Write all the key ideas and phrases you identified on the margins or on your
notebook in a bullet or outline form.
5. Without looking at the text, identify the connections of these key ideas and
phrases and list your ideas in sentence form.
6. Combine the sentences into a paragraph. Use appropriate transitional
devices to improve cohesion.
7. Never copy in verbatim a single sentence from the original text.
8. Refrain from adding comments about the text. Stick to the ideas it presents.
9. Edit the draft of your summary by eliminating redundant ideas.
10. Compare your output with the original text to ensure accuracy.

FOUR PRINCIPLES IN ORGANIZING ENTRIES IN AN OUTLINE:

There are four principles that need to be followed in organizing the

contents or entries in an outline. These principles are coordination,
subordination, division, and parallel construction.

1. The principle of coordination requires ideas of the same relevance to be

labeled in the same way.

2. The principle of subordination shows that minor details must be placed

under their respective major details.

3. The principle of division requires that no cluster should contain only one item.
In short, if you have subheading 1, there should be subheading 2.

4. Lastly, the principle of parallel construction requires all entries in each

cluster to use the same structure and format.
 F. WHAT IS A CRITIQUE? Critique is derived from ancient Greek (“kritike”). It is
defined as a careful judgment in which you shape your opinion about the strengths
and weaknesses of a piece of writing or work of art. Its length may vary from 100
to 750 words or more. It is not a summary, rather, it is the critical evaluation to
understand validity, worth, effect, material etc. that interests you.

Critical Approaches in Writing a Critique

1. FORMALISM OR NEW CRITICISM

In this approach, all your questions or arguments could be answered by analyzing

and evaluating the text itself. It is independent. It has a fixed meaning. It is timeless and
universal. No other external factor is needed.

2. FEMINISM
In this approach, all your arguments shall be focused on the importance of women
and all other concepts of femininity relative to economic, societal, and archetypal equality
in a male dominated society.

3. READER RESPONSE

This approach evaluates your connectionism to the piece at hand. You can put
meaning and interpret every part of the text. The text is nothing unless you read it out.
Your reaction and interaction made out of the piece recreates and develops a further
depth of meaning.

4. MARXIST CRITICISM

This approach tries to unfold how socioeconomic status affects hierarchy or

conflicts involving social classes in the masterpiece.

OTHER APPROACHES

5. Biographical Approach: Focuses on connection of work to author’s personal

experiences. Understanding authors’ life can help in comprehending the work. This
aspect amplifies the meaning and relevance of the text.
6. Historical Approach: This approach focuses on connection of work to the historical
period in which it was written; literary historians attempt to connect the historical
background of the work to specific aspects of the work.

7. Psychological Approach: This approach focuses on the behavior or psychology of

characters.

8. Sociological Approach: This approach focuses on man’s relationship to others in

society, politics, religion, and business.

9. Archetypal Approach: This approach focuses on connections to other

literature,mythological/biblical allusions, archetypal images, symbols, characters, and
themes.

10. Philosophical Approach: This approach focuses on themes, view of the world,
moral statements, author’s philosophy, etc.
I. Three Ways of Explaining a Concept
A. DEFINITION is the method of identifying a given term and making its
meaning clearer. Its main purpose is to answer the question, “What does it
mean?” This mode of explanation contains the term to be defined and the
detailed exposition of the term through the use of illustration, examples and
description.
A definition can be presented in three ways: informal, formal and extended
a. An informal definition is done through a parenthetical or brief explanation.
Example:
1. Tocopherol (Vitamin E) is usually found in vegetable oil, fish
and nuts.

b. A formal definition explains a term by incorporating a pattern:

species (the term being defined);
genus (the general category/group to where the term belongs)
differentia (the quality which makes the term different from other terms in
the same category/group)
Example:
1. Tocopherol (Vitamin E) is a light yellow fat-soluble
vitamin which acts as an antioxidant.
Species: Tocopherol (Vitamin E)
Genus: vitamin
Differentia: used as antioxidants
c. An extended definition is a detailed way of defining a term and is usually
composed of at least one paragraph. This type of definition incorporates various
patterns of development such as formal and informal definition, comparison and
contrast narration, description, classification, functional analysis, process,
analogy, and cause and effect to explain a given concept.

Example:
 1. Tocopherol (Vitamin E) is a light yellow fat-soluble vitamin
which acts as an antioxidant. Because the vitamin activity was first
identified in 1936 from a dietary fertility factor in rats, it was given the
name “ tocopherol” using Greek words, “tokos” which means birth and
“pherein” that is to bear or carry; with its meaning in sum, to carry a
pregnancy with an ending “–ol” signifying its status as a chemical alcohol.
This vitamin features a chromane ring, with hydroxyl group that can
donate a hydrogen atom to reduce free radicals and a hydrophobic side
chain that allows for penetration into biological membranes.

B. EXPLICATION is a method of explanation in which sentences, verses, quotes or

passages are taken from literary or academic work and then interpreted and
explained in a detailed way. When using this technique, you need to clearly
present your

1. thesis (your claim/premise about the literary or academic work

you are analysing/interpreting) in the introduction and follow it up
with a 2. detailed analysis of the passage or text. You may begin the
body of the explication by analysing and explaining how the text is
constructed. You explication should end with a concise 3.
conclusion by stating your thesis and major arguments.

C. CLARIFICATION is a method of explanation in which the points are organized

from a general abstract to specific and concrete examples. It entails the
analysis if the concept by looking and the examples and specifying some of
its characteristics to arrive at one working definition which can be used
throughout the paper.