EAPP Lesson 1-3

Academic Texts
❖ Written by professionals in the given field
❖ Well-edited and often takes years to publish
❖ Use formal language
❖ Contains words and terms specific to the field (jargon)
❖ Contains list of sources and references
❖ Main goal is to advance human understanding in a particular discipline
❖ Can be challenging for novice/beginner readers
❖ Informative, argumentative, or objective

Example of Academic Texts

❖ School books
❖ Journal Articles
❖ Research Proposals and Papers
❖ Some newspapers and magazine articles
❖ Thesis and dissertation

Types of Academic Texts

1. Descriptive - provides facts and information
- Key words: Identify, report, record, summarize, define
2. Analytical - organizes facts and information into categories, groups, parts, types, or
relationships.
- Key words: Analyze, compare, contrast, relate, examine
3. Persuasive - includes argument, recommendation, interpretation, or evaluation of
the work of others with addition of your own point of view. Needs to be supported by
evidence.
- Key words: Argue, evaluate, discuss, take a position
4. Critical - requires you to consider at least two points of view, including your own.
- Key words: Critique, debate, disagree, and evaluate

Non-Academic Texts
❖ Written for the mass public
❖ Published quickly and can be written by anyone
❖ Often doesn’t involve research or sources
❖ Uses informal and more conversational language
❖ May contain slang
❖ Author may be unknown
❖ Usually delivers simple and basic information
❖ Can be read and easily understood by any kind of reader
❖ Personal, emotional, impressionistic, or subjective in nature
Examples of Non-Academic Texts
❖ Blog posts
❖ Fiction books
❖ Letters
❖ Personal journals and diaries

Factors that shape Academic Writing

1. Topic - What?
2. Role - Who?
3. Purpose - Why?
4. Audience - Whom?

Lesson 2: Language Used In Academic Texts From Various Disciplines

Nature of an Academic Text

• Structure
• Tone
• Language
• Citation
• Style
• Complexity
• Evidence-based Arguments
• Thesis-driven
Purpose in Writing Academic Text
● To locate main idea;
● To scan for information
● To identify gaps in existing studies
● To connect new ideas to existing ones;
● To gain more pieces of information
● To support a particular writing assignment; and
● To deeply understand an existing idea

❖ Academic Language - It is the language needed by students to do the work in schools.

❖ Social Language - It is the set of vocabulary that allows us to communicate with others in
the context of regular daily conversations.
Features of Language
1. Formality - Use of language appropriate in academic and professional settings
- Follows accepted rules, forms and conventions of writing in a particular community or
discipline
- It should not sound conversational or casual. Colloquial, idiomatic, slang, or journalistic
expression should particularly be avoided
Things to Avoid to Achieve Formality
● Colloquial words and expression
● Contractions and abbreviations
● Two-word verbs
● Asking Questions
● Sub-headings, numbering, bullet points (in essays)

2. Objectivity - Emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments
you want to make
- Characterized by the use of the third person rather than first person
- It is unbiased. It should be based on facts and are not influenced by personal feelings
3. Explicitness - Refers to the organization of the ideas in the text
- Shows relationship and connection of the ideas in the text (by the use of signal words)
- Indicates the source of the idea
- As a writer of Academic English, it is your responsibility to make it clear to your reader how
various parts of the text are related
4. Caution - Refers to the careful attention to avoid sweeping generalization
- The statement can be improved through the use of devices such as modal verbs, adverbs,
or verbs
- The statement can be improved through the use of devices such as modal verbs, adverbs,
or verbs
- Enables you to express a perspective on claims that have not been acclaimed yet by others
- Verbs indicating caution: tend, suggests, appear to be, think, believe, doubt, indicate.
5.Impersonality - Avoid making statements that are not supported by examples and evidence
- Avoid adverbs or adjectives that tend to exaggerate your description for example “very
much” and “extremely”

TRANSITIONAL DEVICES
Lesson 3: Locating and Citing Sources

Plagiarism - The act of presenting the words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expression
of others as your own without giving credit; may be intentional, reckless, and unintentional

“PLAGIARISM IS LYING, CHEATING, AND STEALING ALL AT ONCE.”

- Sid Mason

Common Examples of Plagiarism

❖ Turning in someone else’s work as your own
❖ Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit
❖ Failing to put quotation marks in quotation
❖ Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation
❖ Changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit
❖ Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work,
whether you give credit or not
Types of Plagiarism
1. Direct Plagiarism - Word-for-word transcription of someone’s work without quotation or
credit
2. Self Plagiarism - Submitting own previous work or mixing parts of previous works
3. Mosaic Plagiarism - Borrowing phrases from a source without quotation marks or finding
synonyms for the author’s languages while keeping the same structure
4. Accidental Plagiarism - Neglecting to cite sources, misquotation of sources, or
unintentionally paraphrasing a source by using similar words, group of words, and/or
sentence structure without attribution
Why do people Plagiarize?
1. Laziness
2. Fame
3. Fear of success
4. Procastination
5. Panic
6. Misbelief and misinformation

Consequences of Plagiarism
❖ Failure in a task/class
❖ Disciplinary Action
❖ Academic Dismissal (Suspension/Expulsion)
❖ Withdrawal of diploma/degree
❖ Loss of Employment
❖ Final/Penalties
❖ Lawsuits
❖ Loss of reputation

How to Avoid Plagiarism

> Put everything in your own words. Do NOT Copy.
> Give credit where credit is due

Incorporating Sources In Academic And Professional Texts

Summarizing - Short statement of the main idea or key points of a text

Paraphrasing - Restating a statement or passage in your own words

Principles in Paraphrasing
1. The meaning conveyed in the paraphrased material should be the same as that of the
original source
2. The length should be the same or almost the same
3. The structure is different from that of the source
4. Technical terms or generally accepted terms may be retained
5. The source is indicated in the paraphrase

Forms of Paraphrasing
1. Literal Paraphrasing - Replacing vocabulary terms from the original text
2. Structural Paraphrasing - Changing the sentence structure as well as the word class of
key words of the text
3. Alternative Paraphrasing - Posing questions about the text, then answering these
questions using own words after reading the text making sure that all ideas are connected
Citations - The way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another
source and where to find that information again

What do Citations include?

- Whenever you use quotes
- Whenever you paraphrase
- Whenever you use an idea that someone else has already expressed
- Whenever you make a specific reference to the work of another
- Whenever someone else’s work has been critical in developing your own ideas

Types of Citations
1. Author-Oriented Citations - starts with the surname author, followed by the year of
publication in parentheses

Ex. Pulido (2012) emphasizes that language in an online environment can be understood in other
modes of online communication are further analyzed to provide a full account of interaction in
virtual world

2. Text-Oriented Citations - A paragraph or sentence from a source is followed with the

surname of the author of the work and the year of publication, both enclosed in
parentheses

Ex. Unless educators realize the importance of reading and writing across subject areas, problems
in comprehension of subject matter will be a prominent issue in the teaching learning process
(Estacio, 2010).
Other ways of Citing Sources
> Start the sentence or paragraph by using the phrase “According to...” followed by the surname
of the author and the year of publication enclosed in parentheses

According to Mendoza (1990), by the end of the century, our fuel reserves will be reduced to half,
and scarcity of energy supplies will be a big problem.