ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES
NATURE AND ASPECTS OF ACADEMIC TEXT (REVIEWER)
INSTRUCTION
NATURE OF ACADEMIC TEXT
ACADEMIC TEXT
-critical, objective and specialized texts that are written by professionals or experts in a particular
field. It is formal, based on facts and evidence and always contains citations.
-Examples are Research Paper, Conference Paper, Feasibility Study, Thesis/Dissertation, Reviews,
Essay, Academic Journals, and Reports.
NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
-articles that are written for the mass public. They are published quickly and can be written by anyone.
Their language is informal, casual and may contain slang. The author may not provide any
credentials.
- Examples are Personal Journal Entries, Autobiographical Writing, Letter, E-Mails, Text Messages,
Newspaper Articles, and Journal Writing.
ASPECTS OF ACADEMIC LANGUAGE
1. FORMALITY- Requires precision to make the text a legitimate piece of academic writing
WAYS TO ACHIEVE FORMALITY
a. Using expanded forms over contracted forms
CONTRACTED FORM: EXPANDED FORM:
he's he is
can't cannot
won't will no
shan't shall not
i'm i am
they're they are
haven't have not
b. Using Single verb over phrasal verb
PHRASAL VERB SINGLE VERB
went up increased/ rose
come back return
cut down lessen reduce/ decrease
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c. Using Expanded terms over Abbreviated terms
ABBREVIATED TERM EXPANDED TERM
St. Street
Dr. Doctor
Pres president
d. Avoiding colloquial/trite/idiomatic expressions
COLLOQUIAL TERM MEANING
gonna going to
go nuts irrational
join forces unite
crap worthless
dude man
TRITE/ IDIOMATIC MEANING
out of the blue unexpected
raining cats and dogs raining heavily
time is gold important
in the same boat in the same situation
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2. OBJECTIVITY- Requires special knowledge and use of more complex language and objectivity
WAYS TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVITY
a. .Avoiding the use of first and second person pronouns
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b. Avoiding rhetorical questions
c. Avoiding emotive language
Example:
Informal: The crowd was so happy about the performance of the children.
Formal: The crowd expressed their commendation about the performance of the children.
3. EXPLICITNESS- demands the use of signposts (words or phrases that guide the reader in
understanding the flow of the text)
WAYS TO ACHIEVE EXPLICITNESS
a. Using cohesive/transitional devices
b. Using conjunctions- the use of For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So and etc.
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4. CAUTION- requires careful writing
WAYS TO ACHIEVE CAUTION
a. Using modal verbs, adverbs of frequency, verbs
VERBS INDICATING CAUTION MODAL VERBS ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY
tends 1. will 1. often
suggests 1. must 1. sometimes
b. appear to be 1. would 1. usually
think 1. may
believe 1. can
doubt 1. might
1. indicate
1. could
Example:
Government officials are corrupt.
Improved versions:
1. (Modal verb) Some government officials may be corrupt.
1. (Adverb) Corruption is commonly linked to some key government officials.
1. (Verb) A number of government officials tend to be linked with cases of corruption.
5. STRUCTURE- sentence construction shows level of complexity
WAYS TO ACHIEVE GOOD STRUCTURE
a. Combining ideas effectively
Example:
President Duterte said that the nation would never neglect heroes of the Republic.
President Rodrigo delivered a message.
The president promised government assistance
for the fallen soldiers and their families.
(Inquirer.net)
Improved Version:
President Duterte said in his message that the nation would never neglect heroes of the Republic and
he promised government assistance for the fallen soldiers and their families.
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c. Passivation
Active Voice
The researcher conducted experiments to validate the hypothesis.
Passive Voice:
EXPERIMENTS were conducted by the researcher to validate the hypothesis.
