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English FOR Academic AND Professional Purposes Reviewer

Senior High School (Dr. Carlos S. Lanting College )

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ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
LESSON 1:
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACADEMIC AND NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
NON- ACADEMIC TEXTS
Non-Academic articles 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 have any
credentials listed. There will be no reference list. Non-Academic articles can be found in periodicals
similar to Time, Newsweek or Rolling Stone.
EXAMPLES OF NON-ACADEMIC TEXTS
1. Email messages – it is an example of non-academic text that is simple and informal, it will be
sent or received over a computer network. It can be sent to multiple recipients and it carries
multiple attachments at the same time. The writer will usually express urgency and need an
immediate response from the email.
2. Personal opinions - It is an example of non-academic text that can be communicated through
essay writing or in any other form. The writer expresses his own opinion of the subject. Own
opinion is non-factual or baseless thus, anything that has no reference is a non-academic. Not
unless anything undergoes intensive research with reference data.
3. Newspapers – is a kind of non-academic text, it is simply because the content is not intended for
academic use. Sometimes you need to verify the content before accepting the statement in the
newspaper. Some writers are not realistic and are relying on fictitious stories. Unlike those
materials being used in school for teaching students. Materials being used in school are
undergone deep research by expert writers and are reliable for references.
4. Magazine – is another kind of non-academic text which is being used for leisure time. Writers
express their own ideas of anything about anything may it be lifestyle, fashion, sports and many
more.
5. Blog article – is another non-academic example, blog article is a product of a creative mind.
Everything found in the blog is not reliable for academics. Blog content can add more ideas about
a particular thing but it’s not good to be a source of research, specifically writing a thesis in
school. Blog writers are good
POINT OF VIEW OF NON-ACADEMIC TEXTS
Subjective and personal – It is based on personal opinions and feelings rather than on facts that come
from reliable sources.
Asking rhetorical questions – It is self-evident, and used for style as an impressive persuasive device. It
may have an obvious answer, but the author asks it to lay emphasis to the point.
ACADEMIC TEXTS

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Academic text is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts or professionals in a
given field using formal language. Academic texts are objective. This means that they are based on facts
with a solid basis. The emotions of the authors cannot be felt from texts or materials.

EXAMPLES
 Books and book reports
 Translations
 Essays
 Research paper or research article
 Conference paper
 Academic journal
 Dissertation and Thesis - These are written to obtaining an advanced degree at a college or
university.
 Abstract - This is a short summary of a long document
 Explication - This is a work which explains part of a particular work.
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACADEMIC TEXT
 Planning - There is a certain amount of planning before you start writing the paper so, it will be
analytical and organized.
 Outline - A proper outline is a must for academic writing. An outline will not only help you
formulate your thoughts, but will sometimes make you aware of certain relationships between
topics. It will help you determine the pertinent information to be included in your paper.
 Tone - A formal tone is used. You do not use slang words, jargon, abbreviations, or many clichés.
 Language - The language in your paper needs to be clear and words need to be chosen for their
precision. A thesaurus is a good tool to help you pick just the right words to explain the issues.
 Point-of-view - The point of view in the third person, as the focus of academic writing is to
educate on the facts, not support an opinion.
 Approach - an approach is a big part of academic writing as your readers have to follow the path
that brought you to your conclusion or generalization. We have 2 types of reasoning that we can
use.

Deductive reasoning starts with a statement or hypothesis and then tests to see if it's true through
observation
inductive reasoning starts with observations and moves backward towards generalizations and
theories.

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STRUCTURE OF AN ACADEMIC TEXT

1. INTRODUCTION: In the introduction, you must grab the reader's attention and identify the
thesis of the paper. You can do this by starting with:
 Several questions
 A quote from a famous work or person
 Some interesting facts or information
 A definition of an important term related to the work
2. BODY: This is the main part of the work and the paragraphs must be clearly written and be
arranged in a logical order, like chronologically or in order of importance. Each initial sentence
links the preceding paragraph and the whole section flows smoothly.
3. CONCLUSION: In the conclusion, you re-emphasize the thesis and summarize all the main
points. The conclusion consists of one paragraph which shows the final conclusion to the reader.

LESSON 2: CONSIDERATIONS IN WRITING AND ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE

LESSON 2:
CONSIDERATIONS IN WRITING AND ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE
ACADEMIC WRITING
ACADEMIC WRITING
In academic writing you must consider many factors. The ones we will briefly discuss here are six general
points you should take into consideration while writing academic papers. These are Audience, Purpose,
Organization, Style, Flow and Presentation

WRITING AS A COMMUNICATION AND AS A SKILL

 Writing is a form of communication. Therefore, this mode of communication is shaped by the
following factors:
TOPIC
For the writer, a topic sentence makes it easier to stay on topic and develop the main idea without getting
off track. For the reader, topic sentences announce what the paragraph will be about and demonstrate how
different paragraphs and ideas are connected to each other.
ROLE
Who am I as a writer? Do I write as a sibling? A student? A son/daughter? Customer?
PURPOSE
Audience and purpose are interconnected. If the audience knows less than the writer, then purpose is
instructional. But if the audience knows more than the writer, as is the case with students, the purpose will

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be demonstration of knowledge and expertise. So you should be aware of the purpose of your writing as it
is a decisive factor.
 PURPOSE OF A WRITER
1. To PERSUADE- The author wants to make you think a certain way.
2. To INFORM- The writer is giving information and demonstrate new skills.
3. To ENTERTAIN- The author writes for leisure.
AUDIENCE
Considering your audience is something you should do before writing your paper. If you are a student,
your audience will be your instructor who has definitely some expectations which you will have to meet.
Your audience may also be advisors, thesis committees, and journal and conference reviewers. Taking
your audience into account will affect the content of your writing. For example, if you assume that your
readers are familiar with the subject you are writing about, you will not provide much background
information.
ORGANIZATION
Organization is a matter of priorities and structure. Your audience has this expectation that the
information will be presented in a structured format that is suitable for the genre of the text, so there are
different patterns you should take advantage of, because most readers are familiar with them and this
helps facilitate the conveyance of information. Other factors such as relevance, coherence and flow,
cohesion and texture, context and message should be taken into account.
Moreover, there are several established patterns of information organization which all writers make use
depending on the nature of their paper: problems and solutions, comparison-contrast, cause-effect, and
classification.
STYLE
STYLE
You have to make sure that your writing is based on an appropriate style. Style should be consistent and
suitable both in terms of audience and the message. Writing your research report in an informal style
would be a grave mistake. Also, you should consider the fact that academic style differs from one field to
another, so by analyzing the papers in your chosen field of study you will become familiar with styles
used in your field.
FLOW
Another important factor is flow. It means moving from one statement in a text to another. It is obvious
that by keeping the flow and making clear connection of ideas and concepts you will helps your audience
to follow the text. One of the most commonly used methods for establishing a flow is moving from old
information to new information. By stating old information first, you can provide some brief background
information and then state your assumptions or conclusions and establish a connection between them.
 TRANSITION WORDS are used to link words, phrases or sentences. They help the reader to
progress from one idea (expressed by the author) to the next idea. Thus, they help to build up
coherent relationships within the text.

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 PRESENTATION

PRESENTATION
Before presenting your paper, ask yourself these questions: are information flow and overall format good
enough? Is your paper grammatically accurate? Have you checked for spelling errors?

LESSON 3:
COMPREHENSION: THE GOAL OF READING
The process of comprehending text begins before children can read, when someone reads a picture book
to them. They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the
page with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.
 Using Prior Knowledge/Previewing
When students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help them to understand the
text they are about to read. This provides a framework for any new information they read.
 Predicting
When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on
their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they
gain more information.
 Identifying the Main Idea and Summarization
Identifying the main idea and summarizing requires that students determine what is important and then
put it in their own words. Implicit in this process is trying to understand the author’s purpose in writing
the text.
 Questioning
Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning of
text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for finding
the answers in the text.
 Making Inferences
In order to make inferences about something that is not explicitly stated in the text, students must learn to
draw on prior knowledge and recognize clues in the text itself.
 Visualizing
Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not
(Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their
own mental images or drawings when reading text without illustrations.

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WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT READING STRATEGIES?

Strategies differ from reader to reader. The same reader may use different strategies for different
contexts because their purpose for reading changes. Ask yourself “why am I reading?” and “what am I
reading?” when deciding which strategies to try.
What are the Purposes of Reading?
People read different kinds of text (e.g., scholarly articles, textbooks, reviews) for different reasons. Some
purposes for reading might be

 to scan for specific information

 to skim to get an overview of the text
 to relate new content to existing knowledge
 to write something (often depends on a prompt)
 to critique an argument
 to learn something
 for general comprehension
So, it is important that you adjust your reading strategies to your purpose of reading. Here’s how to do it.
BEFORE READING
 Establish your purpose for reading
 Speculate about the author’s purpose for writing
 Review what you already know and want to learn about the topic (see the guides below)
 Preview the text to get an overview of its structure, looking at headings, figures, tables, glossary,
etc.
 Predict the contents of the text and pose questions about it. If the authors have provided
discussion questions, read them and write them on a note-taking sheet.
 Note any discussion questions that have been provided (sometimes at the end of the text)
DURING READING
 Annotate and mark (sparingly) sections of the text to easily recall important or interesting ideas
 Check your predictions and find answers to posed questions
 Use headings and transition words to identify relationships in the text
 Create a vocabulary list of other unfamiliar words to define later
 Try to infer unfamiliar words’ meanings by identifying their relationship to the main idea

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 Connect the text to what you already know about the topic
 Take breaks (split the text into segments if necessary)
AFTER READING
 Summarize the text in your own words (note what you learned, impressions, and reactions) in an
outline, concept map, or matrix (for several texts)
 Talk to someone about the author’s ideas to check your comprehension
 Identify and reread difficult parts of the text
 Define words on your vocabulary list and practice using them

LESSON 4:
OUTLINING
WHAT IS OUTLINING?
Outlining is a tool we use in the writing process to help organize our ideas, visualize our paper's
potential structure, and to further flesh out and develop points. It allows the writer to understand how he
or she will connect information to support the thesis statement and the claims of the paper.
It is a helpful guide in organizing your paper. Outlines give a visual structure to your work and are used
to show relationships and hierarchies within your content.
To outline, you must create a linear, organized plan for your paper that shows the main ideas that you
will discuss as well as their relationships within the paper
ORGANIZING YOUR IDEA IN AN OUTLINE
 Begin by answering the question that leads to your thesis statement.
 Use the two or three main ideas from this technique as your main heading.
 Write subtopics for each main idea.
 Write the supporting details for each of the subtopics.

USE VARIOUS OUTLINES BASED ON THE STRUCTURE YOU PREFER

Sentence outline – Using complete sentences as entries.
Topic outline – Using words and phrases as entries.
Paragraph outline – Using paragraphs as entries.
GUIDELINES IN WRITING AN OUTLINE:
 Place the title at the center above the outline.
 Every level of the outline must have at least two items (I and II, A and B, 1 and 2).
 Put a period after each numeral and letter.

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 Indent each new level of the outline.

 All items of one kind (roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals) should line up with each
other.
 Capitalize the first letter of each item.
 The terms Introduction, Body, and Conclusion do not have to be included in the outline. They are
not topics; they are merely organizational units in the writer’s mind.

BASIC OUTLINE FORM

MAIN IDEA
1. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
2. Subsidiary idea or supporting idea to I
1. Subsidiary idea to B
2. Subsidiary idea to B
1. Subsidiary idea to 2
2. Subsidiary idea to 2
MAIN IDEA
1. Subsidiary or supporting idea to II
2. Subsidiary idea to II
3. Subsidiary idea to II

It is up to the writer to decide on how many main ideas and supporting ideas adequately describe the
subject. However, traditional form dictates that if there is a I in the outline, there has to be a II; if there is
an A, there has to be a B; and so forth.

LESSON 5:
THESIS STATEMENT
 A thesis statement is the main idea of an essay.
 It is often the point you want to argue or support in an essay.
SO
 The thesis statement explains to a reader the main idea of the essay, and the writer’s opinion.
 A thesis statement is usually one sentence.

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 It is usually placed after the introductory sentences as a part of the first paragraph.
 The essay will contain evidence in the form of reasons, examples, details and/or facts or figures
to support your thesis.
THE THESIS STATEMENT SHOULD AVOID THE FOLLOWING:
 The first person (I believe, in my opinion, I am going to tell you, etc.)
 Unclear language (It seems, etc.)
 Attempting two topics at once (even if they are related only choose one topic)
 Just stating a fact (a thesis is something you plan to prove)
A Thesis Statement Should…
 Contain a topic (main idea of what you are writing about)
 Contain an opinion about the topic (your attitude toward the topic)

Examples Thesis Statement

Effective / Ineffective
Yes
1. The life of Christopher Columbus had a lasting impact on the world.
2. The deserts of the world have many things in common, but their differences are what makes them
special.
3. The fat content of today’s lunches is excessive for children.
No
1. Christopher Columbus was an explorer
2. My repot is on the state of California.
3. School lunches suck!

A Thesis Statement Should Not Be….

Too broad
Example: The world is a magnificent place to live.
Better
Example: Good teachers make Mountain View High School a fantastic school.

A Thesis Statement Should Not Be Too Wordy!

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Wordy:
Some problems with Mountain City Elementary School is that it needs a larger playground, an air-
conditioned gym, an auditorium, restrooms connected to each classroom, running water in the classrooms
and a number of other physical changes to the building.
Better
Mountain City Elementary needs several changes to its facilities to make it a better school. (use a word
that divides)

A thesis statement should not be too general.

Too General:
Mountain City is a good school.
Better:
Daily writing practice has led to improved writing skills for the students at Mountain City Elementary.

A Thesis Statement Should Not Be A Title!

A Title
A Cost of Living
Better
The cost of living in Mountain City is lower than in most other cities in the United States.

A thesis statement should not be a fact.

A fact
The average temperature for Mountain City in winter is 34 and in summer is 75 degrees
Better
The climate in Mountain City is ideal for outdoor sports.

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Academic language
● represents the language demands of school (academics).
● used in textbooks, in classrooms, on tests, and in each discipline.
● requires sophistication in terms of language use and structure.
● features include formality, objectivity, explicitness, complexity and caution.
❖ Formality- the formality in the use of language
❖ Objectivity- making writing impersonal and free from emotions
❖Explicitness- ensuring that the meaning of the text is clear and complete and it will leave no doubt
about the single purpose of the text.
❖ Caution- commonly known as “hedging”; the use of linguistic devices to express hesitation or
uncertainty as well as to demonstrate politeness and indirectness.
❖ Complexity- academic text is more complex than spoken language more specifically, in terms of
grammar and sentence construction. Example is combining ideas and avoiding redundancy.
❖ Other features - responsibility, precision, planned and organized.

READING
Reading is the active process of understanding print and graphic texts.
According to type, it can be defined as:
1. First, reading is a decoding process -- the breaking down of written codes.
2. Second, reading is seen as a comprehension process
● "Reading is more than recognizing printed letters or words and that it is also a very complex process
that requires careful attention."
● Reading is an indispensable skill that requires continuous practice, development, and refinement.

BEFORE READING
Specific activities before reading:
a. Establish your purpose for reading
b. Speculate about the author’s purpose for writing
c. Review what you already know and want to learn about the topic
d. Preview the text to get an overview of its structure, looking at headings, figures, tables, glossary, etc.
e. Predict the contents of the text and pose questions about it. If the authors have provided discussion
questions, read them and write them on a note-taking sheet.

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f. Note any discussion questions that have been provided (sometimes at the end of the text)

DURING READING
● The reader grasps the meaning of the reading material by connecting it to his old knowledge or schema.
● Keep a running dialogue with the author through annotation by recording your thoughts, ideas and
questions. You may underline, highlight or circle important parts and points and write comments in the
margins.
● You may reread the text until you fully understand its meaning.

Specific activities during reading:

a. Annotate and mark (sparingly) sections of the text to easily recall important or interesting ideas
b. Check your predictions and find answers to posed questions.
c. Identify evidences and supporting arguments and check their validity.
d. Use headings and transition words to identify relationships in the text.
e. Determine the main idea of the text.
f. Create a vocabulary list of other unfamiliar words to define later
g. Try to infer unfamiliar words’ meanings by identifying their relationship
to the main idea
h. Connect the text to what you already know about the topic
i. Take breaks (split the text into segments if necessary)

AFTER READING
●This stage enables the reader to establish a connection between what they learned with what they know.
● Checking of one’s understanding of the text.
● It involve the following skills:
a. reflecting
b. summarizing
c. paraphrasing
d. drawing conclusions
e. making graphic organizers
f. journal writing

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Specific activities during reading:

a. Reflect on what you learned.
b. Summarize the text in your own words, note what you learned, impressions, and reactions in an outline,
concept map, or matrix (for several texts)
c. Reflect on some part of the text through writing.
d. Talk to someone about the author’s ideas to check your comprehension
e. Identify and reread difficult parts of the text
f. Define words on your vocabulary list and practice using them
g. Link the main idea of the text to what you already know.

PREVIEWING
What is it? - You get an idea of what it is about without reading the main body of the text.
When to use it: to help you decide whether a book or journal is useful for your purpose; to get a general
sense of the article structure, to help you locate relevant information; to help you to identify the sections
of the text you may need to read and the sections you can omit.
To preview, start by reading:
● the title and author details, the abstract (if there is one)
● then read only the parts that ‘jump out’; that is: main headings and subheadings, chapter summaries,
any highlighted text etc.
● examine any illustrations, graphs, tables or diagrams and their captions, as these usually summarise the
content of large slabs of text
● the first sentence in each paragraph

SKIMMING
What is it? It involves running your eye very quickly over large chunks of text allowing you to pick up
some of the main ideas without paying attention to detail. It is a fast process.
When to use it: to quickly locate relevant sections from a large quantity of written material especially
when there are few headings or graphic elements in a text. It adds further information to an overview.
How to skim:
● note any bold print and graphics.
● start at the beginning of the reading and glide your eyes over the text very quickly.
● do not actually read the text in total. You may read a few words of every paragraph, perhaps the first
and last sentences.

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SCANNING
What is it? -Sweeping your eyes (like radar) over part of a text to find specific pieces of information.
When to use it: to quickly locate specific information from a large quantity of written material.
To scan text:
● after gaining an overview and skimming, identify the section(s) of the text that you probably need to
read.
● start scanning the text by allowing your eyes (or finger) to move quickly over a page.
● as soon as your eye catches an important word or phrase, stop reading.
● when you locate information requiring attention, you then slow down to read the relevant section more
thoroughly.
● scanning and skimming are no substitutes for thorough reading and should only be used to locate
material quickly.

INTENSIVE READING
What is it? Intensive reading is detailed, focused, ‘study’ reading of those important parts, pages or
chapters.
When to use it: When you have previewed an article and used the techniques of skimming and scanning
to find what you need to concentrate on, then you can slow down and do some intensive reading.

COMPREHENSION
The process of comprehending text begins before children can read, when someone reads a picture book
to them.
They listen to the words, see the pictures in the book, and may start to associate the words on the page
with the words they are hearing and the ideas they represent.

Using Prior Knowledge or Previewing

-When students preview text, they tap into what they already know that will help
them to understand the text they are about to read. This provides a framework
for any new information they read.
● A skill wherein a reader looks over a material and focuses on the information he/she finds relevant.

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Predicting
- When students make predictions about the text they are about to read, it sets up expectations based on
their prior knowledge about similar topics. As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they
gain more information.
● Setting up expectations based on their prior knowledge about similar topics.
● As they read, they may mentally revise their prediction as they gain more information.
● Done before reading

Identifying Main Idea and Summarization

- Identifying the main idea and summarizing requires that students determine what is important and then
put it in their own words. Implicit in this process is trying to understand the author’s purpose in writing
the text.
● It involves the identification of central message of a reading selection.
● Summarizing involves condensing a lengthy text into a shorter passage.

Questioning
- Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning
of text. Teachers can help by modeling both the process of asking good questions and strategies for
finding the answers in the text.
● Asking and answering questions about text is another strategy that helps students focus on the meaning
of text.

Making Inferences
- In order to make inferences about something that is not explicitly stated in the text, students must learn
to draw on prior knowledge and recognize clues in the text itself.
● involves interpreting figurative language, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, determining the
mood, and judging the author’s point of view.
● Done during reading

Visualizing
- Studies have shown that students who visualize while reading have better recall than those who do not
(Pressley, 1977). Readers can take advantage of illustrations that are embedded in the text or create their
own mental images or drawings when reading text without illustrations.

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● our ability to create pictures in our heads based on text we read or words we hear. It is one of many
skills that makes reading comprehension possible.

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