English for Academic Purposes I (2024) L02 - Academic Style 2

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L02 – Academic Style 2

Many words in academic English are the same as everyday vocabulary, but they are often
also used with a specialised meaning. Look at the following examples.
[ E = everyday use ] [ A = academic use ]

E: Standards of discipline in schools have declined.

Ç ability to control oneself or other people
A: Nanotechnology is a relatively new discipline.
Ç area of study
E: Underline your family name on the form.
Ç draw a line under it
A: The research underlines the importance of international trade agreements.
Ç gives emphasis to
E: The lake was frozen solid.
Ç not liquid or gas
A: We have no solid evidence that radiation has caused the problem.
Ç certain or safe; of a good standard

Task 1
Each word in the box can be used in two ways, one an everyday way, the other a typically
academic way. Complete each pair of sentences using the same word for both sentences
and making any necessary grammatical changes. In pairs, compare your answers.
underline / solid / generate / turn / confirm / identify / character / pose / nature / focus

1 A - She loves to _______________ for photographs in front of her fabulous house.

B - The events _______________ a threat to stability in the region.
2 A - It was difficult to _______________ the camera on the flower as it was so small.
B - We should _______________ our attention on the most important issues.
3 A - I called the airline and _______________ my reservation.
B - The data _______________ my hypothesis that animal-lovers enjoy better health.
4 A - The power plant _______________ electricity for the whole region.
B - This issue always _______________ a great deal of debate among academics.
5 A - The murderer was _______________ from fingerprints discovered at the scene.
B - In this theory of history, progress is closely _______________ with technology.
6 A - She became interested in _______________ conservation.
B - The first lecture in the series was on the ____________ of human communication.

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7 A – Jim’s a very interesting _______________. I hope you meet him.
B - The book attempts to explain the fundamental _______________ of social life.
8 A - I saw her _______________ to her husband and whisper something in his ear.
B - Let us now _______________ to the subject of town planning.
9 A - He always _______________ every new word when he's reading.
B - The study _______________ the fact that very little research exists.
10 A - The liquid became _______________ as the temperature was lowered.
B - The study lacks ____________ evidence and therefore its conclusions are doubtful.

Challenging Question

The word “literature” is often used in academic writing, especially in journal articles.
Apart from the meaning of “literary texts” as in “Chinese literature” or “English
literature”, it has another more important meaning in the academic world.
What is it?

Nominalisation
You have learnt the idea of ‘nominalisation’ in IAE. Do you still remember it?

Academic language puts a lot of information into noun phrases rather than spreading it out
over a whole sentence. For example, sentence (2) below is preferred in academic world
than sentence (1). It is therefore important to learn the different forms of a word.

(1) Radiation was accidentally released over a 24-hour period, damaging a wide area for
a long time.

(2) The accidental release of radiation over a 24-hour period caused widespread long-
term damage.

Why is nominalisation preferred in academic English?

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Compare version 1 and version 2 below. Which one is more academic?

1. The government banned smoking in public places in 2007. Since then, fewer people
have been admitted to hospital for smoking-related diseases.
2. The ban on smoking in public places in 2007 has led to a fall in hospital admissions
for smoking-related diseases.
It is important to note that overuse of nominalisation can make your text turgid. Verbs
make it livelier, so you need to maintain a balance between the two. A third option is
sometimes possible.

3. The government banned smoking in public places in 2007. This has led to a fall in
hospital admissions for smoking -related diseases.

In this example, an action is followed by its consequence. This balance between verbs and
nouns gives the text movement and makes it more readable. In addition to conveying
information to readers, you are aiming to make your text interesting.

Passive voice
In spoken English, subjects such as ‘people’, ‘somebody’, ‘they’, ‘we’ or ‘you’ are often used
even though it is not clear who the person doing the action is. For example, ‘they forecast
rain for today’. However, in academic writing, the passive is often preferred. Compare the
following sentences:
Ø We interviewed 65 students. (active)
Ø 65 students were interviewed. (passive)

It is not merely a question of changing active sentences into passive ones. When you are
writing, you will need to decide whether the action or the result is more important than
the person (doer) who carries it out. You should ask yourself the following questions:
Ø Who is the “doer”?
Ø Is the “doer” more important in that sentence than the action?
If the answer to the second question is ‘yes’, you may choose to state the “doer” using
the active voice. If no, you may omit it using the passive voice.

Another way of avoiding the use of ‘somebody’ or ‘people’ in academic writing is by

introducing the sentence with the impersonal ‘it’ leading to expressions such as ‘it is felt
that…’ or ‘it is thought that…’. Compare the following sentences.
Ø It is felt that the police are doing Ø People feel that the police are doing
valuable work. valuable work.
Which people? Are they important?

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Ø It was thought that the government Ø Everyone thought that the government
had shown little regard for public had shown little regard for public
opinion. opinion.
Who is ‘everyone’? Is this word needed for
the meaning of the sentence to be clear?

Another construction is also possible: ‘X is felt to…’ or ‘X is thought to…’. For example:
Ø The police are felt to be doing valuable work.
Ø The government was thought to have shown little regard for public opinion.

Table 1 below indicates some choices to help you construct passive sentences.

Task 2 – Constructing passive sentences

Rewrite the following sentences using any of the passive sentence constructions in Table 1.
1) People consider that this surgeon is a brilliant practitioner.
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2) Somebody claims that the drug produced no undesirable side effects.
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3) Most people now think that only a small fraction of the nitrous oxide emitted to the
atmosphere each year comes from fossil fuel use, primarily coal.
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4) Researchers believe that the only problem with daytime sleep is that it is too short.
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5) Although the government expects the patient to pay for his treatment, he will be
reimbursed via the state medical insurance scheme.
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Cautious language (Hedging)

In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance
on a particular subject, or the strength of claims you are making. It is unlikely that the
evidence you present will be conclusive enough for you to state that something will
definitely happen. At the same time, you need to be careful about making sweeping
statements (= something that are too general and have not been carefully thought about) which
do not consider exceptions. This is why academic writing often calls for a cautious style, i.e.
hedging. There are various ways in which caution can be expressed. This includes using
appropriate modal verbs, adverbs, adjectives and other lexical items. Study Table 2 below.

Types of hedge Examples

1. Modal verbs indicating possibility might, could, __________, __________

2. Verbs distancing the writer from the

seem, indicate, ____________,
claim or showing that the writer is
____________
speculating

3. Adjectives, Adverbs and Nouns showing possible, possibly, possibility,

the degree of certainty be likely to , _____________

generally, tend to, in most cases,

4. Other expressions limiting a claim
___________, __________________

Compare the following two short sentences, (A) and (B). You will notice that although the
two sentences are, in essence, saying the same thing, (B) has a significant amount of extra
language around the claim. This language is performing the function of ‘hedging’.
(A) Extensive reading helps students to improve their active vocabulary.
(B) For a significant proportion of students, extensive reading may contribute to an
improvement in their active vocabulary.

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Task 3 – Hedging
The following extracts are from the conclusions of journal articles in the field of Applied
Linguistics. Underline the hedges and add them to Table 2 on page 4.

Task 4 – Hedging

Acknowledgement
The content of this lecture handout is adapted from:
Barton, G. (1999). Grammar in context. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Gillet, A., Hammond, A., & Martala, M. (2009). Successful academic writing. New York, NY: Pearson Education.
Hewings, M. (2012). Cambridge Academic English – Upper intermediate student's book. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press.
McCarthy, M., & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills: A course for
nonnative speakers of English. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.