There's a good chance you despise writing papers, whether it's a reaction paper, an argumentative essay, or a proposal. You appear to believe that academic writing necessitates a special kind of skill that only a select few possess. In some ways, you are correct, but not entirely. Perhaps you were also requested to compose poems, skits, letters, or book reviews at some point. You've had a variety of writing assignments.
But have you given much thought to the differences between the various writing assignments you’ve completed? Do you know the difference between a personal narrative and an academic essay? Can you tell the difference between a news report and an editorial?
As we progress through the class, these introspective questions will be addressed.
By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
• Differentiates language used in academic texts from various disciplines
• Use knowledge of text structure to glean the information he or she needs (CS_EN11/12A-EAPP-Ia-c-4)
• Nature and Characteristics of Academic Texts
• Structure of Academic Texts
• Content and Style of Academic Texts
• Examples of Academic Texts
THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC TEXTS
Structure
Academic text is written formally with structured introduction, body, and conclusion. Information found in an academic text are from credible sources and these sources are cited properly. This is the reason why you can notice a list of references when you read academic texts.
Structure of Academic Texts
1. They are typically formal.
2. Theyhave clearly structured introduction, body, and conclusion.
3. They include information from credible sources.
4. They use list of references.
Content and Style of Academic Texts
1. They include concepts and theories related to specific discipline they explore.
2. They exhibit unity, coherence, cohesion, and organization.
3. They adhere strictly to rules of language use and mechanics.
4. They state critical questions and issues.
5. They use precise language avoiding jargons and colloquial words.
6. They take objective point-of-view and avoid being personal and subjective.
7. They use evidences from credible sources when an opinion or claim is presented.
8. They use hedging or cautious language to tone down their claims.
Writers and Audience
Writing academic text is imparting credible information. It means that you cannot just write anything Academic Text writers are expected to have a thorough understanding about the topic being explored. This is why academic texts are usual written by professionals in a particular field. They are also edited by other professionals to ensure the accuracy of information, and often take years before being published.
Audiences of academic texts are specific and usually the knowledgeable ones; therefore, it is assumed that the writer demonstrates a greater understanding about the subject than that of the audience. This is also one of the reasons why academic texts differ from creative essays, business letters or legal documents.
Content
Academic texts are written with a specific purpose. It can be written to inform, to argue or to persuade someone.
According to Barrot and Sipaco (2016), these texts explore topic around specific disciplines using related concepts and theories. For example, if a research paper explores around needs and wants of humans, it can use Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a theory to support it. These topics state critical questions and issue addressing the concerns of the society.
Style
In addition, these texts require the properties of a well-written text namely organization, unity, coherence and cohesion. It also strictly adheres to the rules of language use and mechanics such as proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and diction among others.
The language used is formal and not a pretentious one. It uses precise and accurate words. Uychoco and Saquetion (2016) states that there is this common misconception that in writing academic texts you need to use big and difficult words; however, this is not the case. Readers or audience will determine the language you will use, and you must engage them in your paper by stating clear ideas and points to evaluate and question. For example, if the audience is a group of experts on educational policies, it is acceptable that the jargons related to the field of education are used. If the audience are fellow classmates, them words used are in layman’s term.
Lastly, academic texts take an objective point of view avoiding being personal and subjective.
Below are some examples of academic texts:
1. Articles
These are published in scholarly journals and offers results of research that can either impact the academic community or provide relevance to nation-building.
2. Conference Papers
These are papers presented in scholastic conferences.
3. Reviews
These provide evaluation of works published in scholarly journals.
4.Theses/Dissertations
These are personal researchers written by a candidate for a college or university degree.
Read text excerpts A, B, C, and D found in the appendix and afterwards answer the following questions. This will help you understand better the difference between academic and nonacademic texts.
Which of the texts you read is an academic one?
Whydo you think is it an academic text?
Can you notice the difference between the samples given? To help you distinguish academic text from the rest, fill out the table below: Text
A Text B Text C Text D
What is the subject of the text?
What is the purpose of writing the text?
Who is the target reader?
What is the point of view? (first person,secondperson, third person)
How much does the writer know about the subject?
How did the writer organize the text?
Did the writer use a formal or an informal tone?
Based on your answers from the table above, what is an academic text?
Academic text is
When can you say that a text is an academic one? What are the features that should be present? For a text to be an academic one, it should have
How does academic text differ from the other texts? Academic text is different in terms of
Adapted from Ms. Maria Riva Ocop’s EAPP module circa 2020.
Sourced from:
Barrot, J. and Sipaco, P. (2016). Communicate Today: English for Academic and Professional Purposes. Quezon City. C & E Publishing, Inc.
Saqueton, Grace, and Uychoco, Marikit Tara. English for Academic and Professional Purposes. Rex Bookstore, Inc., 2016.
