6 minute read
Academia
Academic Writing: To Write or Not to Write?
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Angie Tatiana Gutiérrez Galvis
Licenciatura en Lenguas Modernas con énfasis en inglés y francés
Have you ever felt overwhelmed before starting an essay? Creating this kind of document is not easy for us as students, and their development may result exhausting and challenging given the implied process. As stated by Hind Al Fadda (2012), “writing in English […] is particularly difficult for English as a second language (ESL) graduate students, who come from non-Anglicized linguistic and cultural backgrounds” (p. 123). This is because as ESL students we lack vocabulary and the logic that writing these texts needs; therefore, we must face several stages in the process of academic writing that could be defiant to us. Producing an essay requires reading, writing, and researching skills to create a well-developed work; we need to have drafts, adjust to the requirements of the genre and respect rules when citing, along with other essentials. However, the most critical time is when we start elaborating the text and numerous doubts emerge. Although this process could be hard, there are certain recommendations that can help us succeed in writing an essay.
Feeling confident and comfortable as well as handling the topic we choose comes first. Indeed, academic writing requires careful research and a great deal of reading. This may lead us to frustration because investigation and perusal can be tedious; hence, when we choose a topic, we do “ erefore, when choosing our topic, we should feel con dent with it so that external factors do not hinder our process.” not narrow it. This might be a problem when we write the arguments since they are not straightforward. As stated by Al Fadda (2012), academic writing may be influenced by several factors like emotional matters, anxiety, and educational subjects such as writing style, grammar, mechanics, and language literacy. Therefore, when choosing our topic, we should feel confident with it so that external factors do not hinder our process. It is also important to have some knowledge about the content we will develop throughout our text so that the theme is interesting, feasible and easy to research. For this aim, we must “be honest about how much ownership [we] can claim over the ideas formed (…), and the opinion expressed” (Bristol Business School, 2006, p.3). Choosing a topic should rise, not only Untangle your writing process. Taken from: from our preferences and https://library.soton.ac.uk/sash/academic-writingknowledge, but also from the things that we understand and handle. Another solution is to look for appropriate sources, so our ideas can be supported. It is important to know that research must be done carefully and thoroughly. For this purpose, as previously mentioned, reading is imperative when researching. First, when writing any academic text, exploring different sources with the aim of reading will provide us with the knowledge, proficiency and skills we need to support what we know. These competences “namely Reading, Writing (…) are stated to be the basics for the success of any college student. (…). Reading/Comprehension
abilities allow students to access knowledge, understand and elaborate concepts always integrating information from lectures and reference books’ content” (Cabral & Tavares, 2002, p. 2). Researching and reading go conjointly with academic writing because it helps to find accurate information to support our text. Second, supporting resources allow the reader to acknowledge that we “have done proper research by listing sources [we] used to get information” (LibGuides: Citing sources: Overview, 2018). It will give us stronger ideas to argue in case of counterarguments. Finally, it is also important to cite our references to avoid plagiarism. It is vital to have data and qualified authors about the subject we are working on, so we can back our ideas.
An additional alternative to succeed in writing our essay is to develop the topic we choose as clearly as possible to keep the reader interested. Handling the topic properly and being knowledgeable about it will give us academic status and may help us to manage our target language as best as possible. As affirmed by Bakhtin (1981), the authoritative words demand that we acknowledge the subject, meaning that by using academic language, we may get to write formally to assure the reader’s proper approach to the text. This will show that we skilfully own the topic. It is also important to demonstrate critical thinking by handling the topic correctly, which may help us avoid fallacies, go beyond people’s criticism, and encourage reflection about unconsidered topics may face. Indeed, this might give us the empowerment we need to counterargument any critique our text faces. We must also be aware that our essay may not be the only related work. In an interview made by Niemtus (2018) to the author of the bestseller “How to Write Better Essays” published on The Guardian, it is affirmed that we are writing something that someone has probably spent their career studying, so how can us, as undergraduates, write about it? For this reason, we must own the topic with academic writing skills, giving arguments and strong points of view so we can stand out over other students who have worked on similar fi elds.
Overall, some ideas can be born in mind to write a well-developed and organized essay. Although the process of writing can be cumbersome, some key recommendations can help us succeed. First, when we handle the topic, and we have content knowledge, we may feel confi dent to write our essay. Second, when we cite reliable sources, we affi rm our statements with supported points of view and consistent evidence. Third, if we build up our ideas in a clear, organized, and detailed fashion, we may captivate our readers and get our ideas and thoughts better. It is very common for students to feel confused and frightened when composing an essay. At the beginning, we may feel motivated and interested, but as soon as we start researching and writing, everything changes. As Edna Ferber, American novelist and winner of the 1924 Pulitzer award said, “Writing is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill, and childbirth”. No matter the struggle, we will achieve it successfully.
Referencias:
Al Fadda, H. (2012, March 1). Diffi culties in Academic Writing: From the Perspective of King Saud University Postgraduates Students. In English Language Teaching, 5(3), pp. 123-130.
Bakhtin, M. (1981). Discourse in the novel. In M. Holquist (ed.) The Dialogic Imagination, Four essays by M. Bakhtin (C. Emerson and M. Holquist, trans.) Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Bristol Business School. (2006). Doing it right – Good practice in academic writing for postgraduate students. [Online]. Available at: http://www.brad.ac.uk/learnerdevelopment/media/LearnerDevelopmentUnit/Documents/AcademicSkillsResources/WritingPGskills/ Teach_Yourself_Good_Writing_ Practice_for_PGs.pdf
Cabral, A., & Tavares, J. (2002). Reading and Writing Skills in Higher Education: lecturers’ opinions and perceptions. (pp. 1-7). Portugal: The European Conference on Educational Research, University of Lisbon. Retrieved from: http://www.leeds. ac.uk/educol/documents/00002179. htm
LibGuides: Citing sources: Overview, (2018). Retrieved from: https://libguides.mit.edu/citing
Niemtus, Z. (2018). How to write better essays: ‘nobody does introductions properly’. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www. theguardian.com/education/2017/ mar/07/how-to-write-an-essay
