Academic Writing

Discuss:

What are your concerns about academic writing?

Common Questions

• What is academic writing like?

• How does it differ from the types of writing I do in everyday life?

Academic Writing Style

Read each of the extracts and decide whether they include the following features: • Subject specific words

• References

• Formal tone/language

• Examples of writing in the third person

Writing Style – Activity

Compare the following extracts from essays.

1. Which extract is a better example of critical writing?2. What features are more apparent in the better extract?

Academic writingThe style of writing you will be expected to use for academic work is likely to be different to other styles you use every day.

Think b4 u rite! :>)

Avoid shortened forms: •Shouldn't, it's for it isAvoid popular phrases or cliches such as: •at the end of the day; in a nutshell; when it comes to the crunch•Replace with: finally, in summary, in a crisisAvoid casual everyday words such as really, okay, maybe.

Academic writingAcademic essays should be written in a formal style. Avoid:

• clichés ("the flaws in this argument stand out like a sore thumb") • contractions ("don't", "aren't", "it's") • phrases that sound like speech ("well, this bit is really

fascinating") • subjective descriptions ("this beautiful sculpture") • where possible use the third person (“it can be argued” rather

than “I think”)

Academic writing – including evidence and your own ideasA suggestion on how you can construct a paragraph that includes evidence and your own ideas:

• Introduce your point (your own words) • Add the evidence to support your point (quoted or

paraphrased evidence that needs to be referenced) • Explain how and why this evidence supports your

point and what you think of it (your own interpretation and critical thinking) • Explain how the point helps answer the question

(your own argument)

Structure

Academic writing is clearly structured.

A clear structure is important for several reasons:

• It is the framework around which you construct your assignment.

• It enables you to present your material in a coherent, logical manner.

• It gives your work a sense of direction and aides the flow of your writing

Planning and structuring• Answering the‘question’ (Essay Title)

Is the question open-ended or closed?Underline key wordsTry breaking the question down into sub-questions

Top tip:

Set the question in context – how does it fit with the key issues, debates and controversies in your module and your subject as a whole? An essay question often asks about a specific angle or aspect of one of these key debates. If you understand the context it makes your understanding of the question clearer.

Planning and structuringIntroduction: Address the question, show why it's interesting and how you will answer it.

Main Body: Build your argument. Put your groups of ideas in a sequence to make a persuasive argument. One main point in each paragraph.

Conclusion: Summarise your arguments and evidence, and show how they answer the original question.

Experiences of academic writing

Essay - Activity

In small groups, read through an example essay. Look for the following features:

• Style• Structure• Idea development/reasoning• Evidence• Examples• Conclusion

https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/movies/windows_media/4Citing.wmv

Harvard Referencing

Referencing is the acknowledgment of all the sources you have cited in your assignments, whether you have quoted directly or paraphrased. The Harvard system uses the author – date method; the references in the assignment text are given in brackets and the list of sources is given in a bibliography (or reference list), attached to the assignment.

Referencing enables you to: • show you have researched your topic, for example, articles, books, reference works and electronic resources; • direct your readers to the information you have used; • avoid plagiarism.

Indirect reference

Totraku’s, (2014) study set out with the aim of assessing the importance of group working skills in the learning process.

Direct reference - short

This finding corroborates the ideas of Burton and Turvey (2014), who suggested that “In successful groups all students equally contributed towards the final product.” (p35)

Or

Setting ground rules and expectations can help to facilitate a shared sense of responsibility. Although people will sometimes have different viewpoints it is how that conflict is handled which “determines whether it works to the team's advantage, or contributes to its demise.” (Bundock, 2014, p19.)

Direct reference - long

Wiliam's (2008) views on the benefits of learners working in group situations and the importance of group goals and individual accountability is clearly recognised in Bundock’s review of the literature. However, there is an inconsistency with her argument as William points out:

(William, 2014, p201)

Within-class grouping also makes little difference, because what really matters is not how students are grouped. It’s what happens in the groups, and that depends crucially on the quality of the teacher.

References (not bibliography)

• Just include those references you’ve included in your text• List all references in alphabetical order according to

authors’ names• Don’t separate out books, journals, web sites etc

Totraku, P. (2014) Succeeding in academic essays Brighton: Bracken Publishing

Independent Task:

Read: Guidelines for the Use of References. Student Central > my school: BA Primary education>School of Education handbook for students teachers 2013-2014 > section 5.1 (link)

LNG Task:Within the two hour allotted time, each member of the group must prepare and then present a 5 minute presentation on one of the following areas:• Planning an assignment – strategies• Structuring your assignment – approaches• Use of academic language to frame your writing• Proof reading strategies

Support tutor• Before Friday 15th of November you will need to upload onto

Pebblepad, in the Support Tutor folder, a 500 word piece of academic writing titled “Strategies for effective group work”

• In w/c 25th of November you will meet with your support tutor for a second time. They will have read a selection of your work and will provide general feedback.

Assessment task 1• In response to this feedback you will reflect on your writing and

prepare an academic action plan, together with the steps you need to take to improve in this area. This will form the first assessment task for this module and will need to be available for EP404 tutors to view via Pebblepad no later than 6/12/13. This will be marked on a Pass/Fail basis and returned to you by 17/1/14

Success criteria

• It will posses an academic tone• It will make sense, be accurately punctuated

and spelt correctly• Your ideas and points will be supported by

drawing on and making reference to your reading and personal experience. • It will demonstrate your ability to use the

Harvard reference system• It will be critical rather than overly descriptive