Week 4: Process of Academic Writing

Most academic courses test students through written assignments. These tasks
include coursework, which may take weeks to write, and exam answers, which often
have to be written in an hour. This unit deals with:
• the names of different writing tasks
• the format of long and short writing tasks
• the structure of sentences and paragraphs
The purpose of academic writing
Writers should be clear why they are writing. The most common reasons for writing include:
• to report on a piece of research the writer has conducted
• to answer a question the writer has been given or chosen
• to discuss a subject of common interest and give the writer’s view
• to synthesise research done by others on a topic
Can you suggest any other reasons?
• _________________________________________________________________________
• _________________________________________________________________________
Whatever the purpose, it is useful to think about the probable readers of your work. How can
you explain your ideas to them effectively? Although there is no fixed standard of academic
writing, it is clearly different from the written style of newspapers or novels. For example, it
is generally agreed that academic writing attempts to be accurate and objective. What are its
other features?
The format of long and short writing tasks
Short essays (including exam answers) generally have this pattern:
Introduction
Main body
Conclusion
Longer essays and reports may include:
Introduction
Main body
Literature review
Case study
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Appendices
 See Unit 4.3 Longer Essays
Dissertations and journal articles may have:
Abstract
List of contents
List of tables
Introduction
Main body
Literature review
Case study
Findings
Discussion
Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Appendices
The features of academic writing
There are no fixed rules for the layout of academic work. Different schools and departments
require students to follow different formats for written work. Your teachers may give you
guidelines, or you should ask them what they want, but some general features apply to most
formats.
Read the text below and identify the features underlined, using the words in the box
 

Some other common text features
(a) Reference to sources using citation: According to Tamura et al. (2009)
(b) The use of abbreviations to save space: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
(c) Italics: used to show words from other languages: Tamura et al. (= and others)
(d) Brackets: used to give extra information or to clarify a point: . . . but others (short-chain
fatty acids) come from cheaper sources such as soya.
 

Simple and longer sentences
Study the table below.
Dragon Motors – vehicle production 2009–2013

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
135,470 156,935 164,820 159,550 123,075

All sentences contain verbs:
In 2009, the company produced over 135,000 vehicles.
Between 2009 and 2010, vehicle production increased by 20 per cent.
Simple sentences (above) are easier to write and read, but longer sentences are also needed
in academic writing. However, students should make clarity a priority, and avoid writing very
lengthy sentences with several clauses until they feel confident in their ability.
Sentences containing two or more clauses use conjunctions, relative pronouns or punctuation to link the clauses:
In 2009, Dragon Motors produced over 135,000 vehicles, but the following year
production increased by 20 per cent. (conjunction)
In 2011, the company built 164,820 vehicles, which was the peak of production.
(relative pronoun)
Nearly 160,000 vehicles were produced in 2012; by 2013, this had fallen to 123,000.
(punctuation)