L1 Acdemic Writing Style Flashcards
4 Factors in Writing
- Topic
- Role
- Purpose
- Audience
it requires a sophisticated use of langguage
Academic Writing
4 important features of langguage
Formality, Objectivity, Explicitness, and Caution
reflects your dignified stance in your writing as a member of the community. Langguage used must depend on the audience.
Formality
choosing expanded modal forms over contracted forms
cannot instead of can
Formality
choosing one verb form over two-word verbs such as damage instead of mess up
Formality
Choosing expanded terms instead of abbreviation
Formality
avoiding colloquial/ trite/ idiomatic
Formality
requires special knowledge and use of more complex langguage and objectivity. Writing must be impersonal
Objectivity
avoiding the use of personal pronouns such as you, I and we
Objectivity
Avoiding rhetorical questions as it marks “closeness” with the reader, and constantly seeks his/ her attention
objectivity
Avoiding emotive langguage that shows biases and lessens objectivity
Objectivity
Demands the use of signposts that allow readers to trace the relationships in the parts of a study.
Explicitness
phrases used are;
however…
this is due to the …
this resulted in…
In addition…
For example…
Explicitness
*Needed to avoid generalizations
*it may use hedging devices to demonstrate politeness and indirectness.
*Hedging devices are; it seems, perhaps, appears to be, it looks like, assume, possibly etc.
caution
Aside from langguage, sentences need to be constructed in such a way that they show a level of complexity that reflects the sophistication of an academic writer.
Structure
Combining ideas effectively, nominalization, and passivization are some ways to achieve it.
Structure
The verbs are made central as they denote action. ( Verb becomes the noun helping the readers focus on the action and not the doer of the action)
Nominalization
the results of actions are highlighted.
Passivization
