EFAPP HANDOUT#1

Academic Text
- Academic text is typically used for textbooks, tests, in classrooms, and any other
discipline related to the field of academics. It is very different from the structure of
vocabulary and structure from everyday conversations through social interactions.
Academic text is a formal way to present words and terms typical for the field.
- are formal written materials that provides information and/or professional opinion
related to specific discipline or profession.
- are written for professional audience or persons specializing in a specific field. There is a
sense of formality in their tone because they express thought on a serious subject
matter using complex sentences, and technical and academic language.
- Whereas non-academic texts are written with friends, family, and general readers as
target audience. There is informality in the tone because the content is conversational
and is expressed using simple and compound sentences joined by conjunctions like ‘and’
and ‘but’.
Content and Style of Academic Texts
⮚ Include concepts and theories related to the specific discipline.
⮚ Have clearly structured introduction, body, and conclusion.
⮚ Include information from credible sources that are properly cited.
⮚ Include concepts and theories that are related to the specific discipline they explore.
⮚ Usually exhibit all properties of a well-written text --- organization, unity, coherence, and
strict adherence to the rules of language and mechanics.

The specific ideas in various academic texts are dependent on the field of academic text one is
reading in. For example, Humanities texts discuss more about the various human expressions,
such as art and languages, while the sciences contain the scientific method that discusses the
objective result of an experiment or the specific research methodology. The specific ideas in
various academic text can be understood after skimming and closely reading the text.

VOCABULARY LIST

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▪ Academic Language – Academic language includes language used in textbooks, in
classrooms, on tests, and in each discipline. It is different in vocabulary and structure
from the everyday spoken English of social interactions. Each type of communication
(both academic and social) has its purpose, and neither is superior to the other.

▪ Linguistic register - are certain registers of language (types of language use) peculiar
to specific professions such as medical science, engineering, and business.

▪ Medical language - is used to describe components and processes of the human

body,
medical procedures, diseases, disorders, and pharmacology. Simply put, it is the
vocabulary that medical professionals use to describe the body, what it does, and the
treatments they prescribe.

▪ Legal language -means a language used by the persons connected to the legal
profession. The language used by the lawyer, jurist, and the legislative drafts man in
their professional capacities. Law being a technical subject speaks through its own
register.
▪ Journalistic language - This type of language helps understand how journalists
create
their stories or reports, shape points of view, deliver expected news and how media
language is different from other languages we encounter.
▪ Literary language - register of a language that is used in literary writing.
▪ Jargon - special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or
group
and are difficult for others to understand.
▪ Legal indictment - An indictment is a formal accusation of a felony, issued by a
grand

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jury based upon a proposed charge, witnesses' testimony and other evidence
presented by the public prosecutor (District Attorney). It is the grand jury's
determination that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the
crime to justify having a trial voted by a grand jury. In order to issue an indictment,
the grand jury doesn't make a determination of guilt, but only the probability that a
crime was committed, that the accused person did it and that he/she should be tried.
District Attorneys do not present a full case to the grand jury, but often only
introduce key facts sufficient to show the probability that the accused committed a
crime.

▪ Sob Story - a sentimental story

▪ Autopsy – (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum)
is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by
dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any
disease or injury that may be present for research or educational purposes.
▪ MIMS - The Monthly Index of Medical Specialties or MIMS is a pharmaceutical
prescribing reference guide published in the United Kingdom since 1959 by
Haymarket Media Group.
Linguistic Register
✔ The concept of the linguistic register has been described by Trudgill (1983:101) as
follows:
● Linguistic varieties that are linked to occupations, professions, or topics have been
termed registers. The register of law, for example, is different from the register of
medicine, which in turn is different from the language of engineering---and so on.
Registers are usually characterized solely by vocabulary differences.
● Registers are simply a rather special case of a kind of language being produced by
the social situation.
✔ According to Harold Schiffman (1997) it is a set of specialized vocabulary and
preferred (or dispreferred) syntactic and rhetorical devices/structures, used by

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 specific socioprofessional groups for special purposes. A register is a property or
characteristic of a language, and not of an individual or a class of speakers.

Stylistic Variation: Degrees of Formality in Language Usage

1. Registers are marked by a variety of specialized vocabulary and turns of phrases,

colloquialisms, and the use of jargon.
2. A register can be considered a unique way a speaker uses language in different
circumstances.
3. Registers encompass all the ways in which humans communicate to one another in
specific parameters.
Language Registers are as follows:
● Language of medicine/medical science (medical terminologies)
● Law (legal language)
● Journalism (journalistic language)
● Literature (literary language)
● Business (Business language)

Text Structure
- it’s how you organize and emphasize all the important points that you want to say in
your composition. It is what allows for the logical flow of ideas in a cohesive text.
Structure is particularly critical in academic texts because the sequencing of your
ideas give them an acceptable and easy to understand shape. Thus, you also guide
your
readers to easily navigate through your points.
Six general classifications of academic texts:
1. Essay is generally the proforma for all analytical compositions. However, not all
essays are academic. Only those that are written for professional audience and

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exhibit formal tone in subject matter, sentence structure, and language can be
considered academic.
2. Concept paper defines an idea or a concept and clarifies its ‘whatness’; thus, its
most prominent structure is the use of definition.
3. Reaction paper is generally an informed and insightful perspective on art, popular
culture, and a technical topic.
4. Position paper asserts an argument.
5. Report retells data, incident, or event.
6. Research are a highly formal kind of reports.
Basic Parts of a Composition
Introductions or the opening paragraph(s) aims to make a good impression on
readers. If you run out of ideas on how to start your paper, you may consider any of
the
common strategies used in opening an essay, such as telling a story (anecdote or
parable), quoting a reputable person, using sayings, mentioning startling facts like
statistics, citing a law or the Bible, asking rhetorical questions, or sharing a personal
experience and realization.
thesis statement- thesis is the one-sentence gist or summary of your entire paper. All
your evidence and discussion in the body will revolve around your thesis. This comes
usually at the end of the first paragraph or in the second paragraph. Beginning
writers can introduce the thesis this way:
“Thus, this paper is written to prove…,”
“For this reason, this essay will focus on…,”
“In this paper, you will understand…,”
“In order to discuss …,
“this position paper will analyze…” or etc.
However, your goal is to make the introduction as much as possible as short as one
paragraph, that is about 5 sentences.

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Body- is composed of several paragraphs that cohesively discuss the thesis. These
paragraphs are your means to lead your readers, so they can make sense of your
composition. You should order paragraphs in a way that readers can follow the
points you want to stress, as you present them.
The general rule is one paragraph should deal with only one main topic. The
sentence that has the main topic is called the key or topic sentence. In academic
papers, paragraphs are advised to start with the key sentence. This is because you
have professional and busy readers who need to be guided as to the content of your
paragraphs. After presenting evidence through the point-by-point analysis of hard
data, stories, events, and opinions, your closing sentence should round off the
paragraph or dovetail to the next paragraph.
To maintain the appearance of “continuous, coherent and integrated whole,”

you may link one paragraph to the next using these transitional expressions:

“Another essential feature of …,”

“While it can be argued that …, it is also true that …,”

” However, many critics disagree with this …,”

“To counter this argument, …,”

“Nevertheless, the evidence is that …,”

“Secondly, …,”

“The bulk of the available evidence, then, points to the fact that …,”

“On the contrary, …,”

“Having analyzed this aspect, I would now like to …,”

“Furthermore, …,”

“In order to emphasize this point, I would like to point to …,”

“Moreover, there are other convincing arguments to back up …,” and

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“Therefore, …”

Conclusion- you need to bring the writeup to an emphatic conclusion and leave the

impression that the topic has been relevantly and thoroughly dealt with. Some

appropriate words or phrases that you can use to signal this include,

“Finally, …,”

“As I have argued, …,”

“As I have shown, …,”

“Therefore, …,”

“The bulk of the evidence, then, points to …,”

“However, as I have shown, …,” and

“Based on this evidence, ….”

Summarizing is an important element of conclusion, but you should find a fresh and

concise way of doing this. You should not repeat what you said in the body. The neat

final sentence leaves the reader something to think about. Sometimes, it can be a call

for action; it is something you want them to do after every point you raised in the body

The Common Questions of Readers and the Usual Placement of Their Answers in a

Text

Sample Common Questions Part of text

1. What is the entire text about? What Look for the thesis at the end of the
does it want to say? introductory paragraph or in the second
paragraph.
2. Who are the persons involved? Look for addressee at the introductory
paragraph or the details in the body.
3. What is the tone? Is it formal? Analyze the vocabulary used and the way
the sentences are constructed in the
entire text.

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 4. When are the important dates? Look for the details in the body.
5. Where is the setting of the subject Look for the details in the introductory
matter? paragraphs.
6. What pieces of evidence are Scan the key sentences of the paragraphs
mentioned? in the body.
7. So, what does the writer recommend look for it at the conclusion.
me to do?
8. How is it done? Scan the key sentences of the paragraphs
in the body.

Points to remember:
1. Structure tells the standard for a specific text.
2. The six general classifications of academic texts have subgenres you may learn in the next
modules.
3. Essays are the proforma of all written compositions. Many strategies used in essay writing
may be used in other academic texts.
4. Compositions generally have three parts – the introduction, body and conclusion.
5. The three parts of a composition may vary in different texts in terms of terminology, length,
approximate placement in texts, and forms prescribed by organizations but never in sequence.
6. Thesis statement comes usually at the end of the first paragraph or in the second paragraph.
7. Long texts may be divided into more headings and subheadings.
8. There is no single, foolproof method of successful writing. This module talks about the general
structure for the common academic texts.
9. Avoid ‘waffling’ in your opening paragraph.
10. End with a memorable statement.

TECHNIQUES IN SUMMARIZING A VARIETY OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

VOCABULARY LIST

1. SUMMARY— a shortened or simplified version of an original text using your own

words

2. ABSTRACT— a summary of the contents of a study or academic text.

3. PRĚCIS— a summary or abstract of a text.

4. REPORTING VERB— a word used to discuss another person’s writings or assertions.

Basic concepts about summarizing

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Summary- Also known as abstract or prěcis (pray-see), a SUMMARY is a form of writing

that is a product of careful digesting and relating to a shorter form of any long

composition. It is also a form of note-taking that consists of stating briefly, sometimes in

a sentence, sometimes in a paragraph of your own words, the essential ideas together

with some details of the subject that was discussed at greater length in the original

form. Summaries aim to precisely condense a larger work to present only the key ideas.

It conveys the gist of what has been read, listened to, or viewed.

Note for Summary- to sum up a text is to simplify, condense, or shorten it into its most

important ideas using your own words.

summarizing as a significant critical reading skill. Barrot and Sipacio (2017) argues that

summarizing is an important skill because it helps you

⮚ deepen your understanding of the text;

⮚ learn to identify relevant information or key ideas;

⮚ combine details or examples that support the main idea and key words presented in

the text; and,

⮚ capture the key ideas in the text and put them together clearly and concisely.

You are NOT summarizing when you

⮚ write down everything;

⮚ write down ideas from the text word-for-word;

⮚ write down incoherent and irrelevant ideas;

⮚ write down ideas that are not stated in the text; or

⮚ write down a summary that has the same length or is longer than the original text.

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Strategies/ Techniques in Summarizing

1. Finding the Main Idea Every coherent text has one central idea, which connects
the different parts of the text. You need to find this main idea for you to understand
and summarize the text. However, there is not a single way to find the main idea
because every text is different. Instead, you need to look at the whole thing.
Here are some things you should look at:
a. Is there a title or headings? These often highlight important points.
b. What is the first sentence about? Often, the first sentence of a text or a paragraph
will summarize the main ideas. But main ideas can also be in the middle or at the last
sentence of the text.
c. What does most of the text talk about? Look at each sentence and paragraph. Is
there a single topic that connects them?
2. Separating General Ideas from Details/Examples
To summarize a text, you need to distinguish general ideas from details or examples.
It is important that you do not confuse the general idea from the details because you
might misunderstand the overall meaning of what you are reading. Unfortunately,
there are no clear markers which show you what is general or not. A single sentence
might mix general ideas and details together.
Ways to separate general ideas from details
a. First, skim the text, reading fast and trying to understand the overall idea in a
simple way. To distinguish general ideas from details, you need some context. Until
you’ve read the whole thing, you will not get the text’s context or background.
b. Second, look for linking phrases like ‘for example’. ‘for instance’, ‘specifically’, or in
‘particular’. Linking phrases like these show you that what follows is an explanation
of a more general idea that was mentioned before.
c. Third, remember that one sentence can contain both general ideas and details
mixed together.
3. Identifying Key Words One of the problems you may often encounter when
reading English texts is that there are words which you do not understand. You might

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have several words which you do not know and that makes things more difficult but
there are strategies you can use.
a. First, look for proper nouns, which start with a capital letter. Sometimes you might
think that you do not understand a word, but you do not realize that it is actually a
proper noun like a person’s name or a place name.
Generally, if a proper noun is important or not widely understood, it will be
explained. If a proper noun is not explained, you can usually ignore it, or try to work
out the meaning from the context. For example, even if you have never heard of
Queensland or Hopevale, you can work out that they’re place names because of the
use of the preposition ‘in’
b. Next, look for words that tell you that an idea is important. You could look for
words like ‘important’, ‘notable’, ‘significant’ or ‘essential’.
c. Another strategy in finding key words is looking for repeated words. if words are
often repeated in a text, that means that word is significant in giving meaning to a
text.

NOTE: key to making a good summary is to first have a grasp of the essential ideas
presented in the text. You cannot translate into your own words and shorten
something that you do not understand.
General Guidelines in Summarizing
1. Clarify your purpose before you read.
2. Read the text at least twice until you fully understand its content. Locate the gist
or main idea of the text, which can usually be found either at the beginning, in the
middle, or in the end.
3. Highlight key ideas and phrases; another strategy is to annotate the text.
4. Write all the key ideas and phrases you identified on the margins or on your
notebook in a bullet or outline form.
5. Without looking at the text, identify the connections of these key ideas and
phrases using a concept map.

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6. List your ideas in sentence form in a concept map.
7. Combine the sentences into a paragraph. Use appropriate transitional devices to
improve cohesion.
8. Never copy in verbatim a single sentence from the original text.
9. Refrain from adding comments about the text. Stick to the ideas it presents.
[Link] the draft of your summary by eliminating redundant ideas.
[Link] your output with the original text to ensure accuracy.
[Link] the details of the original source (author’s name/s, date of publication,
title, publisher, place of publishing, and URL, (if online). It is not necessary to indicate
the page number/s of the original text in citing sources in summaries.
[Link] your summary properly. When you combine your summaries in a
paragraph, use different formats to show variety in writing.
Note: General Rule in Writing Precis, Abstract or Summary: condense information
into around 15% of the original length of the text A 6000-word research article for an
academic journal requires only 200 to 250 words for its abstract

Formats in Summarizing
The three formats that you may use in writing summaries are the following:
1. Idea Heading Format- the summarized idea comes before the citation.
Example:
Benchmarking is a useful strategy that has the potential to help public officials improve the
performance of local services-summarized idea (Folz, 2004; Ammons, 2001). Once the
practice of a particular city is benchmarked, it can be a guidepost and the basis for the other
counterparts to improve its own
2. Author Heading Format -the summarized idea comes after the citation. The
author’s name/s is/are connected by an appropriate reporting verb.
Example:
The considerable number of users of FB has led educators to utilize FB for
communicating with their students (Grant, 2008; as cited in Donmus, 2010). The
study of Kabilan, Ahmad, and Abidin (2010) shows that the students perceived FB as

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 an online environment to expedite language learning specifically English. Donmus
(2010) asserts that educational games on FB fecundate learning process and make
students’ learning environment more engaging. As regards literacy, this notion
reveals that FB could be used as a tool to aid individuals execute a range of social acts
through social literacy implementation (ibid). Blackstone and Hardwood (2012)
suggest the facilitative strength of FB as it elicits greater engagement on
collaboration among students.
3. Date Heading Format - the summarized idea comes after the date when the
material was published.
Example:
On the other hand, active participation of the citizens in development contributes to
a sound and reasonable government decisions. In their 2004 study on the impact of
participatory development approach, Irvin and Stansbury argue that participation can
be valuable to the participants and the government in terms of the process and
outcomes of decision making.
NOTE: yellow highlighted statements are the summarized ideas.
Using Reporting Verbs when Summarizing- A reporting verb is a word used to discuss
another person’s writings or assertions. They are generally used to incorporate the source to
the discussion in the text.
Example: (Reporting verbs are bold and italicized)
Having syntactically correct sentence is not enough to create meaning. As Noam Chomsky
pointed out, a sentence can be perfect in terms of syntax and still not make sense. He
showed this by coming up with the famous sentence, “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously”
(Chomsky, 1957)
To make your summary more interesting and to show importance to each of your sources,
you should vary the verbs you use.
You can use the past or the present tense of the verb depending on your meaning.
⮚ Use the past tense if you think the idea is outdated and you want to negate it.
Discipline Reporting verbs from left to right, most common to least common
Biology Describe Find Report Show Suggest Observe

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Marketing Suggest Argue Find Demonstrate Propose Show
Linguistics Suggest Argue show Explain Find Point out

Sociology Argue Suggest Describe Note Analyze Discuss

Philosoph Say Argue Argue Claim Point out Hold Think
y
Overall Suggest Argue Find Show Describe Propose report
⮚ The use of the present tense, on the other hand, indicates that you view the idea to be
relevant or agreeable.

Lists of frequency of reporting verbs according to discipline

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