Differentiates Language

Used
in Academic Text from
Various Disciplines

Lesson 1- First Semester

Specific Objectives:

[Link] academic writing.

[Link] language in academic text
from various discipline.
[Link] the purpose, language, audience
and style of academic text.
[Link] a specific academic text with correct
usage of language.
 Motivation
Directions: Unscramble
the letters to form new
word/s.
 DAECAIMC
WNIGTIR
JBETCUS
RUPPEOS
GAGEUNLA
DEIUANCE
NIOPT FO WEIV
OWLEKNGED
ESSPLIECITNX
FINROM
RAUEG
ERPSAUDE
Discussion of the Topic
Writing is one of the Four Macro Skills that
a student should possess. It is one of the
media of communication in order for us to pass
information to people. One of these writings
that a student should know is Academic
Writing. In this lesson you as a student will
learn Academic Writing and the language that
should be used in writing academic text.
essay
journal
diary
reaction paper
invitation letter
science writing
fiction stories
biography
bibliography
research paper
Academic Writing is a kind of
writing that can be used in academia or school. It
has a process that starts with posing a question,
conceptualizing a problem, evaluating an opinion
and ends in answering a question posed,
clarifying a problem or arguing for a stand.
The specific purposes of academic writing are to
inform, to persuade and to
argue that address specific audience or the
teacher. To inform means supplementing a lot of
information about the topic. To Persuade means
having the credibility to make your audience or
readers believe in you. To argue means making your
readers or audience respond on the information you
are telling them.
Academic writing also requires formal language or word that
does not contain colloquial or jargon words. It usually uses
layman’s term or the term that is easy to understand. It
avoids the use of hifalutin words or words that have deep
meaning.
Academic writing is all about thinking.
- It follows certain rules and standards.
-Language to be used in writing academic text should be
formal.
- Audience should be first taken into consideration.
-All the information included in this kind of text should be
backed up by valid evidence.
Four Features of
Languages
1. Formality 4. Caution
2. Objectivity
3. Explicitness
Formality reflects your dignified
stance in writing as a member of an
academic community. This means
that in your writing, you should avoid
colloquial words and expressions.
( idiomatic expressions)
Formality can be achieved
through the following ways:
• Choosing expanded modal
forms over contracted forms,
such as using cannot
instead of can’t, do not
instead of don’t.
Colloquialism are slang,
informal or localized language.
When writing formal papers
using colloquial words are
inappropriate.
Ex. She was running
around like a chicken with
her head cut off.
Choosing one verb form over two-word
verbs, such as damage instead of mess up.
• Choosing expanded terms over their
abbreviated equivalents, such as as soon as
possible instead of ASAP.
• Avoiding colloquial/idiomatic expressions,
such as kind of like, as a matter of fact, sort
of.
Objectivity-means that the focus
of the information is on the topic
rather on the writer itself. Written
language should not be personal
but rather in general objective.
 Avoiding emotive language that
shows biases. Giving an overly
favorable opinion of someone can
eliminate objectivity.
Example: The police
investigators were shocked to see
the outcome of the tests.
Improved version: The
police investigators
did not expect the
results.
 Avoiding the use of personal
pronouns such as you, I, my,
and we.
Example: You need to follow
instructions.
Improved version: The
researchers need to
follow instructions.
.Explicitness in academic
writing demands the use of
sign posts that allow readers to
trace the relationships in the
parts of the study.
If you intend to show a
change in your line of
argument, make it clear
by using however.
Example:
It is apparent that the school
institutions hope to provide quality
education to the learners. However,
having this COVID-19 pandemic
requires a lot of effort to reach out
students.
Caution in academic writing
requires care since knowledge is built
on proven theories and concepts.
Caution is needed to avoid sweeping
generalizations.
Types of Writing Styles
There are four main types of
writing: expository, descriptive,
persuasive and narrative
Expository
This means that the author is
trying to explain a concept,
imparting information to the
audience. It is not subjective but
rather focuses on facts that are
supported by evidence.
Examples: articles,
textbook, recipe book
Descriptive Writing
Descriptive style means painting a picture of a
person, place, or thing through words. It is
often found in fiction, though it can make an
appearance to non-fiction as well Memoirs,
first-hand accounts, and events or travel guides
are examples of descriptive writing. The author
might employ metaphor or other literary
devices in order to describe the author’s
impressions using their five senses.
Persuasive Writing
It is the main style of writing you will
use in academic papers. When an author
writes in a persuasive style, he/she is
trying to convince the audience of a
position or belief.
writing contains the author’s opinions
and biases, as well as justifications or
reasons given by the author as evidence
of the correctness of their position. Any
“argumentative” essay you write in
school should be in the persuasive style
of writing.
The examples of persuasive writing
include cover letters, and editorial
newspaper articles, reviews of
items, letters of complaint,
advertisements, and letters of
recommendation.
Narrative writing is used in almost every
longer piece of writing, whether fiction or non-fiction.
When an author writes in a narrative style, he/she is
not just trying to convey information, rather tries to
construct and communicate a story, complete with
characters, conflict and settings. The examples of
narrative writing include oral histories,
novels/novellas, poetry (specifically, epic sagas or
poems), short stories, and anecdotes
True or False
Directions: Write T if the statement is
true, otherwise write F if it is false.
Write your answer on the space before
each number.
_____ 1. Academic writing has three
main purposes.
_____ 2. Formality in language means
avoiding the use of colloquial terms.
_____ 3. Objectivity is more on personal
matters of the writer.
_____ 4. To persuade means to make your
readers believe in you.
_____ 5. It is possible to write academic text
without presenting evidence.
Lesson 2:Using
Knowledge of Text
Structure to Glean
Information
Specific Objectives:
1. Identify the structure of academic text;
[Link] the structures of academic
text.
[Link] an academic text that can be
applied to a text structure
.Text structure- refers to
organization of information in a
passage.
- It helps the readers to answer
questions.
- aims to enhance the reader's
comprehension by creating a visual
representation of the ideas
Every student should understand that a
text should present its details and main
ideas. Text structure helps them to
organize a written text, giving its cause
and effect, or its different views.
Types of Text Structure
The description text structure.
describes or explains a topic,
idea, person, place, or thing
to give the reader a mental
picture.
Descriptive Text Structure or
Spatial gives a reader a detailed feature that
creates a picture on his/her mind about a topic.
Spatial organization is when information in a
passage is organized in order of space or location.
Spatial organization can also be called as
descriptive writing. If you are about to describe
how something looks, you are describing it
spatially. It can also be used in fiction and non-
fiction.
Descriptive Text Structure or
Spatial
described by listing its features, characteristics or it
gives examples.
Signal Question: What specific topic, person, idea,
or thing is being described? How is it being
described( what does it look like)
Signal words: For instance, such as, to begin with,
an example, to illustrate.
Volcanoes can be a source of fear and
destruction. Even though volcanoes are
like pressure valve in the inner earth,
they are very beautiful sights. One of
the parts of the volcanoes that cannot
be seen all the time is its magma
chamber. It is beneath the earth’s
bedrock, and it is very hot.
Cause and Effect presents the
relationship between specific events, ideas,
or concepts.
Cause and effect is one way of
organizing information in a text. It explains
reasons why something happened. It can be
ordered as cause to effect or vice versa. It is
generally used in expository and persuasive
writing modes.
It can be cause to effect
wherein it explains why
something happened and the
effect of it. It can be also effect
to cause wherein it explains the
result of things that happened
and its reasons.
Example: Many people think that they can
acquire illness by going into cold weather
improperly dressed. However, illnesses are
not caused by temperature. They are
caused by germs. So, trembling outside in
the cold probably won’t strengthen your
immune system, but you are more likely to
acquire illness outdoors because you will
greatly be exposed to germs. .
These are the signal words
that may indicate that
information in a paragraph is
organized as cause and effect:
because, as a result,
resulted, caused, affected,
since, due to, effect.
Comparison and Contrast
gives the similarities and differences
between two or more people, events,
concepts, ideas, and the like.

Comparison and Contrast is a text

structure or pattern of organization that
discusses similarities and differences.
This pattern is generally easy to recognize.
Writer who is comparing and contrasting
will bounce back and forth between two
subjects. Here are some signal words that
may indicate that the text is written using
the compare and contrast organizational
pattern: like, unlike, both, neither,
similar, and different
Example: Mangoes and durians are
both fruits. They both have seeds
inside of them. Each has a skin, but
durian skins are thick and difficult to
peel. Mango skins are thinner and
peel easily. Durians have distinct
stench while mangoes have sweet
smell, but both fruits are delicious.
Chronological order explains a text by the time an
event occurs. Chrono means time and logic means order.
The events occur along a timeline even if the author uses
flashbacks, or flash forwards. All stories are organized
chronologically, therefore, every story has a beginning,
middle, and end. Non-fiction stories organized
chronologically usually contain dates while fiction passages
or narratives usually have no dates.
Example: This morning was pretty crazy. I woke up
really late because of wrong setting of my alarm. It
was set PM instead of AM. I just wore any clothes and
ran out the door. I rode my bike as fast as I could with
the thought that I was going to be late for sure, but
when I got there everyone was outside and there
were fire trucks all lined up in front of school. I guess
somebody pulled the fire alarm before class started. It
worked out though, because nobody really noticed or
minded that I was tardy.
Problem-Solution mentions a problem or
problems, identifies some possible solutions and
discusses the effect of the solution.
-is a pattern of organization that explains a
problem or issue and an attempted solution in the
issue. This type of text is usually interchanged with
cause and effect type of structure but the only thing
that they should remember is that cause and effect
text structure do not offer a solution. This mentions a
problem and then offers a solution plus the possible
effect of a solution.
Example: Bullying has been prevalent these
days. These encounters make it hard for
children to develop confidence and high self-
esteem. Fortunately, bullying has been noticed
and is being addressed by many sectors of the
community. However, these efforts are not
enough. The most effective way to stop
bullying is by nurturing and inculcating good
manners and right conduct within families.
Lesson 3:Various
Techniques
in Summarizing a Variety
of Academic Texts
Specific Objectives:
1 define summary;
2. identify the main idea, key points and
supporting details in a variety of academic
texts; and
3. create a summary of various academic
texts.
What is a Summary?
A summary is a brief statement
or restatement of main points.
Summarizing a text, or distilling its
essential concepts into a
paragraph or two, is a useful study
tool as well as good writing
practice.
A summary has two aims: (1) to
reproduce the main idea and the key
points of a text and (2) to restate
these in as few words as possible. The
main idea is what the text is about while
key points are arguments or information
that is used to support the main idea.
Also, it may be developed or elaborated with
supporting details. However, your summary
should only include main ideas and key
pointsnot supporting details. Another
important thing you must remember is that
summaries are not a place for your opinions,
background knowledge and personal
information.
Summaries can range in length from two
sentences to several pages. In any case,
use complete sentences to describe an
author's general points to your reader. Do
not quote extensively. If you quote, use
quotation marks and document the
quotation. If you fail to document the
quotation, even one word that the author
used, you are plagiarizing material.
Summarizing helps students learn to identify
key ideas of a text and ignore irrelevant
information. Summarizing improves students’
memory for what they read and by extension
comprehension. By learning and practicing
how to summarize, one can develop reading
comprehension and long-term retention of
information. It is also an effective tool to self-
evaluate what they understood and what they
do not.
Here are some techniques on how we
summarize.

1. Read the original passage or text very carefully.

2. Highlight or underline what you take to be the main
point of the original text, or make notes in the margins
or on another sheet of paper.
3. When summarizing an entire essay, outline the
writer’s argument.
4. Now tell your audience what the original source
argued.
5. Ask the following framework questions:
a. What is the main idea?
b. What are the crucial details necessary for
supporting the ideas?
6. Use key words or phrases to identify the
main points from the text.
7. You can also summarize a reading text by
getting the main events and arranging the
events in chronological order.
Example paragraph 1:
A typhoon is powerful, twisting hurricane. It
begins high in the air, among the winds of a
giant storm cloud. People who have watched a
typhoon’s howling winds reach down from the
sky have said it’s the most frightening thing
they have ever seen. In some parts of the
Philippines, these tropical storms are called
cyclones.
Sentence summary:
Typhoons are frightening, powerful,
twisting hurricanes sometimes called
cyclones that start in giant clouds.
Students are prohibited to chew gum in my class. While other
students think that I am just being mean, I have a lot of good
reasons for this rule. First, there are some irresponsible
students who can make messes with their gums. Students may
leave them on the bottoms of desks, drop them on the floor, or
put them on other people’s property. Another reason why I don’t
allow students to chew gum is because it can be a source of
distraction while listening, reading, writing and learning. When
they are allowed to chew gum, students are more worried
about having it, popping it, chewing it, and snapping it. This is
why I don’t allow students to chew gum in my class.
Lesson 4:
State The Thesis
Statement
Of Academic Text
Describe It!
Directions: Choose an emoticon below that
escribes your [Link] your reasons in
choosing that emoticon.
What is a thesis statement?
A thesis statement is a statement or theory
that is put forward as a premise to be
maintained or proved. It also tells the reader
what will be in the paper. It identifies the topic
being discussed, or it summarizes the main
point of the paper. It is a 1-2 sentence or
about 30 to 40 words long.
It is found at the end of the
introduction, and it presents
an argument to the reader. It
is a road map that tells the
reader what to expect to the
rest of the paper.
The other parts of the paper such as
body and conclusion gather and
organize evidences that persuade the
reader the logic of interpretation. It
often reflects an opinion or judgment
that a writer has made about a
reading or personal experience.
Characteristics of an
Effective Thesis
Statement (Rex 2016)
[Link] should offer a
debatable claim that can
be proven or disproved
in the essay.
2. An effective thesis statement is not
just a statement of fact or a
description of a topic. Instead, it
describes for the reader what the
particular position of the writer is on
an issue, or his/her interpretation of
the significance of a particular idea.
3. A thesis statement should not
merely announce something or
state a fact. Rather, it should
give an essay tension by
introducing ideas that may
challenge the reader’s views.
[Link] is important that a thesis
statement is not too general
because the writer will not
have enough space to cover
every possible aspect of the
thesis statement.
Genres and Types of
Thesis Statements
Argumentative essay
(Making a claim) states the
topic of your paper, your
position on the topic, and
the reasons you have for
taking that position.
Example:
Topic Position
Death penalty should be implemented in
the judicial system in our country
because of increasing rate of heinous crimes
in the Philippines.
reason
Analytical essay implies the breaking
down of something into parts, or the
discussion of something in a way that it
becomes a dissection of the whole. It differs
from other types of essays in that its primary
goal is to explain something bit by bit to
enhance understanding.
Example:

The company’s advertising campaign for

children reveals serious issues regarding the
misrepresentation of the nutritional content
of its products.
Expository essay is a genre of
essay that requires the student to investigate
an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the
idea, and set forth an argument concerning
that idea in a clear and concise manner. This
can be accomplished through comparison and
contrast, definition, example, the analysis of
cause and effect, etc.
 Example:
The typical college student of the
twenty-first century utilizes
technology in a variety of ways, to
complete academic assignments, to
interact socially
Narrative essay is telling a story.
This essay is often anecdotal,
experiential, and personal—
allowing students to express
themselves in a creative and, quite
often, moving ways.
Example:
My positive experiences with
reading and writing throughout my
childhood led to an intense interest
in literary pursuits throughout my
lifetime.
Steps to Formulate a
Thesis Statement
1. State your topic.
Example: Regulating
children’s mobile gaming
2. State your opinion/main idea about this
topic. This will form the heart of your thesis.
An effective statement will express one
major idea.
Example: Parents should regulate the
amount of time their children spend on
mobile gaming.
3. Give the strongest reason
or assertion that support your
opinion.
Example: It is not always
intellectually stimulating.
4. Give another strong reason
or assertion that support your
opinion.
Example: It inhibits social
interaction.
5. Give another strong
assertion.
Example: It shortens
children’s attention span.
6. Include an opposing viewpoint to
your opinion / main idea, if applicable.
This should be an argument for the
opposing view even if you do not agree
with over all view point.
Example: Mobile gaming can be
educational.
Thesis Statement Guide and
Models
Sample thesis statement
Example: Parents should
regulate the amount of time
their children spend on
mobile gaming.
Thesis with concession
Concession means addressing an argument from the
opposing viewpoint. You can use the phrase “ even
though” and “ while”.

-This states the writer’s opinion/ main idea as rebuttal.

Example: Even though mobile gaming can be
educational, parents should regulate the amount of time
their children spend on mobile gaming.
Thesis with reasons
You reveal the reasons
behind the writer’s main
idea/ opinion using the
phrase “because”.
Example: Parents should regulate
the amount of time their children
spend on mobile gaming because it
shortens children’s attention span, it
inhibits social interaction and it isn't
always intellectually stimulating.
Thesis statement with concession and
reason
Here you will state a concession
opposing viewpoint and states
the reasons/ arguments of the
main idea.
Example: Even though mobile gaming can
be educational, parents should regulate the
amount of time their children spend on
mobile gaming because it inhibits social
interaction, shortens children’s attention
spans, and it isn’t always intellectually
stimulating.
INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH
Start your introduction with an interesting hook.
It can begin with rhetorical question, a quotation,
anecdote, a concession, interesting text or a
question. The idea is to begin broadly and
gradually bring the reader closer to the main idea.
At the end of the introduction, you will present
your thesis statement.