Features Of Academic Writing

Features of Academic Writing
Name: ________________________________________________ Subject: _____________________ Date: ________________________ Score: ________
Instructions: Identify the corresponding feature of the given definition. Choose among the features below and write the feature in the box opposite to the definition. FEATURES: Accuracy, Complexity, Explicitness, Formality, Hedging, Objectivity, Precision, Responsibility feature Definition

Written language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.

In general this means that in an essay you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.

In academic writing you need to be exact when you use information, dates or figures. Do not use "a lot of people" when you can say "50 million people".

Written language is in general impersonal. It therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make, rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).

In academic writing, the writer in English has to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different signaling words.

Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings. It is important to distinguish clearly, for instance, between "like" and "love"; general English does not.

In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.

In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.