ENGLISH FO8R ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES

Academic text - is a written language that provides information, which contain

ideas and concepts that are related to the particular discipline.
Examples: Essay, Research Paper, Report, Project, Article, Thesis, and Dissertation
Structure – includes introduction, body and conclusion
Tone - refers to the attitude conveyed in a piece of writing.
Language – either formal and technical language
Citation - providing a list of references as either footnotes or endnotes
Complexity – requires higher order thinking skills
Evidence-based Arguments - opinions are based on a sound understanding of
the pertinent body of knowledge and academic debates that exist within, and often
external to a specific discipline.
Thesis-driven - The starting point of an academic text is a particular perspective,
idea or position applied to the chosen research problem, such as establishing,
proving, or disproving solutions to the questions posed for the topic.

Features of Academic Texts:

1. Complex
- Written language has no longer words, it is lexically more varied vocabulary.
- Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity,
including more subordinate clauses and more passives.
2. Formal - Should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
3. Precise - Facts are given accurately and precisely.
4. Objective - has fewer words that emphasize on the information you want to give
and the arguments you want to make
- mostly use nouns (adjectives), rather than verbs (adverbs)
5. Explicit - It is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the
reader how the various parts of the text are related.
6. Accurate - Uses vocabulary accurately, most subjects have words with narrow
specific meanings.
7. Hedging - It is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular
subject, or the strength of the claims you are making.
8. Responsible - You must be responsible for and must be able to provide
evidence and justification for any claims you make.
9. Organize - Well-organized., it flows easily from one section to the next in a
logical fashion.
10. Plan - Well-planned. It usually takes place after research and evaluation,
according to specific purpose and plan.

Purposes in Reading an Academic Text

1. To locate a main idea;
2. To scan for information;
3. To identify gaps in existing studies;
4. To connect new ideas to existing ones;
5. To gain more pieces of information;
6. To support a particular writing assignment; and,
7. To deeply understand an existing idea.

Factors to Consider in Writing Academic Text

1. State critical questions and issues;
2. Provide facts and evidence from credible sources;
3. Use precise and accurate words while avoiding jargon;
4. Take an objective point of view;
5. List references; and,
6. Use cautious language.

Academic language - is the language needed by students to do the work in

schools. It includes, for example, discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar and
punctuation, and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typical
for a content area (e.g., essays, lab reports, discussions of a controversial issue.)

Social language - is the set of vocabulary that allows us to communicate with

others in the context of regular daily conversations.

Characteristics of Academic Language

A. Formal - It should not sound conversational or casual. Colloquial, idiomatic,
slang or journalistic expressions should particularly be avoided.
Examples:
Use... Instead...
Consider, monitor Look at
Revise, review Go over
Solve, repair, amend Fix
B. Objective - This means it is unbiased. It should be based on facts and evidence
and are not influenced by personal feelings.
C. Impersonal - This involves avoiding the personal pronouns ‘I’ and ‘we’. For
example, instead of writing ‘I will show’, you might write ‘this report will show’. The
second person,
‘you’, is also to be avoided.

Text structures - refer to the way authors organize information in text.

1. Narrative - Narrates an event/story with characters, setting, conflict, point of
view, and plot
2. Chronological, Process, or Sequence - Present ideas or events in the order
in which they happen
3. Cause and Effect – provide explanation of the phenomena
4. Problem/Solution – identify problems or pose solutions
5. Compare and Contrast - Discuss two ideas, events, or phenomena, showing
how they are different and how they are similar
6. Definition or Description - Describes a topic by listing characteristics,
features, attributes, and examples
Why is Text Structure Important?
The readers can significantly improve their comprehension and retention of
information
when they can identify and recognize the text structure of a text. It can also help
them:
1. Organize information and details they are learning in their minds while reading.
2. Make connections between the details being presented in a text
3. Summarize the important details shared in a text

Techniques in Summarizing Academic Texts

Summarizing - is how we take larger selections of text and reduce them to their
bare essentials: the gist, the key ideas, the main points that are worth noting and
remembering.

Basic Rules:
A. Erase things that don’t matter. Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to
understanding.
B. Erase things that repeat. Delete redundant material. In note taking, time and
space is precious. If a word or phrase says basically the same thing you have
already written down, then don’t write it again!
C. Trade, general terms for specific names. Substitute superordinate terms for lists
(e.g., flowers for daisies, tulips for roses). Focus on the big picture. Long, technical
lists are hard to remember. If one word will give you the meaning, then less is more.
D. Use your own words to write the summary. Write the summary using your own
words but make sure to retain the main points.

Techniques:
1. Somebody Wanted But So. The strategy helps students generalize,
recognize cause and effect relationships, and find main ideas.
2. SAAC Method. This method is particularly helpful in summarizing any kind
of text. SAAC is an acronym for “State, Assign, Action, Complete.” Each word
in the acronym refers to a specific element that should be included in the
summary.
3. 5 W's, 1 H. This technique relies on six crucial questions: who, what, when
where, why, and how. These questions make it easy to identify the main
character, important details, and main idea.
4. First Then Finally. This technique helps students summarize events in
chronological
order.
First: What happened first? Include the main character and main
event/action.
Then: What key details took place during the event/action?
Finally: What were the results of the event/action?
5. Give Me the Gist. This type of techniques is like giving a friend the gist of a
story. In other words, they want a summary – not a retelling of every detail.

Thesis Statement - is the controlling idea that you will develop in your paper.
Elements of a Thesis Statement
1. Topic. The topic of your paper.
2. Argument/Claim. This depends on the type of paper you are writing. If it is an
argumentative paper, then this should express your opinion. If it is a research or
explanatory paper, this should explain the purpose of your paper.
3. Evidence. The support for your argument/claim.

Guidelines in Writing an Outline:

1. Place the title at the center above the outline.
2. Every level of the outline must have at least two items (I and II, A and B, 1 and 2).
3. Put a period after each numeral and letter.
4. Indent each new level of the outline.
5. All items of one kind (roman numerals, capital letters, Arabic numerals) should
lineup
with each other.
6. Capitalize the first letter of each item.
7. The terms Introduction, Body, and Conclusion do not have to be included in the
outline. They are not topics; they are merely organizational units in the writer’s
mind.

TYPES OF LITERARY CRITICISM

1. Formalist Criticism - this approach regards literature as “a unique form of

human knowledge that needs to be examined on its own terms.”
2. Gender Criticism - this approach “examines how sexual identity influences the
creation and reception of literary works.”
3. Historical Criticism - this approach “seeks to understand a literary work by
investigating the social, cultural, and intellectual context that produced it—a
context that necessarily includes the artist’s biography and milieu.”
4. Reader-Response Criticism - this approach takes as a fundamental tenet that
“literature” exists not as an artifact upon a printed page but as a transaction
between the physical text and the mind of a reader.
5. Media Criticism -it is the act of closely examining and judging the media. When
we examine the media and various media stories, we often find instances of media
bias.
6. Marxist Criticism - it focuses on the economic and political elements of art,
often emphasizing the ideological content of literature
7. Structuralism - it focused on how human behavior is determined by social,
cultural and psychological structures.

REACTION PAPER - is a form of paper writing in which the writer expresses his
ideas and opinions about what has been read or seen.
- evaluated due to the writer's communication skills and only then due the
unique ideas and the content.
- a reaction paper comprises introduction, body, and conclusion.
 - the reaction paper is not a summary of the article although information
should be included.

THINGS TO REMEMBER IN WRITING A REACTION PAPER

1. Read the material carefully.

2. Mark interesting places while reading/watching.
3. Write down your thought while reading/watching
4. Come up with a thesis statement
5. Compose an outline
6. Construct your paper

Concept Paper - is an academic paper which tells about a brief summary of a

certain research project, its importance and how it will be carried out.
The main purpose of writing a concept paper is to convince your reader that your
proposed research project is worth doing.

Types of Concept Paper

These are discussions, business projects, commentaries, and academic research.

Seven important aspects to consider when writing a concept paper in

academic research.

1. Title – this can be best presented in a question form.

2. Introduction – this is the brief overview of the topic or issue you wish to study.
3. Background - This section describes the current condition of the field you're
researching, including the knowledge and issues that the study will address. You
can also include the reason why you want to investigate or study the topic.
4. Preliminary Literature review - In this section, you will write related studies
and papers that will support your research topic.
5. Methodology – This section contains the data analysis system, data gathering
procedure, instruments to be utilized or used, and participants of the study.
6. Timelines - provide a reasonable and achievable timeline for your project.
7. References – provides all the list of all sources of your research such as books,
journals, and other resources cited in your paper. You may use American
Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA) and the
Chicago style.

Activity:

1. In a 1 whole sheet of paper, write a reaction paper on your favorite movie or

story.
2. If you will write a concept paper, what will be the title and why? (1/2 sheet of
paper)