Academic writing

A number of language features make

academic writing appear formal:
 Structure
• Most of you will already have had experience of writing a structured
essay. Academic writing requires precise clear structure so the reader can
follow the argument as clearly as possible. Remember to include an
introduction, paragraphs and a conclusion.
 Vocabulary choice
• Vocabulary choice - you can develop a broader academic vocabulary by
focusing on vocabulary as you read:
• when you come across a word you’re not sure of, google it or use a dictionary to find out its
meaning and use
• notice how often that word or phrase is used in academic texts you are reading. If you come
across it frequently, it’s worth making sure you know how to use it.
• Words and phrases are more formal. Think about the tone of your writing and
make simple changes to phrases. E.g. instead of saying something like ‘This
backs up …’ say ‘This supports…’.
 Caution and Hedging
• Caution – Writers are careful not to make claims that are too strong. Words like “may” and
“might” are often used to make claims less strong. Writers are also very precise about the
circumstances in which a claim is valid.
• Hedging is quite a difficult feature to understand. In academic writing, you have to make
decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are
making. Be careful not to make strong claims such as ‘This proves…’ Instead, use phrases
such as ‘This could suggest …’.
• You also have to take responsibility for what you say and provide evidence for any claims
you make. This means justifying why you do or do not agree with what an author has said
as well as referencing correctly.
 Relevance
• Relevance – you should only include information that is relevant to the
question. A common mistake is to give too much unnecessary descriptive
detail, which uses up too many words, while not demonstrating critical
understanding of the issue. You need to decide:
• What is relevant?
• How much detail do I need to give?
 Impersonality
• Impersonality – with the exception of reflective writing, write in the 3rd
person – do not use “I” and “you”. Instead of saying, “I have found…”,
you might write, “The research points to…”.
• Depending on your subject, you have to be objective – very little in
academic writing requires your personal opinion. Instead you are
contributing to an academic debate about something. You have an opinion
but this must be expressed objectively. Academic writing has far less
emphasis on you and more emphasis on what it is you want to say.
 Precision
• Precision – this relates to formality. Words and terms have very specific
meanings and it is important that you use them correctly. If you are not
sure what a word means, do not use it without checking that it makes
sense, both in meaning and grammatical use. It is usually obvious to the
reader when a writer has not understood a word or an idea.
• Writing has to be accurate. You will use a lot of technical language in your
discipline and you must make sure that you do not use the wrong terms.
 Conciseness
• Conciseness – in order to write within the word count, you have to write
concisely.
• Avoid repeating yourself – do not repeat an idea because you think that will
show its importance.
• Use as few words as you can without losing meaning or complexity. We use
more words in spoken than written English, so writing often involves finding
alternative words to the words we use in everyday speech.
• Edit your work carefully to find ways you can reduce word count.
 Grammatical complexity
• Grammatical complexity – in this context complexity refers to grammar structures, not the difficulty of understanding an idea.
• A simple sentence expresses one grammatical idea
• The dog attacked the man.
• A complex sentence contains more than one grammatical idea. The sentences below increase in grammatical complexity.
• The dog attacked the man as he came into the house.
• The dog attacked the man who lives opposite.
• The dog attacked the man who lives opposite when he tried to give him a biscuit.
• Even though the dog knows the man well, he attacked him as he came into the house yesterday.
• The sentences in academic texts tend to be dense, in other words they contain lots of highly grammatically complex sentences. A variety of
grammatical structures are used to create complex sentences. This is one of the reasons why academic reading is demanding – both the ideas and the
sentence structures can be complex. It is useful to be aware of this and to develop the range of grammatical structures and vocabulary that you use by
thinking about what they mean and trying to use them in your own writing. However, don’t use words and phrases that you are not familiar with just
because you think it will make your writing more “academic”. If you don’t know what a word or phrase means, there’s a good chance you’ll misuse
the word and the reader/marker will know you don’t understand what you are reading.
 Sources
• https://www.gcu.ac.uk/gsbs/ldc/academicwriting/improveyouracademicwr
iting/characteristicsofacademicwriting/
• https://www.york.ac.uk/media/study/schoolsandcolleges/sixth-form-resour
ces/features-of-academic-writing.pdf
 How do I know if language is formal?
• On upper-level English exams, students are already aware of
the need for formal language in essays. The problem is that it
can be difficult to know what is formal and what is not. You can
try to think about it in this way: words that used a lot when
speaking (e.g. big, good, well, a lot), or a technique that is used
a lot in speeches (e.g. asking the audience questions) are
unlikely to be used in formal writing.
What else can we expect from the Internet? The first thing which we
expect and hope to have is an improvement of the services in the near
future.

• The student asks a question here and then answers it. This is a
technique used in speeches to involve the audience. An
improvement would be: “The future of the Internet will be
decided by the needs of its customers. One development is
therefore likely to be service improvement.” This takes out the
question, the “hope”, which is quite personal, and the need for
“we”, which refers to Internet customers.
Secondly, we need to reduce the Internet service access fees. Moreover,
there are always technological developments in the pipeline.

• This follows on from the previous text about the Internet, so we can avoid the
“we” by saying “Another customer requirement is a reduction in access fees.”
The second sentence contains an idiom, “in the pipeline”, which means “in the
process of being completed, delivered, or produced”. Idioms are very rare in
academic writing, and it is better if you don’t use them. The sentence could be
improved as follows:

• “Technological advances can also be expected, as companies are

continually developing their systems in order to stay competitive.”
Analysis of annual financial reports is an art, which involves many complexities.
Even when they are looking at the same natural beauty, amateur painters and
great masters will have completely different interpretations. Different people
might obtain different conclusions when reading the same report.

• This student is using an analogy: financial analysis is compared to an art

form with many complexities. It is not wrong to use an analogy, as it
involves comparison, which is an academic skill. However, analogy and
metaphor can be quite poetic in nature, in which case they are academic.
The student is going too far in the second sentence. An improvement
would be: “The analysis of financial reports can be said to have more in
common with art than with science, as it relies on interpretation and not
just facts. This is why different analysts may reach different conclusions.”
Then, there is another problem: different parties’ interests often
correspond with the financial performance of the company.

• “Then” is used here to list items (“First, … Second, … Then, …”).

This is often done in presentation, but in writing it sounds too
informal. The sentence can be improved as follows: “Another
problem is that different parties’ interests …”.
In order to find out more information about the statement,
the reader can break it down into its different aspects.

• Notice how one-word verbs sound more formal than phrasal

verbs: “In order to investigate further, the reader can analyze
the different aspects of the statement.”
In companies with alternative working environments there
seems to be a lot more respect for the management.

• “A lot” is so common in speech that it is best avoided

in academic writing. It can simply be replaced with
“much” in front of an uncountable word (like “respect”
in this sentence) or “many” if it is countable (e.g.
“many people”). “… there seems to be much more
respect for the management.”
However, every enterprise cannot develop without the support
of society and the natural resources of the environment.

• There is a grammatical mistake here: you wouldn’t say

“every X cannot”. One way of correcting this is saying
“an enterprise cannot…”. This can be made to sound
more formal by using “no” instead of “not”: “… no
enterprise can …”.
There are not many recruitment managers who would actually use
social networking sites to gather information about potential employees.

• In a similar way to the previous example, we can

replace “not” to make the sentence more formal: “Few
recruitment managers would …”. Where “not … much”
is used in an essay, it can be replaced with “little”.
• Can you write an example sentence using “little” in this
way?
Firstly, the leader should implement systems which
enable the staff to tackle their problems together.

• An improvement would be: “… enable the staff to

solve their problems together”. “Tackle” is often used in
the context of sport, and is quite an informal word.
There is a good alternative available, so it is better to
use that here.
Patients can’t always judge accurately
what is expected of them.
• Using contracted forms of verbs (can’t, shouldn’t,
won’t, etc., instead of cannot, should not, and will not)
is fine in informal writing such as emails, but
contractions are not acceptable in academic writing.
 Conclusion
• Formality is not about writing difficult words and constructions.
Formal language should not be pompous. If you try to over-
complicate your language, it may give the impression you are
not being respectful of the reader. Instead, when you are
explaining something in your text, start off simply, then
rephrase parts to make the writing more formal. Clarity and
concision are key elements to any kind of writing.