Academic Writing Style
Academic Writing Style
Academic Writing Style
Ndlovu
The course offers a content based approach where all four skills of speaking, listening, reading
and writing are integrated to foster various speaking opportunities. Since the main focus of the
course is on speaking, the listening, reading and writing tasks serve as springboard to either
generate or to complement speaking.
structure of an essay
Introduction ~5%
Body 80-90%
Conclusion ~5%
1. Unity
2. Coherence i.e. one sentence leading to the next in a logical sentence
3. Adequate content ie. appropriate selection and a good number of details to
support the of main idea
4. Indentation: this indicates where the paragraph starts
A paragraph should neither be too short nor too long (oscillate between 5-
15lines)
There is no great mystique about an "academic writing style". The most important
thing is to keep your writing clear and concise and make sure that you get your ideas
over in a comprehensible form and avoid Plagiarism.
If an idea stems from your experience. State it. Eg. During our boyhood in 1941…
If idea stems from material you have read. State as a direct quotation or indirect.
Work together with your colleagues but do not submit the same essay. Each person for
himself when it comes to writing.
In-text referencing
Indenting: indent material that is more that 40 words or 4 lines. Anything less
than that should come inside quotation marks
There are three (3) options to placing citations within the text:
Idea focused. The idea is placed before the author eg. “Researchers pointed out that
psychological noise is chief barrier in communication. (Ndlovu, 2004).
Chronology focused. Here, THE STUDENT IS focusing on the time in which the idea
was generated. It integrates both author and date into the sentence eg. In 2007
Mkhwananzi proposed the adoption of linear model of communication in explaining
communication in church services.
Note that, it is clear expression of these ideas that will impress your lecturer or
marker.
Eg. Nsingo, V. B. 2015. Man rapes his wife. The Sunday Newspaper. July 23, 3-4
FURTHER READING refers to sources that are believed to be beneficial in the reading
of the subject in question but may not have been used.
A wide range of vocabulary is of course important, but you must use the right word,
and shorter ones are often better than longer ones.
The most important thing to remember is generally to try to avoid everyday, informal
language, especially colloquial expressions and slang (Fst & fmst,last but not least; ).
Also, spoken language is naturally full of hesitations, repetitions, grammatical errors
and unfinished ideas. It is generally acceptable when spoken.
Structure is much more important in your writing: sentences should be complete and
ideas arranged into paragraphs or sections, and you should aim for perfection in your
grammar and spelling.
What’s important is that you clearly show your understanding of the subject and your
ability to manipulate information to answer a specific question or complete a specific
task, and as long as any grammar errors you make don’t impede this, then it shouldn’t
be much of a problem.
Paragraphs
Unity
Coherence i.e. one sentence leading to the next in a logical sentence
Adequate content ie. appropriate selection and a good number of details to
support the of main idea
Indentation: this indicates where the paragraph starts
A paragraph should neither be too short nor too long ( oscillate between 5-
15lines)
Unity
The paragraph should be one component that serves a fundamental purpose.
Unity implies that a paragraph should be complete in itself. Some paragraphs
particularly introductory and concluding ones give a complete picture of the
larger subject. all sentences of a paragraph must stick to one subject under
discussion. Unity of parts means intro, body and conclusion must hang
together.
The intro of a paragraph is its topic sentence, a sentence that puts the agenda
of a paragraph. It deals with what the paragraph purports to cover. The
discussion or middle elaborates on or develops the topic.this is usually a
sentence or a combination of sentences that expands an idea raised in the
topic sentence. the conclusion sums up the discussion by referring to the main
point of the paragraph.a paragraph must have proper proportions of the
three(3) parts with the body usually being longer.
Coherence means parts of paragraph are logically arranged and connected. The
flow of information has to be smooth. Use of transition devices/cohesive
devices will permit easy passage from one sentence to another. Eg. Meanwhile,
moreover, consequently, undoubtedly…
use appropriate language and aim for accuracy in your grammar and
vocabulary.
remember that you're writing for someone else, and hence the importance of
punctuation, sentences, paragraphs and overall structure, all of which help the
reader.
What to avoid.
do not (don’t) use contractions (eg it's, he'll, it'd etc): always use the full form (it
is/has, he will, it would/had).
do not use colloquial language or slang (eg kid, a lot of/lots of, cool)
#always write as concisely as you can, with no irrelevant material or “waffle”.
Miniskirt, attractive but long enough to cover essentials, no long dresses please! Don’t
summarise to the extent that there is nothing to read, some essays are too bare- no
G-strings in public!
##generally avoid "phrasal verbs" (e.g. get off, get away with, put in etc): instead,
use one word equivalents.
###avoid common but vague words and phrases such as get, nice, thing. Your writing
needs to be more precise.
###avoid overuse of brackets; don’t use exclamation marks or dashes; avoid direct
questions; don’t use “etc”.
###always use capital letters appropriately and never use the type of language used in
texting!
HEDGING/AVOIDING COMMITMENT
You hedge in order to put some distance between what you’re writing and yourself
as writer, It is to be cautious (watchful, careful, alert) rather than assertive(self-
confident, self assured, forceful):
##avoid use/ overuse of first person pronouns (I, we, my, our)
##use impersonal subjects instead (It is believed that ..., it can be argued that ...
one can handle…)
##use passive verbs to avoid stating the ‘doer’ (Tests have been conducted instead of
Ndlovu conducted…)
##use verbs (often with it as subject) such as imagine, suggest, claim, suppose. Do not
say its known.
##use ‘attitudinal signals’ such as apparently, arguably, ideally, strangely,
unexpectedly.
These words allow you to hint at your attitude to something without using
personal language.
##use modal verbs such as would, could, may, might which ‘soften’ what you’re
saying.
##use qualifying adverbs such as some, several, a minority of, a few, many to avoid
making overgeneralisations. Don’t say industries have closed in Bulawayo, but qualify
your statement
## avoid trite expressions such as, First and Fore most, last but not least, in a
nutshell, in short
How do we do that?
you should consistently use evidence from your source reading to back up what
you are saying and reference this correctly.
avoid sexist language, such as chairman, mankind, sister in charge. Don’t refer
to “the doctor” as he; instead, make the subject plural and refer to them as
they. Avoid he/she, herself/himself , this is clumsy apart from being sexist etc.
Academic writing is argumentative (arguments are at the centre of academic writing and
anything short of that is dismissed as waffling and sweeping.). This means that ideas are
supported by established facts, examples, logical deduction and references. Logicality
implies an explicit relationship between statements. It equally entails use of logical
connectives such as, therefore, as, however, for example, for instance…
assertion
Exercises
Exercise 1
Replace the undesirable phrasal verbs in the sentences with a more appropriate verb
from the list below. Make sure you keep the same tense.
3 It is assumed that the management knows what is happening and will therefore step
in if there is a problem.
Exercise 2
Replace the following phrasal verbs with a more formal single word.
1 The San community in Tsholotsho could not put up with the visitors from the city.
Tolerate/bear
7 Mahatshula residents have cut down on their consumption of GMO chickens from
Brazil.
Exercise 3
Which of the two alternatives in bold do you think is more appropriate in academic
writing?
4 A loss of jobs is one of the consequences/things that will happen if the process is
automated.
Exercise 4
Use a more formal word or phrase to replace undesirable terms.
5 The Zimbabwean economy is affected by things that happen outside the country.
Exercise 5
Replace the contractions in the following sentences with full forms where necessary.
5 Our questionnaire shows that teachers aren't paid what they're worth
6 His response was, "A job's a job; if it doesn't pay enough, it's a lousy job'.
7 He'd rather beat her coz he’s afraid to announce the findings at the conference.
Exercise 6
Suggest improvements to the following sentences to avoid use of “you” and “we”.
People like using third person pronoun “you”. This is not academic
2. You can only do this after the initial preparation has been conducted.
3. The figures are accurate to within 1%, but you should note that local
variations may apply.
Exercise 7
Suggest alternatives to the following to avoid use of personal language.
1 In this essay I will discuss the main differences between social work and Sociology.
4 The opinion of the present author in this essay is that the importance of
the politicians should be reduced.
5 In the third part of my essay, we will look at the reasons for quick spread of HIV
6 Although I am not an expert in the field, I have tried very hard to show the
difference between a theory and a model.