MISAMIS ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Sta. Cruz, Cogon, Balingasag, Misamis Oriental

Basic Education Department
Senior High School
S.Y. 2020-2021, First Semester
Tel. No. 333-5054, Cell No. 09652357351

SUBJECT English for Academic and MODULE NO.: 1

TITLE: Professional Purposes
GRADE: 11/12 DATE August 24-28, 2020
COVERED:
TRACK: Academic/TVL STRAND: STEM, ABM,
HUMSS
GAS, TVL
Teacher: Yedda Marie L. Acero

LESSON 1
STRUCTURES OF AN ACADEMIC TEXT

Let’s Learn
What is an Academic Text?

The text you read in school are different from the texts you read during your leisure time. While the
texts you read for pleasure, such as graphic novels or magazines, can be likened to the appeal of sweet
desserts, academic text are more like the heavy main course.

Below are some examples of academic texts.

Academic Texts Description

Articles Published in scholarly journals, this type of academic texts offers results of
research and development that can be either impact the academic community or
provide relevance to nation-building.
 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES | Reading and Writing Academic
Texts

Conference Papers These are papers presented in scholastic conferences, and may be revised as
articles for possible publication in scholarly journals.

Reviews These provide evaluation or reviews of works published in scholarly.

Theses, These are personal researches written by candidate for a college or university
Dissertations degree.

Academic text is defined as critical, objective, specialized texts written by experts or professionals
in a given field using formal language. This means that academic texts are based on facts with solid
basis. Academic writing, therefore, is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal) and technical. It is
formal by avoiding casual or conversational language, such as contractions or informal vocabulary. It is
impersonal and objective by avoiding direct reference to people or feelings, and instead emphasizing
objects, facts and ideas. It is technical by using vocabulary specific to the discipline. To be a good
academic writer, you will need to learn the specific styles and structures for your discipline, as well as for
each individual writing task.

Structure of Academic Texts

Structure is an important feature of academic writing. A well-structured text enables the reader to
follow the argument and navigate the text. In academic writing a clear structure and a logical flow are
imperative to a cohesive text. There are the two common structures of academic texts that you need to
learn which depends on the type of assignment you are required: the three-part essay structure and the
IMRaD structure.

The Three-Part Essay Structure

The three-part essay structure is a basic structure that consists of introduction, body and conclusion.
The introduction and the conclusion should be shorter than the body of the text. For shorter essays, one
or two paragraphs for each of these sections can be appropriate. For longer texts or theses, they may be
several pages long.

Introduction. Its purpose is to clearly tell the reader the topic, purpose and structure of the paper. As
a rough guide, an introduction might be between 10 and 20 percent of the length of the whole paper and
has three main parts:

A. The most general information, such as background and/or definitions.

B. The core of the introduction, where you show the overall topic, purpose, your
point of view, hypotheses and/or research questions (depending on what kind of
paper it is).
 C. The most specific information, describing the scope and structure of your paper.
You should write your introduction after you know both your overall point of
view (if it is a persuasive paper) and the whole structure of your paper. You
should then revise the introduction when you have completed the main body.

The Body. It develops the question, “What is the topic about?”. It may elaborate directly on the
topic sentence by giving definitions, classifications, explanations, contrasts, examples and evidence. This
is considered as the heart of the essay because it expounds the specific ideas for the readers to have a
better understanding of the topic. It usually is the largest part of the essay.

Conclusion. The conclusion is closely related to the introduction and is often described as its ‘mirror
image’. This means that if the introduction begins with general information and ends with specific
information, the conclusion moves in the opposite direction. The conclusion usually begins by briefly
summarizing the main scope or structure of the paper, confirms the topic that was given in the
introduction, ends with a more general statement about how this topic relates to its context. This may
take the form of an evaluation of the importance of the topic, implications for future research or a
recommendation about theory or practice.

The IMRaD Structure

The sections of the IMRaD structure are Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion. The
Introduction usually depicts the background of the topic and the central focus of the study. The
Methodology lets your readers know your data collection methods, research instrument employed,
sample size and so on. Results and Discussion states the brief summary of the key findings or the results
of your study.

Introduction. The statements you make in the introduction are to be developed in the body of the
text and returned to in the conclusion. Your introduction should include the following points (be aware
that not all points may be relevant for your project):

• Introduce your topic

• Place your topic in a context
• Provide background information
• Point out the aim of the text
• Describe how you will fulfill the aim
• Provide a thesis statement or research question
• Suggest what your findings are
• Explain why your topic is interesting, necessary or important
• Give the reader a guide to the text
• Catch your reader’s interest
Method. In this section you describe how you have conducted your study. This is where you present
your material and your research as well as any previous research and background material. You
described what method or methods you have used and how have you come up with your results. You
may also explain why you have chosen a particular method.

Results. In this section you report the results of your research. Usually the results are not discussed
or analyzed in this section but you may have to explain some of your findings to avoid misunderstanding.
LESSON 2

LANGUAGE USED IN ACADEMIC

WRITING

Le’s Recall
t
 A well-structured text enables the reader to follow the argument and navigate the
text.

 A clear structure and a logical flow are imperative to a cohesive text.

 Most academic texts follow established structures such as: the three- part essay
structure and the IMRaD structure.

 Structure should be considered on all levels of text so; you will also find information
on structuring paragraphs.

Let’s Learn
What is an Academic Language?

Academic language is language used in academic settings and for academic purposes to help
students acquire and use knowledge (Anstrom et al., 2010). Academic language includes language used
in textbooks, in classrooms, on tests, and in each discipline. It is different in vocabulary and structure
from the everyday spoken English of social interactions. Each type of communication (both academic
and social) has its purpose, and neither is superior to the other.
Informal Language Academic Language
 Repetition of words Variety of words, more sophisticated vocabulary

Sentences start with “and” and “but” Sentences start with transition words, such as
“however” “moreover”, and “in addition”

Use of slang “guy”, “cool”, and No slang

“awesome”

Academic writing is generally quite formal, objective (impersonal) and technical as illustrated in the
diagram below.

Objective
- avoid personal or
direct reference to
people or feelings
Formal
Technical
- avoid casual or
- use vocabulary
converational such
specific to the
as contractions and
discipline
informal vocabulary.

ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE

Furthermore, you can make your writing more formal, objective and technical by following examples
below.
FORMAL OBJECTIVE TECHNICAL
Choose formal instead of You need to develop a large
informal vocabulary. For vocabulary for the concepts
example, ‘somewhat’ is Move information around in the specific to the discipline or
more formal than ‘a bit’, sentence to emphasize things and specialization you’re writing for.
‘insufficient’ is more formal ideas, instead of people and feelings. To do this, take note of
than ‘not enough’. For example, instead of writing ‘I terminology used by your lecturer
believe the model is valid, based on and tutor, as well as in your
these findings’, write ‘These findings readings.
indicate that the model is valid’.

Avoid contractions. For Avoid evaluative words that are

example, use ‘did not’ based on non-technical judgments
rather than ‘didn’t’. and feelings. For example, use ‘valid’ Be careful about the meaning of
or ‘did not demonstrate’ instead of technical terms. Often the same
‘amazing’ or ‘disappointment’. word has a different meaning in
another discipline. For example,
‘discourse’ is a technical term
used in multiple disciplines with
different meaning.

Avoid emotional language. Avoid intense or emotional

For example, instead of evaluative language. For example,
strong words such as Use the key categories and
‘wonderful’ or ‘terrible’, instead of writing relationships in your discipline,
use more moderate words that is, the way information and
‘Parents who smoke are obviously ideas are organized into groups.
such as ‘helpful’ or abusing their children’, write
‘problematic’. For example, in the discipline of
‘Secondhand smoke has some
Law, law is separated into two
harmful effects on children’s health’.
types: common law and statute
law.

Knowing these distinctions will

Instead of using absolute Show caution about your views, or to help you structure your writing
positives and negatives, allow room for others to and make it more technical
such as ‘proof’ or ‘wrong’, disagree. For example, instead of and analytical.
use more cautious writing ‘I think secondhand smoke
evaluations, such as ‘strong causes cancer’, write ‘There is
evidence’ or ‘less evidence to support the possibility
convincing’. that secondhand smoke increases the
risk of cancer’.

Find authoritative sources, such as

authors, researchers

and theorists in books or articles,

who support your point of view, and
refer to them in your writing. For
example, instead of writing

‘Language is, in my view, clearly

something social’, write

‘As Halliday (1973) argues, language

is intrinsically social’.