EAPP PPT 2 Fundamentals of Reading Acad Texts and Language Use

Fundamentals of
Reading
Academic Texts
Maria Cristina Javier
TEXT
• stretch of language which is perceived as a
purposeful connected whole
• spoken or written
• Interchanged with “discourse”
• created by text-internal cohesion and text-external
coherence
- Collins & Hollo, 2000
ACADEMIC TEXT vs. NON-
ACADEMIC TEXT
• Product of communication
or piece of language used
for academic purposes
Academic Text • Articles, conference paper,
scholarly essays, theses,
dissertations, business
reports and textbooks
ACADEMIC TEXT vs. NON-
ACADEMIC TEXT
• written for the mass/public
• informal, casual, may
Non-Academic contain slang
Text • newspaper reports,
Internet postings and
novels
PROFESSIONAL TEXT
• produced in a
specific field of
discipline
Professional Text • Jargons of this text
is different
You Belong
With Me !
Identify if the text belongs to academic, non-
academic and professional text.
Linguistic Features of
Academic and Professional
Texts
A. Content
• Raises critical questions and issues
• Facts and evidence
• List of references
B. Text Structure
• Informational text structure of academic
text
• Text structures across various disciplines
C. Language Usage
• Sentence structure
• Range of complexity – combine ideas
effectively to avoid redundancy
• e.g. The earthquake caused loss of life. The
earthquake caused massive property damage.
The earthquake changed the landscape of the
village.
VS
The earthquake was a disaster that caused loss
of life, property damage, and permanent
changes in the landscape.
C. Language Usage (Sentence Structure)
• Nominalization – nouns are made
central as they denote action
• e.g. The company created software to
manage the transactions successfully.
VS
• The creation of software to manage
transactions was a success.
Nominalization
Germany invaded Poland in 1939. This was the
immediate cause of Second World War breaking out.
Vs.
Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 was the
immediate cause of the outbreak of the Second World
War.
C. Language Usage (Sentence Structure)
• Passive construction – subject is receiver of
the action; results of actions are highlighted
• e.g. The researcher conducted experiments
to validate the hypothesis.
VS
• Experiments were conducted to validate
the hypothesis.
D. Style
• Objective (avoid personal pronouns); personal
and subjective tone is avoided
• Avoid rhetorical questions as it marks
closeness to the reader.
• Avoid emotive language that shows biases
and lessens objectivity.
• Level of formality (formal-frozen speech style)
E. Language Use (Lexicon/Vocabulary)
• Use of precise and accurate words; jargons and
colloquial expressions are avoided
• Language SPECIFIC to the discipline (JARGON)
• Hedging or cautious language to tone down claims
E. Language Use: HEDGING
• Hedging or cautious language to tone down
claims when stating hypothesis, drawing
conclusions, and referencing others’ works
• modal auxiliary verbs, modal lexical verbs,
probability adjectives, nouns, adverbs,
indicators of degree, quantity, frequency, if
clauses, compound hedges
• e.g. The results contradict Meyer’s findings.
VS
• The results appear to be different from Meyer’s
findings.
E. Language Use (JARGON/Across
Disciplines): LEGALESE
Language of lawyers
Used in the field of law
Examples:
• criminologist, penology, habeas corpus, corpus delicto, jus
soli, bonafide, defendant, complainant
E. Language Use (JARGON/Across Disciplines):
COMMERCIALESE/MERCANTILESE
Language of businessmen
Used in the field of commerce
Examples:
• Expenditure, revenue, purchasing power,
ceiling price, collateral
Disciplines): JOURNALESE
Language of journalist
Used in the field of journalism/newspapering
Examples:
• yellow journalism, payola, blue penciling, lead, beat,
headline, banner, streamer, classified ads
Disciplines): TECHNICALESE
Language of technorats
Used in the field of science and
technology
Examples:
• Halogen, kinetic energy, barometer, acceleration,
electron, solar energy
Disciplines): DIPLOMATESE
Language of diplomats
Used in the field of foreign service
Examples:
• courtesy call, ambassador of goodwill,
immigration, diplomatic corps, extradition,
state visit
Disciplines): TEACHERESE
Language of teachers
Used in the field of education
Examples:
• teaching guide, syllabus, assessment, rubrics,
written works, performance tasks, curriculum
Disciplines): COMPUTERESE
Language of computer specialists
Used In information technology
Examples:
• kilobyte, octal system, debugging,
programming, website designer, URL, love
bug

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Fundamentals of

Used in the field of law

Used in the field of commerce

Used in the field of journalism/newspapering

Used in the field of foreign service

Used in the field of education

Used In information technology

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