What is Academic Writing? 7 Features of Academic Writing

00:10:08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq4J8bPBcck

Ringkasan

TLDRThe video provides a comprehensive overview of academic writing, defining it as a medium for conveying ideas and research to the academic community. It distinguishes between student and expert academic writing, focusing on the structure, audience, and purpose of each. The video outlines seven key features of academic writing: structured, evidenced, critical, precise, balanced, objective, and formal, emphasizing the importance of careful planning and clear communication in producing effective academic texts. Additionally, it highlights the significance of supporting claims with credible evidence and maintaining an impersonal tone.

Takeaways

  • 📚 Academic writing communicates ideas to the academic community.
  • 🧑‍🎓 Student writing is for university assessment; expert writing is for publication.
  • 📝 Structure is crucial for clarity and logical progression of ideas.
  • 🔍 Academic writing must be evidence-based, using facts and citations.
  • 💡 Critical writing analyzes and evaluates information.
  • 🔑 Precision in language aids comprehension.
  • ⚖️ Balanced writing considers multiple perspectives and avoids bias.
  • 🔬 Objectivity focuses on arguments rather than the writer's opinion.
  • 📄 Formal writing employs complex sentences and academic vocabulary.

Garis waktu

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    The video introduces the concept of academic writing, explaining that it is the communication of ideas and research to the academic community. It defines two types: student academic writing, which is for university assessments and tutors, and expert academic writing, intended for publication to contribute to knowledge. Though differing in audience and purpose, both forms maintain similar standards, likened to following road rules for both learners and expert drivers.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:08

    The features of academic writing are elaborate in the following categories: structured, evidenced, critical, precise, balanced, objective, and formal. Structured writing has clear organization and coherence, evidenced writing is supported by credible data, critical writing analyzes information, and precise writing utilizes specialized vocabulary. Balance requires presenting all views objectively, while formality avoids casual language. This comprehensive approach ensures clarity and quality in academic communication.

Peta Pikiran

Video Tanya Jawab

  • What is academic writing?

    Academic writing is a type of writing that communicates ideas, information, and research to the academic community.

  • What are the two types of academic writing?

    The two types are student academic writing and expert academic writing.

  • What is the purpose of student academic writing?

    The purpose is to demonstrate learning and is often used as assessment in schools and universities.

  • What is the audience for expert academic writing?

    The audience for expert academic writing is other experts in the same field.

  • Why is structure important in academic writing?

    Structure helps readers easily follow the main ideas or arguments presented.

  • What does it mean for writing to be evidenced?

    It means that opinions and arguments should be supported by facts, statistics, and citations.

  • How can academic writing be critical?

    It should analyze and evaluate information, making judgments about its validity.

  • What is meant by precise academic writing?

    Precise writing uses clear and specific language to aid reader comprehension.

  • What does it mean for writing to be balanced?

    Balanced writing considers all sides of an issue and avoids bias.

  • What are some characteristics of formal academic writing?

    It uses complex sentences, avoids contractions, and employs academic vocabulary.

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Gulir Otomatis:
  • 00:00:00
    this video is brought to you by
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    eapfoundation.com
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    the website for all your academic
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    english needs
  • 00:00:06
    so this video will answer the question
  • 00:00:08
    what is academic writing
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    and there are two parts to the video
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    first i'll give a definition of academic
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    writing
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    then i'll look in more detail at the
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    features of academic writing
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    first then a definition
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    so academic writing is writing which
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    communicates
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    ideas information and research to the
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    wider academic community
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    and it can be divided into two types
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    student academic writing
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    and expert academic writing these two
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    forms differ in terms of what they are
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    the audience and the purpose student
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    academic writing is used as a form of
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    assessment
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    at university or it may also be used at
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    schools in preparation for university
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    study
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    the audience will be your tutors or
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    professors at university
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    and the purpose is to demonstrate
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    learning expert academic writing on the
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    other hand
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    is writing for publication in academic
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    journals or books
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    the audience is other experts in the
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    same field and the purpose
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    is the creation of new knowledge and
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    although these two types of academic
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    writing
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    are different in terms of content
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    audience and purpose the standards and
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    requirements are the same
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    for both and this makes sense for
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    example if you're learning to drive a
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    car
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    if you're a student driver you still
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    need to obey the speed limit
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    stop at red lights and so on in other
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    words you have the same standards and
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    requirements
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    that expert drivers do so let's look now
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    in detail at the features of academic
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    writing
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    there are seven different features that
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    we'll look at
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    academic writing should be structured
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    evidenced critical precise
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    balanced objective and
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    formal so let's begin by looking at
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    structured
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    academic writing should have a clear
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    structure in order for the reader to
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    easily follow the main ideas or
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    arguments
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    the structure often derives from the
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    genre of writing
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    for example reports will usually begin
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    with an introduction
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    followed by a method section a results
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    section
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    and a discussion section an essay on the
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    other hand will have an introduction
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    including a thesis and will be divided
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    up into body paragraphs
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    each of which should have a topic
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    sentence and it will finish with a
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    conclusion
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    probably containing a summary these are
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    the most common genres of academic
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    writing but there are also
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    many others for example literature
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    review dissertation research
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    proposal and so on each of which has a
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    different kind of structure
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    being well structured also means that
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    the writing should be
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    coherent in other words there should be
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    a logical progression of ideas
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    it should also be cohesive in other
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    words the different parts are clearly
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    connected
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    for example by using reference words and
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    transition signals
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    being well structured also means we need
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    a clear focus
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    so for the academic writer that means
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    you need to understand very clearly what
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    you're writing about
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    and why it also needs careful planning
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    before writing
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    in some ways you can think of academic
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    writing as being like a house
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    the door is the introduction that leads
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    in and then each room is like a
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    different section
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    or different paragraph which serves a
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    different purpose
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    now if you were building a house you
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    wouldn't just start building you would
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    plan it very carefully first
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    and the same is true for academic
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    writing without careful planning it
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    won't have a very clear structure
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    and it will be very difficult for the
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    reader to follow the ideas
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    so the second feature of academic
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    writing is that it should be evidenced
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    this means opinions and arguments should
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    be supported
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    by evidence in other words facts reasons
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    examples statistics citations
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    let's have a look now at an authentic
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    academic text
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    this is the introduction to an article
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    about dengue fever
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    dengue is a major global problem in many
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    parts of the world
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    causing epidemics throughout the
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    developed and developing countries
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    so this is a fact and the fact is
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    strengthened by the citation
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    but at al 2013. in thailand specifically
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    frequent outbreaks in all administrative
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    provinces of thailand
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    due to so this is giving the reasons
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    vector breeding conditions
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    and hyperendemic nature of the virus and
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    this causes significant impact on public
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    health resources this
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    is a fact again supported by a citation
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    shu et al 2019 in bangkok alone a recent
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    2017 outbreak resulted in over 4
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    000 case counts being reported in a
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    single month
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    so that's a statistic again supported by
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    a citation
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    ministry of public health 2020
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    and this is very much a quality of
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    academic writing the use of in-text
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    citations
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    so being able to cite and reference
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    sources appropriately
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    is a key skill that any academic writer
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    needs to learn
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    the next feature is critical so academic
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    writing does not simply describe the
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    information should be analyzed and
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    evaluated in other words the writer
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    should make judgments about it
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    before it's used and sometimes in making
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    those judgments you may decide not to
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    use the information at all
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    in order to be able to write critically
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    you really need to understand the topic
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    in depth
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    so a great deal of research will be
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    needed here again is another authentic
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    example
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    while the studies in table 1 have
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    employed both quantitative and
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    qualitative methods
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    all were observational an observation
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    study may well reveal data
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    however an observational study is
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    incapable of ruling out potential
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    non-linguistic factors
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    for example so here this is critical
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    evaluation by
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    revealing the limitations of previous
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    research
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    the next feature is precise academic
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    writing should use clear and precise
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    language
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    this will enable the reader to follow
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    the ideas more easily
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    so this includes the use of technical in
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    other words subject specific
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    vocabulary sometimes such vocabulary may
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    need defining for example if the term is
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    not commonly used by other experts or if
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    you need to demonstrate
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    understanding to your tutor so that's
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    for student
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    academic writing so if we look back at
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    the article on dengue fever
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    we can see some examples of technical
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    vocabulary
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    so there's a phrase vector breeding
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    conditions and
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    hyperendemic nature of the virus so
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    these phrases are difficult for us
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    the non-specialists to understand but
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    these terms have precise meaning for the
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    expert audience that this article was
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    written for
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    next academic writing should be balanced
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    this means that academic writing should
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    give consideration to
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    all sides of the issue and avoid being
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    biased
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    additionally an academic writer should
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    show how strong their claims are
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    and this is often done using hedges or
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    boosters
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    for example the evidence suggests that
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    more safety controls are needed
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    or this could be caused by lack of
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    education
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    so the word suggests is a way of hedging
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    or making this statement
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    less certain and so is the word could
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    and these sentences could be written
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    more strongly clearly there is a need
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    for more safety controls
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    the research indicates that the lack of
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    education is to blame
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    so these sentences use boosters the
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    first one
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    clearly the second one indicates
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    so showing how strong or certain your
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    ideas are or how uncertain your ideas
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    are
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    is a way to give balance to your writing
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    next academic writing should be
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    objective emphasis should be placed on
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    the arguments and information
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    rather than on the writer so instead of
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    i heated the water the water was heated
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    so this uses passive which is fairly
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    common in academic writing
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    instead of in my opinion it can be seen
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    that
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    so this is an impersonal structure using
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    it
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    and in personal structures with it and
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    there are again very common in academic
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    writing
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    finally academic writing should be
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    formal when thinking about academic
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    writing this is maybe the first feature
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    that comes to mind
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    so academic writing tends to use more
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    complex sentences
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    and also tends to avoid contractions and
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    colloquial or informal words
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    for example instead of this isn't the
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    case
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    this is not the case there are many
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    words and collocations which are used
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    more frequently in academic writing than
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    in non-academic writing
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    and researchers have made lists of these
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    for example the academic word list
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    the awl and the academic collocation
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    list
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    the acl for example instead of there are
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    lots of reasons
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    there are a significant number of
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    reasons
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    instead of conditions changed a lot
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    which is not very formal
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    there was considerable variation in the
  • 00:09:18
    conditions
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    so both of those examples use more
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    academic vocabulary including words from
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    the academic word list
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    so to sum up we've seen a definition of
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    academic writing and we've seen
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    seven features of academic writing
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    namely that it is structured
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    evidenced critical precise balanced
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    objective and formal for more
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    information on this and related topics
  • 00:09:46
    please visit the website
  • 00:09:47
    eapfoundation.com
  • 00:09:49
    you can also find a worksheet for this
  • 00:09:51
    video and others in the series
  • 00:09:53
    by visiting eapfoundation.com forward
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    slash
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    social
  • 00:10:07
    you
Tags
  • Academic Writing
  • Student Writing
  • Expert Writing
  • Writing Structure
  • Evidence
  • Critical Analysis
  • Precision
  • Balance
  • Objectivity
  • Formal Language