Nature of Academic Texts

English 111-A Lecture 1

Contents

… the process of breaking down ideas and using

What is an Academic deductive reasoning, formal voice and third person
point-of-view. It is about what you think and what
Text? evidence has contributed to that thinking.
https://sydney.edu.au/students/academicwriting

Nature of Academic Texts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pE-ohVy9e0

 When we look at the following text extract, most of us would in all likelihood
classify it as a sample of academic writing. But what in fact are the characteristics that
lead us to this conclusion?

Please consider the text for a few minutes and note down what linguistic
features and other characteristics in your opinion make this an example of academic
English.

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 Academic Writing

Using celebrities in advertising dates back to the late nineteenth century, and this common
advertising practice has drawn a considerable amount of academic and practical attention (see
Erdogan 1999 for an extensive review). Most academic investigations of celebrity endorsement
have been contextualized in the realm of source credibility and attractiveness models, and
suggest that celebrities exert their influence on consumers through perceived attributes such as
expertise, trustworthiness, attractiveness, familiarity, and likeability (Ohanian 1990, 1991).

Another stream of research on celebrity endorsement, which is labeled the "match-up

hypothesis," has examined the fit or "match" between a celebrity and the product being endorsed,
and maintains that celebrity endorsement is more effective when the images or characteristics of
the celebrity are well matched with the endorsed product (Kahle and Homer 1985; Kamins 1990;
Kamins and Gupta 1994; Till and Busier 2000). In a similar vein, McCracken suggests that a
"celebrity who best represents the appropriate symbolic properties" of the product should be
selected, thus highlighting the importance of the cultural meanings of celebrities in the
endorsement process. Celebrities embody a collection of culturally relevant images, symbols, and
values. As images of the celebrities become associated with products through endorsement, the
meanings they attach to the products are transferred to consumers through purchase and
consumption (McCracken 1989, 316). Therefore, the practice of celebrity endorsement should be
closely related to the cultural context in which the images of celebrities are formed and individual
celebrities are selected to be linked with particular products.

For advertising practitioners, employing an appropriate celebrity endorser to promote a product is4
an important and difficult task. For instance, as suggested in the theoretical literature,
Academic Writing

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Nature of Academic Texts

• At first sight, most of us would probably mention some of the

following:
• the use of sources
• quotations
• vocabulary characteristic of a specific field
• formal language and format
• vocabulary
• structures
• absence of features of spoken language
• layout
• matter-of-fact style

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Nature of Academic Texts

• Let us first look in more detail into the style of the passage and
academic writing more generally.
• No matter what style manual or other source on academic writing
you consult, you are likely to come across the following adjectives
describing the style of academic writing:
• formal
• impersonal
• precise
• cautious
• unemotional

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 Nature of Academic Texts
• The reasons for citing such stylistic characteristics arise from the
traditional view of science, according to which issues should be
handled objectively, precisely, and neutrally. According to the same
principle, it is often said that the style of academic writing should be
as objective, precise, and neutral as possible.
• The degree to which such features apply depends on different
variables, such as the topic, the audience that one is writing to, and
the type of document that is being produced. Generally speaking,
however, when writing something for study or professional purposes,
it is always the safer alternative to be formal, impersonal, precise,
and so on—the opposite may puzzle or annoy a reader who is
expecting ’true’ academic or otherwise matter-of-fact style.
• In academic writing, then, we typically think about three variables
when we determine how we should write: topic, audience, and
purpose of writing.
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Nature of Academic Texts
When writing a thesis in English, one should thus consider the following:
• How does my own topic area affect language use?
• What kind of audience am I writing for?
• What is the purpose of writing?
• How do the audience, topic and purpose of writing together affect my use of language?
Regardless of the topic area, audience, and purpose, certain general guidelines can be provided as a starting
point:
• use formal words and structures (do NOT use shortened verb forms or negatives such as I’m, don’t, etc.)
• do not over-emphasize your own person or that of someone else (impersonality, objectivitypassive
voice, impersonal structures, etc.)
• be cautious when dealing with issues not necessarily accepted by everyone (modal auxiliaries such as
may/might/should; adverbs and adjectives such as potential, perhaps, possibly, likely, etc.)
• use the professional terminology of your field, but avoid saying things in an overly complicated manner.
Technical terminology will help you discuss matters in more detail (e.g. ‘digit’ vs. ‘number’), but it may
also obscure the message when used in the wrong context (e.g. ‘feline olfactory organ’ vs. ‘cat’s nose’)
• keep in mind your intended audience and its expectations
In sum: the style of your writing should be uniform and consistent and the language (in terms of
vocabulary and structure) should be appropriate for the context.

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Nature of Academic Texts
• How does my own topic area affect language use?
• What kind of audience am I writing for?
• What is the purpose of writing?
• How do the audience, topic and purpose of writing together affect my use of language?

• Each topic area has its own special characteristics, which may vary from the type of terminology used to
various other issues, such as the structure of academic writings and the use of sources.It is difficult to give
rules which would apply to all subject areas. Therefore, you are stylistically best off by following the
guidelines of your school and by looking closely at the conventions used in for example books, journals,
and other previous writings in your topic area.
• When writing a Bachelor’s thesis, you can presume that your reader is educated in the same field as
yourself and his/her general knowledge of the field in question is of at least the same level as your own.
• There are various purposes for writing a Bachelor’s thesis. From an educational perspective, it is a
demonstration of your ability carry out and report a study of your own field of expertise. On the other
hand, more and more theses also have a practical function insofar as they are commissioned by
companies or other organizations. The needs of the commissioning party may also have an effect on the
form that a thesis takes.
• In all, the language and content of all Bachelor’s theses depend on a combination of the factors
mentioned, and ultimately the effect of the different factors is a question to be resolved by the writer,
often through a negotiation with the supervisors of the thesis.
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Nature of Academic Texts
• Formality • Caution
this piece of writing the present study (=this Our study proves that This study shows that
study) I’m sure this is so. There is reason to believe that this
is so.
my essay’ll make it clear the present paper will We really couldn’t make anything of the results. There
clarify were difficulties in analyzing the results.
• Lack of emotion (an objective, unemotional stance)
• Impersonality I think that this idea sucks. This idea may not be
accurate.
Many of my friends and colleagues say that… In my opinion this is a wonderful topic. This topic is
It is commonly said that… worth investigating because….
I, you, my friend Dave the present
study/author, one, Professor
Robertson/Robertson (1992)

• Precision
pets like cats, dogs, etc. pets, such as cats and
dogs,
around half of the groupapproximately 53% of
the group
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Now try making these more academic:
1. This test isn’t good enough.
2. The results were a lot better than I originally thought.
3. The methodological problem is a tough nut to crack.
4. We want to sort out how old geezers get along with
teenagers.
5. I have a hunch that the bosses are to blame for the
company’s troubles.

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Exercise: Formality
Below is a spoken, informal attempt at defining what
‘marketing’ means. Please write a more formal written
version of the definition, using full sentences.

Marketing? Yes, well… marketing is, I guess, about someone

trying to… let me see… get people interested you know, in
things they … oh, yes, want them to buy.

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 Formality: sample solution

Formal
Marketing refers to communicating about a product or service
with the purpose of encouraging the recipients of the
communication to purchase or use the product or service.

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 Academic articles are written by professionals in a given field.
They are edited by the authors' peers and often take years to publish.
Their language is formal and will contain words and terms typical to
the field. The authors name will be present, as will their credentials.
There will be a list of references that indicate where the author
obtained the information s/he is using in the article.

Academic articles can be found in periodicals similar to the Journal of

Psychology, Childhood Education or The American Journal of Public
Health.
1. Textbooks
2. Shorter student texts: essays
3. Longer student texts: dissertations
and theses
4. Research articles
5. Case studies
6. Reports
 Non-Academic articles are written for the mass public. They are
published quickly and can be written by anyone. Their language is informal,
casual and may contain slang. The author may not be provided and will not have
any credentials listed. There will be no reference list. Non-Academic articles can
be found in periodicals similar to Time, Newsweek or Rolling Stone.

As a general rule religious texts and newspapers are not considered academic
sources. Do not use Wikipedia for an academic source. This website can be
altered by anyone and so any information found within its pages cannot be
considered credible or academic.
Form 7 (seven) groups, be able to identify which among the 4
given text are academic or not. Be able to justify your
answers.