ENGLISH FOR

ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES
Ms. Josielyne P.
Gervacio
 I should be able to …
1. Define Academic Writing and
distinguish it from the other
kinds of writing;
2. Identify the purpose, audience,
language, and style of academic
writing
3. Analyze sample texts using the
standards of academic writing
 Task 1
• Read and evaluate 4 given texts
and answer the following
questions after reading them.
1. In your opinion, which of the
texts is an academic text?
2. Why did you consider it/them an
academic text?
 Task 2
After answering the two initial
questions on your own, discuss
your answers with your
classmates. Compare and contrast
your answers. List down the
similarities and differences and
try to infer what distinguishes an
academic text from other texts.
 Task 3
Fill out this table based on your
evaluation of the texts.
Text A Text B Text C Text D
1. What is the
text about?
2. What is the
writer’s
purpose in
writing?
3. Who is the
target reader
of the text?
What is the point of
view used in the text?
How much does the
writer know of the
subject? (writers
knowledge)
How did the writer
organize the text?
(style)

Did the writer write in

a formal or informal
manner? (tone)
How did the writer
choose words and
organize the
sentences? Was the
language formal,
informal, or casual?
Academic writing is
_____________________
_______________________________________
Academic writing requires
________________
_______________________________________
Academic writing is different from
a creative essay, a business letter,
and a legal document in terms of
______________
_______________________________________
 Academic Writing
It is a process that starts with
 posing a question
 problematizing a concept
 evaluating an opinion
And ends in
 answering the question or
questions posed,
 clarifying the problem, and/or
arguing for a stand.
 Examples of Academic Writing
Academic writing is, of course, any formal
written work produced in an academic setting.
While academic writing comes in many forms,
the following are some of the most common.
Literary analysis: A literary analysis essay
examines, evaluates, and makes an argument
about a literary work. As its name suggests, a
literary analysis essay goes beyond mere
summarization. It requires careful close
reading of one or multiple texts and often
focuses on a specific characteristic, theme, or
motif.
Research paper: A research
paper uses outside information
to support a thesis or make an
argument. Research papers are
written in all disciplines and
may be evaluative, analytical,
or critical in nature.
Dissertation: A dissertation (or thesis)
is a document submitted at the
conclusion of a Ph.D. program. The
dissertation is a book-length
summarization of the doctoral
candidate’s research.
Academic papers may be done as a
part of a class, in a program of study,
or for publication in an academic
journal or scholarly book of articles
around a theme, by different authors.
Academic writing has
specific purpose.
To inform
To argue a specific point
To persuade
It also addresses a specific
audience.
Your teacher
Your peers
The academic community
They are people who are
assumed to be knowledgeable
on the subject that you are
writing about.
You have to remember that…
In academic writing,
 You have to abide by the set rules and
practices in writing
 You have to write in a language that is
appropriate and formal but not too
pretentious
 You have to consider the knowledge
and background of your audience
 You have to make sure that you can
back up your statement with a strong
and valid evidence.
You are expected to engage
readers in a conversation by
giving them clear ideas and
points to evaluate and
question
You have to make sure that
your purpose is clear and
that your language , style,
and tone are appropriate to
convey your purpose to your
target readers.
 Chapter Quiz
Answer each of the following.
1. What is academic
writing? What are its
features?
2. What are the purpose of
academic writing?
3. How is academic writing
different from other kinds
of writing?
Structure of Academic Writing
The structure of your writing depends on the type of
assignment, but two common structures used in academic
writing are the three-part essay structure and the IMRaD
structure. Even shorter essays that are not divided into titled
sections follow such a structure. Longer texts may be further
divided into subsections. Different disciplines or departments
may prefer that students use a certain structure, so make sure
to check with your instructor if you are not sure what is
expected of you.

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.
The IMRaD structure
The sections of the IMRaD
structure are Introduction,
Methods, Results and Discussion.
 Language used in Academic Writing

 Objective
 Explicit
1. Which among the following is not a
characteristic/feature of academic
writing?
a. The purpose is clear and language ,
style, and tone are appropriate to
convey your purpose to your target
readers.
b. It abides by the set rules and
practices in writing
c. It uses a language that is
appropriate and formal but not too
simple.
2. Which among the following
is not included in the start
process of academic writing?
a.posing a question
b.argue a specific point
c. problematizing a concept
d. evaluating an opinion
3. Which among the
following is not a purpose of
academic writing?
a. To inform
b. To argue a specific point
c. To persuade
d. To entertain
4. Which is true about
academic writing?
a.It uses 2nd person point of
view.
b.Academic writing follows a
narrative structure.
c. Academic writing uses
formal and objective
language.
d.It seeks to inform and
5. Which among the following is not an
example of an academic text?
a. As a learner-centered process approach to
second language (L2) writing, peer response
has been widely adopted and studied since
the 1990s (Hyland & Hyland, 2006). The
dialogic nature of peer response seems to
foster multiple support systems (Hyland,
2000) and communicative behaviours (Villamil
& de Guerrero, 1996). L2 research has shown
that peer response can increase chances for
meaning negotiation and language practice
(Lockhart & Ng, 1995; Mendonca & Johnson,
1994), encourage collaborative reading and
writing (Tsui & Ng, 2000), and promote
writing revisions (Berg, 1999; Mendonca &
Johnson, 1994; Min, 2006, 2008; Stanley,
b. Infection after consumption of fresh duck
blood and undercooked poultry products has
been suspected in some cases of illness.
Indeed, transmission to felids was observed
after experimental feeding of infected
chickens to domestic cats, and feeding tigers
raw infected chicken led to outbreaks of
illness in Thai zoos, in which felid‐to‐felid
transmissions were also implicated. Infected
birds shed high concentrations of virus in
faeces . Direct intranasal or conjunctival
inoculation while swimming in contaminated
water or, perhaps, inhalation or ingestion of
water could have been potential modes of
transmission to some H5N1‐infected patients.
As for human influenza, hand contamination
from fomites and self‐inoculation into the eye
c. Bad Witch? Good Witch? I was very in touch
with my sexuality at a young age. I may not
have understood sexuality as I do know, but I
was always in touch with it. I was 5 years old
and having sexual relations with my teddy
bear. My mom walked into a door that I
thought was locked, and discovered me, and
my newfound passion. Being as close as I was
to orgasm I couldnt bring myself to stop. It
was a weird mixture of embarrassment and
release. My mother calmly told me to go take
a bath and we would talk about some things
when I got through. This experience opened
another to relation ship with my mother, and
we have always been able to discuss sex
openly. My dad on the other hand had never
discussed sex as he did with my older brother
d. Panic attacks are a specific and severe
form of anxiety disorder, typified by the
sudden onset of overwhelming anxiety that
presents with a variety of physical symptoms
such as palpitations, shortness of breath,
dizziness and nausea, and may involve fears
of ‘going crazy’ or of impending doom or
death (Ohman, 2000). The prevalence of panic
attacks more than doubled in the population
of the United States from 5.3%in 1980, to
12.7% in 1995 (Goodwin, 2003). Panic attacks
occur in many anxiety disorders and may be
associated with specific events or situations.
However, panic attacks as a central feature of
panic disorder (PD) generally occur ‘out-of-
the-blue’ (American Psychiatric Association,
2000). The prevalence of PD appears to be