An Introduction to Academic Writing
Summary
TLDRThis video introduces academic English and writing. Academic English conveys research to persuade audiences of an effective argument supported by evidence. There are rules and conventions for different academic writing genres. Common traits include focused questions, logical reasoning and evidence, clarity, coherence between ideas, and following a writing process. Benefits of strong academic writing skills include making individual contributions to professional dialogues, participating in important conversations, becoming an effective researcher and thinker, and being an attractive job candidate.
Takeaways
- 😀 Academic English is the variety of English used to convey research through writing
- 📝 There are two main types: spoken and written academic English
- 📚 Academic writing has many genres like research papers and lab reports, each with its own rules
- 🧠 Academic writing emphasizes logical reasoning over emotions or perceptions
- 🗣 Academic writing must be clear for the reader to understand the argument
- 🔗 Academic writing must have coherence between ideas and paragraphs
- 📈Academic writing involves planning, researching, drafting, editing for an effective argument
- ✍️ Academic writing allows writers to contribute to dialogues in their fields
- 🧠 Mastering academic writing improves critical thinking and research skills
- 👔 Academic writing makes one more attractive to potential employers
Q & A
What are the two main varieties of academic English?
-The two main varieties of academic English are spoken academic English and written academic English.
What are some examples of academic writing besides graduate student theses and scholarly research articles?
-Other examples of academic writing include literature reviews, research papers, abstracts, and lab reports.
Why is it important to identify the rules and expectations for a particular genre of academic writing before starting to write?
-It's important because each type or genre of academic writing tends to have its own specific conventions and expectations. Understanding these ahead of time allows you to craft your writing appropriately.
What are three traits that most academic writing shares in common?
-Three common traits are: 1) focused, specific expectations and research questions, 2) an emphasis on logical reasoning over emotions/feelings, and 3) a requirement for clarity and coherence.
What are the basic steps involved in producing most academic writing?
-The basic steps are: 1) Analyze the writing task, 2) Plan your argument, 3) Conduct research to find evidence, 4) Write and revise multiple drafts, and 5) Seek feedback from others.
Why is academic writing important for making individual contributions?
-Academic writing allows writers to add their own perspectives and ideas to ongoing conversations and dialogues within their fields of study.
How can academic writing improve someone's professional qualifications?
-Mastering academic writing makes someone a better researcher, critical thinker, and communicator - all skills that make a job candidate more appealing.
What skills does effective academic writing require beyond writing itself?
-It also requires critical thinking to construct logical arguments, research skills to find factual evidence, and editing/proofreading abilities.
Why should you ask others for feedback when academic writing?
-Getting comments from peers/colleagues helps you evaluate how well your argument and information are structured to persuade your audience effectively.
What does the phrase "reader responsible language" mean?
-It means academic English depends heavily on what is explicitly written since readers will believe and depend on the actual written words rather than implied meanings.
Outlines
😄 What is academic English and academic writing
This paragraph defines academic English as the variety of English used to share and convey research. It states that academic writing is used to reach an academic audience and persuade them of an effective argument created to answer a research question. Two types of academic English are discussed - spoken and written.
📝 Characteristics and process of academic writing
This paragraph outlines general characteristics of academic writing - focused expectations, emphasis on logical reasoning over emotions, clarity, coherence, and following a process. It then describes the common process: analyzing the task, planning the argument, researching evidence, drafting, getting feedback, and editing.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡academic English
💡academic writing
💡research
💡argument
💡critical thinking
💡coherence
💡process
💡evidence
💡purpose
💡audience
Highlights
Academic English is used to share research, which refers to answering a research question through critical analysis and evidence.
There are two varieties of academic English: spoken academic English and written academic English.
Academic writing includes literature reviews, research papers, abstracts and lab reports. Each type has its own rules and conventions.
Academic writing starts with focused, specific questions to answer through research.
Academic writing emphasizes logical reasoning and facts over emotions.
Academic writing must be clear, as English depends on the writer to comprehensively convey arguments.
Academic writing must have coherence between sentences and unified paragraphs.
Most academic writing follows a process of analyzing the task, planning arguments, researching, drafting, and revising.
Academic writing allows writers to contribute to field conversations and increases their voice.
Mastering academic writing makes one an effective researcher and critical thinker.
Academic writing is a marketable job skill that improves qualifications.
Academic writing involves skills beyond writing like critical thinking, argumentation, and research.
Spoken academic English conveys research verbally.
Graduate theses and scholarly articles are examples of academic writing.
Asking peers for feedback improves academic writing.
Transcripts
hi my name is John Connor Oskie I'm an
English as a foreign language instructor
here at the National University of
Science and Technology new species in
this series of videos for the academic
Writing Center I will be talking about
different concepts techniques and
strategies related to the field of
academic writing in English in this
first video I'd like to begin the series
by providing a brief introduction to the
field of academic writing and answer the
following questions question 1 what is
academic English number 2 what is
academic writing number 3 what are the
general characteristics of academic
writing and number 4 why's academic
writing important let's begin by
addressing the first question what is
academic English according to dr. Karen
oh well of the Cambridge University
Language Center at its most basic
academic English is the variety of the
English language that we use to share
research research refers to the process
of answering a research question by
creating an argument that is supported
through critical analysis and the use of
evidence we use academic English to
reach a wide general academic audience
in an attempt to persuade them that the
argument we've created to answer our
research question is an effective one
there are two varieties of academic
English spoken academic English and
written academic English let's take a
closer look at this second variety when
most people think of academic writing
they think of thesis papers composed by
graduate students and research articles
written by professional scholars while
these are two great examples of academic
writing the concept can be applied more
generally to include a much wider
variety of tasks and objectives as I
mentioned in part 1 academic English is
the variety of English used to convey
research so academic writing is the
variety of academic English used to
convey
research in writing that means there are
many different kinds of academic writing
from literature reviews to research
papers to abstracts and lab reports
while trying to compare and contrast all
the many different types of academic
writing is a tall order the most
important thing to remember is that
generally each kind of academic writing
has its own rules and conventions as
such it's important to identify the
rules and expectations for a particular
genre of writing before starting to
write I will discuss the rules and
expectations for a few different genres
in later videos while the
characteristics of a piece of academic
writing may differ depending on type
there are few traits that are common to
most academic writing first there are
focused and specific expectations when
producing a piece of academic writing
academic writing is used to answer
research questions these questions are
either provided by a course instructor
or developed by the writer or researcher
good academic writing starts with
focused and specific questions to be
answered
second academic writing emphasizes
logical reasoning over emotional or
sensory perceptions facts are more
important than feelings writing clearly
means thinking clearly
and so effective academic writing
demonstrates clear critical thinking and
the ability to make arguments stronger
by supporting them with evidence
third academic writing must be clear
English is both a low context and reader
responsible language by this I mean
readers will depend on what's been
written and believe it is the writers
job to make his or her argument as
comprehensive as possible
fourth academic writing must be coherent
this means that there are logical
connections between sentences one way to
do this is to begin sentences with
information that relates back to the
previous sentence it also means that
paragraphs are unified around the single
idea and that all the information
included in a piece of writing
helps to create an effective argument
used to answer the research question
finally the most effective academic
writing follows a process while each
writer will eventually develop his or
her own unique process there are a few
steps that most people follow when
producing a piece of academic writing
these steps include analyzing the task
this involves clarifying your purpose
for writing and identifying your target
audience
number two planning your argument next
you need to develop a main claim and
decide how you will support this claim
using evidence step 3 research this is
necessary in order to gather quality
fact-based objective evidence that you
need to create the argument you will use
to support your main claim number four
start and engage in the writing and
drafting process no good writing is done
overnight it's important to produce
multiple drafts and to both edit and
proofread your writing while it is
important to consider things like
punctuation and proper spelling it is
even more important to see how well
you've structured your argument and the
information in your writing to do this
it's a good idea to ask for comments
from peers and colleagues finally there
are many benefits of investing your time
and energy in becoming a proficient
academic writer academic writing is an
important skill to master for a wide
variety of professional and personal
reasons first it allows writers to make
individual contributions to the ongoing
dialogues in their fields it allows
individuals a greater voice and ability
to participate in conversations about
topics important to them additionally by
mastering the skills necessary to become
an effective academic writer a person
also becomes an effective researcher and
critical thinker finally academic
writing is a marketable skill that
improves one's professional
qualifications and makes one a more
attractive candidate
for potential employers so in the end we
see that academic writing is about much
more than just the act of writing which
is itself not simply a skill but a
collection of skills in addition to
putting your thoughts on the page
effective academic writing involves
critical thinking the ability to create
a convincing argument and good research
skills I hope this video has helped to
improve your understanding of what
people mean when they talk about
academic writing if you have any
questions please feel free to bring them
to us at the academic Writing Center
once again I'm John Capp NeuroSky
see you next time
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