What is academic writing?
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Ellen discusses key aspects of academic writing essential for university success. She highlights the importance of communication, identifying the audience, and maintaining objectivity by avoiding personal opinions and biased language. Academic writing is a formal genre that requires strict adherence to style and register. Ellen advises students to study texts within their discipline to understand appropriate formality and structure. She emphasizes that writing conventions differ across academic fields, so adapting to the expectations of each discipline is crucial for effective writing.
Takeaways
- 📢 Writing is a communicative act, where a sender transmits a message to a receiver.
- 🧑🎓 In academic writing, the message is a fact-based argument.
- 🎯 Knowing your audience is crucial for delivering an effective argument.
- ⚖️ Academic writing should be objective, avoiding biased language and personal opinions.
- 📚 The writing style in academic essays should be formal, with a strict register and format.
- 🌍 Different levels of formality can be difficult for non-native writers to recognize.
- 🎨 Style and register depend on context, just like appropriate dress for an occasion.
- 🔍 One way to find the right level of formality is by studying texts within your discipline.
- 📖 University resources, like books and journals, help students learn how to write formally.
- 🧭 Writing practices vary between academic disciplines, requiring adaptability to different formats.
Q & A
What is the primary purpose of academic writing?
-The primary purpose of academic writing is to communicate a fact-based argument, which requires knowing the audience and delivering the message effectively.
Why is it important to identify your audience in academic writing?
-Identifying your audience is crucial because it helps tailor the message to what the reader is expected to already know, ensuring effective communication.
What does it mean that academic writing is 'objective'?
-Academic writing being 'objective' means avoiding biased language, generalizations, and personal opinions. The focus should be on presenting an argument based on facts and evidence.
Why is it important to avoid personal pre-conceptions in academic writing?
-Avoiding personal pre-conceptions ensures that the writing remains focused on the topic and evidence, rather than being influenced by the writer's subjective opinions.
How does formality play a role in academic writing?
-Formality is essential in academic writing because it requires using a strict register and format, which can be challenging, especially for non-native speakers, as they need to navigate different levels of formality.
What is the role of style and register in academic writing?
-Style and register in academic writing determine the appropriateness of language for a given context. What may be appropriate in one context might not be suitable in another, similar to how attire varies depending on the occasion.
How can students find the right level of formality for their university writing?
-Students can find the right level of formality by studying texts within their specific discipline, such as books, journals, and student papers, to learn how scholars and experienced students write.
What should students focus on when reading academic texts in their discipline?
-Students should focus on how arguments are introduced, how discipline-specific terms are defined and used, and how previous research is incorporated into the text.
Why do academic writing practices vary between disciplines?
-Academic writing practices vary between disciplines because each field has different expectations regarding referencing, text structure, and overall style, though the basics of academic writing remain the same.
What is one example of how academic writing differs across disciplines?
-An article in physics, for example, looks very different from one in history, particularly in terms of text structure and referencing conventions.
Outlines
👋 Introduction to Academic Writing
In this video, Ellen introduces the topic of academic writing, emphasizing the importance of understanding its general features. She highlights that successful writing at university requires recognizing that writing is a form of communication with a sender, message, and receiver. In academic writing, this message is a fact-based argument aimed at a specific audience. Understanding who your readers are and what they know is key to effectively delivering your message.
🎯 Importance of Objectivity in Academic Writing
Academic writing should be objective and free from biased language or personal opinions. Ellen explains that writing on topics such as fictional characters, political conflicts, or religious issues must remain neutral, focusing on presenting well-researched arguments rather than personal viewpoints. The aim is to maintain academic rigor and credibility.
📏 Formality and Register in Academic Writing
Ellen discusses the formal nature of academic writing, which can be challenging for non-native speakers. The choice of register (level of formality) is important, as writing must match the context and occasion. For example, an informal tone suitable for text messages would be inappropriate for a university essay or job application. Writing at university requires a more formal approach, just as one wouldn't wear casual clothes to a formal event.
📚 Finding the Right Formality Level
To achieve the right level of formality in academic writing, Ellen suggests studying texts from your academic discipline. University students have access to numerous resources, including books, journals, and student papers, that can help them understand how to structure arguments and use discipline-specific terms. Observing how experienced scholars write can provide valuable insights.
🔄 Writing Expectations Across Disciplines
Ellen concludes by noting that academic writing varies between disciplines. Although general principles remain the same, the structure and referencing style of academic texts can differ significantly depending on the field of study. For instance, a physics article will look very different from one in history. Understanding these variations is crucial when transitioning between disciplines.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Communicative
💡Audience
💡Objective
💡Bias
💡Formal genre
💡Register
💡Discipline
💡Resources
💡Argument
💡Referencing
Highlights
Writing is communicative and the writer must consider their audience.
In academic writing, the message should be a fact-based argument.
Identifying the audience is crucial to successfully delivering the argument.
Academic writing is objective, avoiding biased language and personal opinions.
Essays should present arguments without making subjective statements.
Academic writing is formal, with a strict register and format.
Formality in writing can be challenging, especially for non-native writers.
Style and register vary by context, similar to how clothing varies by occasion.
Finding the right level of formality is important for university writing.
Studying texts in your specific discipline helps in understanding proper style.
University resources like libraries, books, and journals are essential for learning.
Read academic texts to see how scholars introduce arguments and use terms.
Writing practices vary between academic disciplines.
An article in physics may differ greatly from one in history.
Transferring between disciplines may require adapting to different writing styles and structures.
Transcripts
Hi, I'm Ellen.
In this video,
I'm going to talk about some general features of academic writing that you need
to be familiar with if you want to succeed in your own writing at university.
First of all, you need to consider that writing is communicative.
In all forms of communication,
there is a sender who transmits the message to a receiver.
In academic writing, that message will be a fact based argument.
And in order to successfully deliver this, you need to know who you're writing for
and what you can expect your target reader to already know.
In other words, identifying your audience is crucial.
Another central feature of academic writing is that it's objective,
which means that you should avoid biased language and generalizations and
that you shouldn't bring in your personal pre-conceptions or opinions.
An academic essay about say, a fictional character, a political conflict or
a religious issue should present an argument that sheds light on the actual
topic, but mustn't be a subjective statement on the part of the writer.
Academic writing is a formal genre and
you are expected to use a rather strict register and format.
This can be a challenge, especially for non-native writers as different levels of
formality might be difficult to recognize in a second language.
Remember, the question of style and register in writing is not necessarily
a difference between what is right or wrong language wise, but
rather specifies what is the preferred style for a specific occasion.
In other words,
what is right in one context may not be considered okay in another.
Just as you wouldn't wear flip flops to a formal dinner, you don't use the informal
style of text messages between friends in a job application or a university essay.
But how do you go about finding the right level of formality for
writing at university then?
Well, one way is to study texts within your specific discipline.
As a university student, you have loads of helpful resources at hand.
You have access to your university library resources, books as well as journals and
perhaps also student papers and degree projects written at your department.
Read texts within your discipline to learn how scholars and
experienced students write.
Look at things like how they introduce their arguments, how they define and
use discipline specific terms and how they make use of previous research within the field.
The last thing I would like to raise here is a fact that writing practices do vary
from one academic discipline to the next.
This means that you need to learn what is expected of you for
the particular text that you are writing.
An article in physics looks very different from one in history, for instance.
If you transfer from one discipline to another,
you'll notice that although the basics remain the same,
the way the texts are written when it comes to referencing and text structure,
for instance, may differ.
[MUSIC]
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