Academic Style

Summary

This video offers 10 essential rules for writing in academic English, highlighting the differences between formal written style and everyday language. Key tips include using formal vocabulary, avoiding contractions, and employing complex sentence structures. It stresses the importance of citing sources, using precise language, and opting for tentative statements instead of absolutes. The video also advises avoiding personal pronouns, questions, and informal transitions, providing useful strategies to enhance academic writing skills. The video is designed to help students improve their writing for academic contexts.

Takeaways

• 📚 Academic writing has its own formal conventions, distinct from spoken or informal written English.
• 📝 Rule 1: Use formal vocabulary and avoid informal or idiomatic language, such as 'father' instead of 'dad'.
• 🔤 Rule 2: Replace multi-word verbs with single-word formal equivalents, like 'discuss' instead of 'talk about'.
• ❌ Rule 3: Avoid contractions in academic writing, using 'do not' instead of 'don't'.
• 📖 Rule 4: Use complex grammar structures and combine simple sentences to create more formal writing.
• ❓ Rule 5: Avoid using questions in academic writing; instead, make statements like 'There were four main reasons for the decline.'
• 👤 Rule 6: Use impersonal phrases and avoid personal pronouns like 'I' or 'we'. Instead, use passive voice.
• 🎯 Rule 7: Be precise in your language, using exact figures and avoiding vague terms like 'several' or 'things'.
• 📊 Rule 8: Always cite sources to back up claims, avoiding unsupported generalizations like 'everybody knows'.
• 🧐 Rule 9: Use tentative language like 'may', 'might', or 'appears' to avoid making absolute statements.
• 🔗 Rule 10: Use formal transition signals to link ideas, and avoid basic transitions or bullet points in most academic writing.

Q & A

What is the main difference between spoken and written academic English?

Written academic English follows a more formal style with specific conventions, making it different from spoken academic English, which is less formal and often includes idiomatic expressions.

Why is formal vocabulary preferred in academic writing?

Formal vocabulary is preferred because it is more precise and professional, avoiding informal or idiomatic terms that are more common in everyday speech.

What is a good rule regarding the use of numbers in academic writing?

In academic writing, numbers from 1 to 10 should be written in words, while numbers above 10 can be written using figures. However, exceptions exist, such as when dealing with measurements, where figures are used regardless of the number size.

What are some common formal equivalents for multi-word verbs?

Instead of multi-word verbs like 'go up,' 'talk about,' or 'get into,' formal alternatives such as 'increase,' 'discuss,' and 'enter' should be used.

Why should contractions be avoided in academic writing?

Contractions like 'don't' or 'can't' are informal, so it's better to use full forms like 'do not' or 'cannot' to maintain a formal tone in academic writing.

How can simple sentences be improved in academic writing?

Simple sentences should be combined using more complex grammar structures, such as nominalization or relative clauses, to make the writing more academic and sophisticated.

Why are personal pronouns generally avoided in academic writing?

Personal pronouns like 'I,' 'we,' or 'you' are avoided to maintain an objective and impersonal tone, which is more appropriate for academic contexts.

What is the importance of using precise language in academic writing?

Precise language helps convey clear and specific information, avoiding vague words like 'thing' or 'several.' For example, it's better to say 'three factors' instead of 'three things.'

Why is it important to cite sources in academic writing?

Citing sources strengthens arguments by providing evidence and avoiding vague claims, which enhances the credibility of the writing.

What is tentative language, and why is it important in academic writing?

Tentative language, such as 'may,' 'might,' or 'appears to,' allows for more cautious and accurate statements, avoiding absolute claims like 'always' or 'will,' which are often too definitive for academic discussion.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Academic Writing Style

This paragraph introduces academic writing conventions, explaining how it differs from both spoken English and more casual forms of writing like emails or stories. It highlights the importance of formal vocabulary in academic writing and provides some examples of informal phrases that should be replaced with their formal counterparts. Additionally, it explains that numbers below 10 should generally be written as words unless they're part of a measurement.

05:02

📝 Use Formal Verbs and Avoid Contractions

The paragraph emphasizes the importance of using formal verbs instead of multi-word phrases in academic writing, providing examples of formal equivalents for verbs like 'go up' (increase) and 'talk about' (discuss). It also advises against using contractions, encouraging the use of full forms of verbs, such as 'do not' instead of 'don't'. This shift to formality helps maintain the professional tone required in academic writing.

10:04

🔗 Complex Sentences and Avoiding Questions

This section discusses the need for formal grammar structures, urging writers to avoid overly simplistic sentences and use complex structures like relative clauses. It also advises against asking questions in academic writing, suggesting that statements are more appropriate, providing examples of how to transform questions into statements.

🧑‍🏫 Impersonal Phrases and Avoiding Pronouns

Writers should use impersonal phrases and passive voice to maintain an objective tone, avoiding personal pronouns like 'I', 'we', and 'you.' This paragraph also discusses eliminating adverbs that convey personal emotions (e.g., 'amazingly') to keep the writing more formal and neutral. Several sentence examples demonstrate how to achieve this.

🎯 Be Precise and Avoid Vague Words

Precision in language is crucial in academic writing. This paragraph highlights the need to use specific terms instead of vague expressions. It suggests replacing terms like 'thing' or 'several' with precise words like 'factors' or 'three main reasons,' providing a clearer and more authoritative tone.

📑 Citing Sources and Using Tentative Language

This paragraph underscores the importance of citing sources to avoid unsupported or vague claims in academic writing. It also discusses the use of tentative language (e.g., 'may,' 'appears to') rather than absolute statements, making the text more open to interpretation and analysis. This is a key feature of academic writing that encourages a balanced approach.

🔄 Appropriate Transitions in Academic Writing

This section discusses the importance of using appropriate transition signals to connect ideas smoothly in academic writing. It warns against using basic transitions (like 'and,' 'but') or numbering and bullet points, except in specific report formats. Examples are provided to demonstrate how formal transitions improve the flow of writing.

🚩 Identifying Style Problems in Writing

The paragraph provides examples of common academic writing mistakes, such as using informal phrases like 'like' or 'lots of' and suggests better alternatives, like 'for example' and 'a considerable number of.' It highlights several style issues (use of questions, contractions, and absolute statements) and offers revisions to align with formal academic writing standards.

📝 Improving Writing Style: Common Errors and Solutions

This paragraph examines a sample text to identify and correct common academic style problems, such as using informal words ('kids' instead of 'children') and absolute statements ('will not' instead of 'is unlikely to'). It systematically reviews 11 errors and provides corrections, reinforcing the previously introduced rules of academic writing.

Keywords

💡Formal Vocabulary

Formal vocabulary refers to language that is more suited to academic, professional, or official contexts, as opposed to everyday informal speech. In the video, examples like 'fathers' (instead of 'dads') and 'such as' (instead of 'like') are used to demonstrate the importance of maintaining a formal tone in academic writing.

💡Multi-word Verbs

Multi-word verbs, also known as phrasal verbs, consist of a verb and one or more particles, such as 'go up' or 'talk about.' The video emphasizes replacing multi-word verbs with more formal single-word equivalents, like using 'increase' instead of 'go up' or 'discuss' instead of 'talk about,' to achieve a more academic tone.

💡Contractions

Contractions are shortened forms of words or phrases created by combining two words, such as 'don’t' (do not) or 'can’t' (cannot). In academic writing, the video advises against using contractions, favoring the full forms of words to maintain formality and precision.

💡Complex Grammar Structures

Complex grammar structures involve the use of more advanced sentence constructions, such as combining ideas through relative clauses or using nominalization. The video advises against using too many simple sentences in academic writing, suggesting instead that ideas should be combined to create more sophisticated sentence forms.

💡Impersonal Phrases

Impersonal phrases help remove personal bias and subjectivity from writing. The video recommends using constructions like 'there is' or 'it is' and avoiding personal pronouns like 'I' or 'we' to maintain objectivity and formality in academic writing.

💡Tentative Language

Tentative language is used to express uncertainty or avoid making absolute claims, which is common in academic writing. The video encourages using words like 'may,' 'might,' or 'appears to' instead of definitive statements like 'always' or 'will' to make claims more nuanced and less rigid.

💡Precise Words

Precise words are specific and clear terms used to convey exact meaning in academic writing. The video contrasts vague terms like 'thing' or 'about' with more accurate alternatives such as 'factors' or 'in the late 1980s' to improve clarity and precision in writing.

💡Citing Sources

Citing sources is the practice of referencing the original sources of information or ideas used in academic work. The video stresses the importance of citing sources properly, as seen in the example of using in-text citations like 'Russell (2001)' instead of vague claims such as 'everybody knows.'

💡Transition Signals

Transition signals are words or phrases that help link ideas and sections in writing, guiding the reader through the argument. The video emphasizes using appropriate, formal transition signals, like 'in addition' instead of simpler or informal connectors like 'and' or 'but.'

💡Nominalization

Nominalization is the process of converting verbs or adjectives into nouns, a common feature of academic writing. The video demonstrates how sentences like 'The pollution is increasing' can be transformed into more formal constructions like 'The increasing pollution of the environment is a global concern,' making the writing sound more sophisticated.

Highlights

Use formal vocabulary and avoid informal or idiomatic language in academic writing.

Numbers from one to ten should be written as words, while numbers above ten should be in numeric form unless part of measurements.

Replace multi-word verbs like 'go up' with single-word formal equivalents such as 'increase'.

Avoid contractions in academic writing; use full forms like 'do not' instead of 'don't'.

Use formal grammar structures and combine simple sentences into complex ones for a more academic tone.

Avoid questions in academic writing; statements are preferred for a formal tone.

Use impersonal phrases and avoid personal pronouns and adverbs that express emotions.

Be precise with language, avoiding vague terms like 'thing'; use exact words and figures whenever possible.

Always cite your sources and avoid making vague claims without evidence.

Use tentative language instead of absolute statements to convey a balanced academic perspective.

Use appropriate transition signals rather than basic transitions or numbering to link ideas in academic writing.

Academic writing should avoid personal expressions like 'I think' or 'amazingly'; impersonal constructions are more suitable.

Nominalization, or the use of noun phrases, is a common feature of academic writing that helps create complex sentence structures.

Avoid using overly simple sentences; combine them using clauses to enhance the complexity and formality of the text.

Reviewing good examples of academic style and practicing adherence to these rules can significantly improve writing quality.

Transcripts

this video is brought to you by EAP

foundation comm the website for all your

academic English needs written Lac

ademma King glitch like any writing has

its own conventions or style it's a

formal written style which means it has

aspects which make it different from

spoken academic English and at the same

time being formal it's quite different

from ordinary writing which you might be

more used to such as writing in letters

or emails or stories so in this video

we'll look at 10 style rules for writing

in academic English rule 1 use formal

vocabulary and avoid less formal or

idiomatic vocabulary take a look at

these examples they have some words or

phrases which would be considered to be

fairly informal in comparison these

sentences contain more formal vocabulary

so the word father's is more formal than

dads the phrase such as is a better way

to give examples in academic English

than the word like which is more

informal and common in spoken English a

significant number of is more formal

than lots of and the word 3 is more

formal than the number in fact generally

in academic writing you should write the

numbers 1 2 up to 10 in words anything

more than 10 you can write using numbers

although the problem with rules is there

are always exceptions so if your number

is part of a measurement you should use

the number however big or small the

number is so for example 3 kay-gee 6 cm

and if you're mixing numbers below 10

and above 10 then just use figures for

all of them for more information or

numbers in academic writing you can see

this page on the EAP foundation comm

website rule to use formal verbs instead

of multi-word verbs so there are many

verbs in English which use two or more

words for example go up or talk about

almost always you can use a more formal

single word equivalent of these words so

for example instead of go up we have ink

instead of talk about we have discuss

and there are many other examples of

these decrease instead of go down

improve instead of get better

deteriorate instead of get worse raise

instead of bring up admire instead of

look up to or enter instead of get into

rule three use the full form of verbs

and avoid contractions so in place of

don't use the full form do not in place

of can't cannot in place of won't will

not in place of didn't did not and so on

well for use formal

grammar structures and try to avoid

using too many simple sentences so

simple sentences can be okay now and

again but it's best not to have too many

of them so here we have two very simple

sentences which could be combined into

one more academic sentence the

increasing pollution of the environment

is a global concern this is an example

of nominalization or using noun phrases

which is a common feature of academic

writing again here are two simple

sentences which could be combined note

taking which is an important skill for

EAP students is difficult to master so

in this case the sentences have been

combined using a relative clause which

is an example of complex grammar rule 5

use statements and avoid questions in

your writing so here are two examples of

questions what were the reasons behind

the decline our written and spoken

English different so questions like

these are fine if you're giving a

presentation but it's not common to use

questions in academic writing instead

use statements there were four main

reasons for the decline written English

is different from spoken English rule

six use impersonal phrases and avoid

personal pronouns or adverbs to show

feelings you should try to avoid

personal pronouns like I we you and so

on or any adverse which show your

feeling for example luckily remarkably

amazingly so here are three sentences

which would be considered to be very

academic because a phrase is like I can

think of or I heated the water or

amazingly it's very common in academic

writing to use phrases like there is or

there are or it is as in this first

example avoiding personal pronouns by

using passive voice is also very common

the water was heated and in the case of

the adverb amazingly we can just delete

that rule seven

be precise and avoid vague words in

academic writing you should try to be as

precise as possible so if you have exact

figures you should use exact figures

rather than words like about or several

and you should try to use precise words

like factor or issue or topic or aspect

or reason instead of words like thing so

here are three sentences which are not

very precise and here are three examples

which use more precise language so

instead of several reasons we can say

there are three main reasons for this

instead of about 30 years ago we can say

in the late 1980s and instead of three

things we can say there were three

factors which led to this result rule

eight remember to cite your sources and

avoid making vague claims so a phrase

like this would not be considered to be

very academic everybody knows that most

people are unaware of the problem the

second example with an in-text citation

is much more academic Russell 2001

states that over 50% of the population

are unaware of the problem rule 9 used

tentative language and avoid absolute

statements academic English tends to use

more tentative language than everyday

writing this means phrases like possibly

probably may might appears - seems -

tends to rather than making absolute

statements using words like always or

will so these two statements here are

very absolute education reduces crime

this is caused by the effects of global

warming these can be made more academic

by using tentative language for example

education may reduce crime

it appears that education reduces crime

well the second one this is possibly

caused by the effects of global warming

this may be caused by the effects of

global warming if you want to know more

about tentative language also called

hedging there's a YouTube video for

hedging on the EAP found

in channel finally rule 10 use

appropriate transition signals and avoid

numbering or bullet points or basic

transitions so it's important in

academic writing to make the links

between ideas very clear as well as to

clearly introduce new sections of an

essay this should be done using

appropriate formal transition signals

it's not common in academic writing to

use numbering or bullets except in

certain reports and basic transitions

like and/or but also should definitely

be avoided you should also be careful

not to use transitions too often so

don't put them at the beginning of every

sentence so here's a couple of examples

of transitions which could be improved

and here are some possible improvements

turning to the question of inflation in

addition the inflation is an important

factor so let's finish up by looking at

it takes which has a few style problems

the taste comes from this page of the

EAP foundation.com website there are a

total of eleven problems what I'm going

to do is read the text and underline the

problems as they go along see if you can

spot the problems before I underline

them at the end I'll look at each one

identify the problem and suggest ways in

which the style can be improved many

students use poor academic style in

their writing like using I we and you a

simple way to improve this is to study

good examples of academic style and to

follow them their writing score will go

up as a result and it will be useful at

university style is always a problem for

Chinese students who make lots of

mistakes when they start to write

academic English by using for example

phrasal verbs instead of more formal

verbs this is something that such

students need to learn to overcome if

they wish to reach a higher grade what

other ways are there for students to

improve their style one way is to ask

the teacher for advice a considerable

number of students don't listen to their

teachers and therefore do not improve

this is a terrible situation it is

important for students to remember that

they are now adults not kids if they do

not follow

teachers advise their writing style will

not improve so those are the eleven

problems did you manage to find them or

let's now look at each one more

carefully and think how we can improve

it

so the first problem is the word like

which is rather informal the phrase for

example would be better here and this is

rule 1 use formal vocabulary so the

second problem is go up this is rule to

remember to use single word verbs

instead of two word or multi word verbs

so a better alternative here is increase

the next problem is an and this is rule

10 use formal transition signals so in

addition is better here the next problem

is always visit rule 9 use tentative

language instead of making absolute

statements a better word here is often

style is often a problem for Chinese

students the next problem is lots off

this is rule 1 again this is slightly

informal a considerable number of is

better the next problem is something

this is rule 7 use precise words instead

of words like thing or something a

better alternative here is a problem so

the next our problem is this question

here remember to use statements instead

of question this is rule 5 so this

statement would be better there are

other ways in which students can improve

their style so here's the next problem

don't this is rule 3 remember to use the

full form of verbs do not so here's the

next problem

this is rule 6 avoid personal pronouns

and phrases which show your feeling so

here we can just delete this sentence so

here's the next problem rule 1 again

kids is rather informal the word

children is more formal and here's the

final problem rule 9 again use tentative

language instead of absolute statement

so is unlikely to is better here than

will not so that's the end of the video

if you liked it remember to subscribe or

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you

you