Unit 9 - writing at university
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The document provides information about writing style at university. It discusses that academic writing is more formal than spoken language and avoids colloquialisms, clichés, contractions and personal pronouns. It emphasizes being concise, precise, and purposeful. Academic writing should be well-structured following a clear introduction, body and conclusion. It uses academic vocabulary and hedging language to express opinions cautiously. Ideas must be supported and referenced. The document analyzes a sample student essay identifying both strong and weak elements of writing style.
Unit 9 - writing at university
- 1. Unit 9 : Writing at university Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 3. Where do these sentences come from? 1. I am writing to enquire about the position of Sales Assistant. 2. I’ve never met anyone like you before. 3. And now let’s take a look at the latest business news. 4. In contrast, there are other factors which will have a more negative impact. 5. It was alright, I just stayed at home and played computer games. Job application Love letter TV News Essay Informal conversation Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 4. What is ‘Academic Style’? http://www.screencast.com/users/UniRdg_L ibrary/folders/Study%20Advice/media/0089 c0fb-3549-43bd-92ec-73780d638987 • Watch the video about academic style. • Answer these questions. • According to the speaker, why are you writing? • The speaker gives 4 examples of how writing is more formal than spoken English. What are they? Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 5. Writing at university Formal & clear Concise & precise Purposeful Well- structured Academic vocabulary Hedging Language Supported & Referenced Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 6. 1. Formal and Clear Academic writing style is different from casual, spoken English. Colloquialisms (conversation language) • such as ‘okay’, really good’, ‘things’ or ‘stuff’ Clichés (common, overused phrases) • such as ‘every coin has two sides’, ‘in a nutshell’, ‘nowadays’ or ‘as we all know’ Exclamations (!) or questions (?) Contractions (short forms) • such as ‘shouldn’t’, ‘won’t’, ‘can’t’ or ‘isn’t’ Personal pronouns • e.g. I, you, we, us Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 7. 2. Concise and Precise Concise Give a large amount of information in a small number of words. Precise Be accurate or very clear in details. Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 8. 3. Purposeful Ask yourself these questions to find the purpose Who will read our essay? What do the readers already know? What do we want the readers to know and understand? Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 9. 4. Well-structured • Use your common sense • Make sure your essay has logical connections, not random ideas that you like. • Helpful screencasts about writing essays at university https://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/StudyR esources/Essays/sta-planningessay.aspx Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 10. 5. Academic Vocabulary • Some common words have a specific meaning when used in university written work and are often used in academic texts. • The Academic Word List (AWL) is a useful set of vocabulary: http://www.eapfoundation.com/vocab/academic/awlli sts/ • Nominalisation – the use of nouns: http://www.uefap.com/vocab/vocfram.htm Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 11. 6. Hedging Language • Careful/cautious, softening, tentative language. • Can show the strength of your stance. • Very good examples can be found here: http://www.uefap.com/writing/feature/hedge.htm The SDGs will change the world. Vs. The SDGs may change the world. Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 12. 7. Supported & Referenced • You need evidence to support your ideas. • You need to reference that evidence so you reader understands where your information comes from. Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 13. Sample Draft • Look at the sample draft essay. • Identify • Is it a good answer? • Which is the strongest paragraph? • Which is the weakest paragraph? Negative features Positive features Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 14. Nowadays, the world is facing more and more challenges that affect everyone on earth. Think how terrible it is that some people don’t have enough food to eat or proper education. Do you know how many people get sick because they don’t have clean water? Luckily, the United Nations has introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will help a lot. The SDGs are a set of goals and targets that lots of countries have signed up to. They aim to reduce poverty, increase people’s quality of life and have a positive impact on the environment. There are 17 SDGs in total, covering a wide range of global issues. All of them will have a significant impact on the world and this essay is going to consider the impact of two goals in particular, Reduced Inequalities and Partnerships for the Goals. To be successful the SDGs will need financial resources and international cooperation. Therefore, Partnerships for the Goals will have a greater impact than Reduced Inequalities as partnerships will make every other goal possible. Introduces the topic Introduces the focus of the essay clearly Clear thesis Logical organisation Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 15. Nowadays, the world is facing more and more challenges that affect everyone on earth. Think how terrible it is that some people don’t have enough food to eat or proper education. Do you know how many people get sick because they don’t have clean water? Luckily, the United Nations has introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which will help a lot. The SDGs are a set of goals and targets that lots of countries have signed up to. They aim to reduce poverty, increase people’s quality of life and have a positive impact on the environment. There are 17 SDGs in total, covering a wide range of global issues. All of them will have a significant impact on the world and this essay is going to consider the impact of two goals in particular, Reduced Inequalities and Partnerships for the Goals. To be successful the SDGs will need financial resources and international cooperation. Therefore Partnerships for the Goals will have a greater impact than Reduced Inequalities as partnerships will make every other goal possible. Overused phrase Personal appeal Asking questions Emotional language Informal & not precise Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 16. Before considering the two goals in detail it is necessary to understand the purpose of the SDGs and what they hope to achieve. The SDGs have developed out of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed in 2000 and finished in 2015. The MDGS were successful in some ways but every coin has two sides. As John points out, the MDGs were more limited than the SDGs as they only focused on developing countries (http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-worlds- new-sustainable-development-goals-47262). In contrast, the SDGs apply to both developed and developing countries and also cover more areas than the MDGs, including gender equality and protection of the environment. Clear topic sentence Attempt at referencing Good use of conjunction All information connected to the paragraph topic Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 17. Before considering the two goals in detail it is necessary to understand the purpose of the SDGs and what they hope to achieve. The SDGs have developed out of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were agreed in 2000 and finished in 2015. The MDGS were successful in some ways but every coin has two sides. As John points out, the MDGs were more limited than the SDGs as they only focused on developing countries (http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-worlds- new-sustainable-development-goals-47262). In contrast, the SDGs apply to both developed and developing countries and also cover more areas than the MDGs, including gender equality and protection of the environment. Not specific Overused phrase Wrong citation – should be surname & year Not APA citation Not enough detail or support Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 18. One of the main aims of the SDGs is to reduce inequality. There is an interesting video, If 100 People Lived on Earth, that highlights some of the major inequalities in the world. As we all know, it is so terrible that a small number of people control most of the money in the world and more and more people don’t get access to education or good health so they can not make money or look after their families properly. Isn’t it a shame? Reduced Inequalities aims to change this and make the world a fairer place. There are many targets involved in Reduced Inequalities (UN, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg 10) which will certainly reduce the inequality between countries and, importantly, reduce the inequality inside countries. This will give many people more opportunities and will have a significant impact on people’s lives. Poor connection Poor referencing Lacks detail Overused phrase Emotional language Contractions Not concise Asking questions Not specific or detailed No hedging Fails to explain the impact Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 19. However, I think Reduced Inequalities will only have such a positive impact if it is successfully implemented. Inequality is a complex problem to solve and is not something which can be done by individuals or governments working alone. It is going to require lots of cooperation and this means that Partnerships for the Goals is an essential step as it is only through partnerships that all the other goals become possible. An illustration of how a partnership can help another goal be implemented is the Paris Agreement on climate change. Action on climate change (Goal 13) depends on the cooperation and action of major polluters and the US and China agreeing to the Paris Agreement is a significant step in making Goal 13 possible (Phillips, Harvey and Yuhas, 2016). Connection to previous paragraph Good example Logical progression Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 20. However, I think Reduced Inequalities will only have such a positive impact if it is successfully implemented. Inequality is a complex problem to solve and is not something which can be done by individuals or governments working alone. It is going to require lots of cooperation and this means that Partnerships for the Goals is an essential step as it is only through partnerships that all the other goals become possible. An illustration of how a partnership can help another goal be implemented is the Paris Agreement on climate change. Action on climate change (Goal 13) depends on the cooperation and action of major polluters and the US and China agreeing to the Paris Agreement is a significant step in making Goal 13 possible (Phillips, Harvey and Yuhas, 2016). Weak connection Personal language Informal language Lacks detail – how? No explanation of relevance to topic Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 21. In conclusion, Partnerships for the Goals will have the greatest impact as it is through partnerships that every other goal can be reached. While some of the goals, such as Reduced Inequalities, will have a significant positive impact on people’s lives the SDGs can only be successful if there is wide cooperation between people and countries. The SDGs are designed to help solve complex, global issues. If the goals are successfully implemented the world in 2030 will be a fairer, cleaner, healthier place. Good restatement of thesis Ends with general comment on topic Follows the order of the essay Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 22. In conclusion, Partnerships for the Goals will have the greatest impact as it is through partnerships that every other goal can be reached. While some of the goals, such as Reduced Inequalities, will have a significant positive impact on people’s lives the SDGs can only be successful if there is wide cooperation between people and countries. The SDGs are designed to help solve complex, global issues. If the goals are successfully implemented the world in 2030 will be a fairer, cleaner, healthier place. Some main points missing Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 23. References Thwaites, J. (September 22 2014) Explainer: the world’s new sustainable development goals. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-worlds-new- sustainable-development-goals-47262 UN (2016) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg10 Tom Phillips, Fiona Harvey, Alan Yuhas (2016) Breakthrough as US and China agree to ratify Paris climate deal. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/0 3/breakthrough-us-china-agree-ratify-paris-climate- change-deal Second lines are indented Times New Roman font Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 24. References Thwaites, J. (September 22 2014) Explainer: the world’s new sustainable development goals. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/explainer-the-worlds-new- sustainable-development-goals-47262 UN (2016) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg10 Tom Phillips, Fiona Harvey, Alan Yuhas (2016) Breakthrough as US and China agree to ratify Paris climate deal. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/0 3/breakthrough-us-china-agree-ratify-paris-climate- change-deal Not following APA style Not alphabetical Not using surnames Incomplete references Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 25. General Feedback • It is a weak first draft. • The thesis is clear but is not well supported. • The Reduced Inequalities paragraph is very weak • The Partnerships for the Goals paragraph is better but still has problems. • A lot of work needs to be done. Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
- 26. Referencing (Part 3) – Academic Integrity Being honest and having good personal ethics. • Can you recognise correct APA style? http://www.adelaide.edu.au/english-for-uni/essay- writing/exercise-5/ • Advice about how to avoid plagiarism http://www.screencast.com/users/UniRdg_Library/folder s/Study%20Advice/media/61f27196-3735-4f08-8e99- 98a9340756f3 • Plagiarism game http://www.lycoming.edu/library/instruction/tutorials/pl agiarismgame.aspx Develop EAP – Bolster & Levrai
Editor's Notes
- #5: First 3 minutes of screencast is about academic style.