What is academic English? Academic English is the genre of English used in the world of research, study, teaching and universities. If you read an article in an academic journal or listen to someone giving a presentation or a talk about an academic subject in an academic environment, Academic English is probably being used. Native English speakers also have to learn Academic English because it is not like the English that is used every day by English speakers. Academic English is different from other types of English and it often has its own features. For example, it must be formal, well planned and structured; it must be clear, precise and explicit; it must be critical, objective and evidenced; and etc.
What are the general characteristics of academic writing? 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 to researcher. Good academic writing starts with focused and specific questions to be answered. Secondly, 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 which means that readers will depend on what’s been written and believe it is the writers’ job to make his argument as cohesive as possible. Forth, academic wiring 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 if writing helps to create an effective argument used to answer the research question.
What students will learn in this writing course?
While it's not realistic to expect a student to write in perfect academic English after this course, students will learn how to use a frame work to plan and develop an academically sound essay and/or research report, such as: