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Structures of An Academic Text

The document discusses identifying the structure of academic texts. It notes that most undergraduate reading falls into three categories: argumentative/thesis, problem-solution, or report structures. It then focuses on understanding the writer's purpose and perspective to recognize potential bias.

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conz12
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341 views

Structures of An Academic Text

The document discusses identifying the structure of academic texts. It notes that most undergraduate reading falls into three categories: argumentative/thesis, problem-solution, or report structures. It then focuses on understanding the writer's purpose and perspective to recognize potential bias.

Uploaded by

conz12
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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IDENTIFYING THE STRUCTURE OF ACADEMIC TEXTS

Texts are structured in different ways in different subjects, but the majority of reading that undergraduates do falls into just
three categories:

1. An argumentative/thesis structure
2. A problem – solution structure
3. A report structure

The purpose of an argumentative text is to persuade the reader to accept a point of view, an opinion or perhaps a new
truth. In a way, a problem – solution text also presents an argument and attempts to persuade the reader that the
solutions presented are workable and worth implementing. A report does not present an argument, but it may still be
biased if all the facts are not presented. It is important to find out whether the facts have been taken from a credible
source.

The following activities will focus on an argumentative structure.

UNDERSTANDING A WRITER’S PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE

1. Purpose

People speak to be listened to. Writers also write to be listened to. Just like speaking, writing is a form of communication
and people always communicate for a reason, or purpose. Being aware of the writer’s purpose for communicating a
message helps you understand why the writer has chosen to mention some facts or details and not others, or perhaps
why the writer has chosen to use certain words and not others. It, therefore, helps you recognise bias in a piece of writing
which gives you the chance to decide whether you agree with or trust what the author says. As an undergraduate you
need to become good at this particular skill.

We cannot see into an author’s head, but there are usually clues available to us that can assist us in working out what the
author’s purpose is. Essentially, a text is written to achieve at least one of these three general purposes:

1. To entertain (E)
2. To inform (I)
3. To persuade (P)

2. Perspective

The writer’s perspective is a term that means the writer’s opinion, point of view, attitude or feelings about a particular idea,
situation or topic. The vocabulary the writer chooses to use will often be a clue to the writer’s perspective. This is often
referred to as the writer’s tone.

Features of academic writing

Introduction

Try this exercise.

Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part contributing to the
main line of argument, without digressions or repetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As well as this it is
in the standard written form of the language.There are ten main features of academic writing that are often discussed.
Academic writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible. It uses language
precisely and accurately. It is also well organised and planned.

Complexity

Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written language has longer words, it is lexically more
dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are
shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.

Complexity

Formality

Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that in an essay you should avoid colloquial words and
expressions.
Formality

Precision

In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.

Precision

Objectivity

Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the
reader. This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you
want to make, rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs
(and adverbs).

Objectivity

Explicitness

Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to
make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the
use of different signalling words.

Explicitness

Accuracy

Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with narrow specific meanings. Linguistics
distinguishes clearly between "phonetics" and "phonemics"; general English does not.

Accuracy

Hedging

In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions about your stance on a particular subject, or the
strength of the claims you are making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.

A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists as a ‘hedge’.

Hedging

Responsibility

In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide evidence and justification for, any claims
you make. You are also responsible for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.

Responsibility

Organisation

Academic writing is well organised. It flows easily from one section to the next in a logical fashion. A good place to start is
the genre of your text. Once you have decided on the genre, the structure is easily determined..

Organisation

Planning

Academic writing is well planned. It usually takes place after research and evaluation, according to a specific purpose and
plan.

Planning

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