Academic Writing

By
Zhiman Mohamed,Wala Sediq and Helin
Third _B_
Fifth Semester
Dept. of English
Faculty of Humanities
University of Zakho

April 2019

Word Count (1,819)

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Introduction

Academic writing is a particular style used in formal essays and other assessments for
your course. It requires formal language, a logical structure and should be supported
by evidence. It is a skill that you will need to learn and develop across your time at
University. Make sure you use the information in your module guides and feedback
from your lecturers to improve, you may also have workshops included as part of
your course. And there are many tips to follow, which are mentioning below.

The first tip is to find out the exact place for being comfortable while writing an essay
or research in an academic way that contains lots of difficult vocabularies. This
shouldn’t be the same place that a person eats and watch TV – the brain and body
should associate with work, so it’s more preferable to stay focused and get in the right
zone to put pen to paper. Getting up and down for pens, paper, books, or anything else
you might need disrupts flow – avoid this by having everything that needs to sit and
concentrate. However, using appropriate words that are relevant to be concise, and not
ambiguous to be understood for the reader, and it should be expressing points clearly
by using writing a simple sentence, using an appropriate level of language is far better
than a text full of overly complicated sentences that are too long and contain
unnecessary language. Otherwise, the writing is clear and more like speech is by
using the active voice, rather than the passive. This is a much more natural way of
expressing ideas. It should be easy for a professor or peers to read. Writing as if you
are speaking helps achieve this, and also makes your writing more engaging as it will
feel more like a conversation. And also, to get rid of distractions, which make your
mind busy with other things while writing such as checking messages or watching TV
that will help to keep focusing on what you are writing. And as much as you write
more, your writing will be perfectly increased. Using different types of punctuation to
divide the texts and to be more vital. Avoid abbreviations.

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Write-in full instead. Use ‘for example’ instead of ‘e.g.’, unless you are using e.g. or
i.e. in parenthesis, and do not use contractions. Write in full. Such as couldn’t. Avoid
using ‘you’ and ‘your’. It sounds too informal in writing.

Phrasal verb in academic writing

Phrasal verbs are formed by linking one verb to another word (typically a preposition
or an adverb). The result is a new expression that has a different meaning from the
original verb. It is very frequently used in English in both speaking and writing,
Because phrasal verbs are used quite frequently in conversational English,
understanding them will help you a lot on the listening and speaking sections.
You may have heard that phrasal verbs are more informal, but this is not true for all of
them. Not all phrasal verbs are created equal. Actually, like all words or expressions,
they can be informal, formal or neutral.
Informal phrasal verbs are mainly used with people we know very well like close
friends. Formal phrasal verbs can be used in situations that are more official,
academic or professional. Neutral phrasal verbs can be used safely in almost all
contexts. A Few Rules for Using Phrasal Verbs Correctly
When you decide to use phrasal verbs in speaking or in writing, make sure you use
them correctly.
-Phrasal verbs can be separable or inseparable, depending on whether you can use
other words between the verb and the particle. With separable phrasal verbs, you can
use other words between the verb and the particle, while with inseparable phrasal
verbs you cannot insert other words between them.
Examples:
Look the word up! (Look up is a separable phrasal verb)
You should look into the matter. (Look into is an inseparable phrasal verb)
-Phrasal verbs can also be transitive or intransitive, depending on whether you can use
an object with them. Transitive verbs take an object, while intransitive verbs cannot.
Examples:
I made that story up. (The story is the object of the phrasal verb made up)

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My car broke down. (Broke down is intransitive, it cannot take an object)-In the case
of transitive verbs with really long objects, we can move the object between the verb
and the particle if we replace the object with a shorter word. This is called shifting.
Examples:
She made up a very funny story. (A very funny story is a long object)
She made a very funny story up. (Correct, but the object is too long to comfortably
place it between the verb and the particle)
She made it up. (We replace the object, a very funny story, with it and we can move it
between the verb and the particle).

Punctuation
The rules of punctuation vary with language, location, register and time and are
constantly evolving. Certain aspects of punctuation are stylistic and are thus the
authors (or editor's) choice, or tachygraphic (shorthand) language forms, such as those
used in online chat and text messages.
Sentence Endings
Three of the fourteen punctuation marks are appropriate for use as sentence endings.
They are the period, question mark, and exclamation point.
The period (.) is placed at the end of declarative sentences, statements thought to be
complete and after many abbreviations.
As a sentence ender: Jane and Jack went to the market.
After an abbreviation: Her son, John Jones Jr., was born on Dec. 6, 2008.
Use a question mark (?) to indicate a direct question when placed at the end of a
sentence.
When did Jane leave for the market?
The exclamation point (!) is used when a person wants to express a sudden outcry or
add emphasis.
Within dialogue: "Holy cow!" screamed Jane.
To emphasize a point: My mother-in-law's rants make me furious

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Comma, Semicolon and Colon
The comma, semicolon and colon are often misused because they all can indicate a
pause in a series. The comma is used to show a separation of ideas or elements within
the structure of a sentence. Additionally, it is used in numbers, dates and letter writing
after the salutation and closing.
Direct address: Thanks for all your help, John.
Separation of two complete sentences: We went to the movies, and then we went out
to lunch.
Separating lists or elements within sentences: Suzi wanted the black, green, and blue
dress.

Dash and the Hyphen

Two other common punctuation marks are the dash and hyphen. These marks are
often confused with each other due to their appearance but they are very different. A
dash is used to separate words into statements. There are two common types of
dashes: en dash and em dash.

Brackets, Braces and Parentheses

Brackets, braces and parentheses are symbols used to contain words that are a further
explanation or are considered a group. Brackets are the squared off notations ([]) used
for technical explanations or to clarify meaning. If you remove the information in the
brackets, the sentence will still make sense.
He [Mr. Jones] was the last person seen at the house.
Braces ({}) are used to contain two or more lines of text or listed items to show that
they are considered as a unit.

Apostrophe, Quotation Marks and Ellipsis

The final three punctuation forms in English grammar are the apostrophe, quotation
marks and ellipsis. Unlike previously mentioned grammatical marks, they are not
related to one another in any form. An apostrophe (') is used to indicate the omission

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of a letter or letters from a word, the possessive case, or the plurals of lowercase
letters. Examples of the apostrophe in use include:
Omission of letters from a word: I've seen that movie several times. She wasn't the
only one who knew the answer.

Conclusion
In conclusion, I want to talk about some important tips in academic writing the first
one: take a class, many international students find academic writing difficult because
they were never formally taught during their school years. You may excel at Math,
but perhaps you feel completely lost when it comes to writing elective class research
papers. Use outlines, you may have heard of outlines and learned about them in an
ESL or ENG 101 course. Don’t overlook them because outlines are important for
writing a good paper. It prepares you for the entire process as you can plan the
structure ahead of time, reducing the chance of getting stuck mid-way.
Be concise and clear, academic writing doesn’t require you to prove your English
vocabulary or skills, but rather to present your points in a clear, straightforward
manner. Edit and rewrite, Even good writers must draft their work and constantly edit
their work. Make sure you allocate enough time for this. Editing is also a good way
for you to note your mistakes for next time. Know your audience; every good writer
knows that they must always know their audience. Determine who it is you’re writing
for, even though it will probably only be read by your professor.

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