ENGLISH FOR

ACADEMIC AND
PROFESSIONAL
PURPOSES
Ms. Josielyne P. Gervacio
 I should be able to …
1. Define Academic Writing and
distinguish it from the other kinds of
writing;
2. Identify the purpose, audience,
language, and style of academic
writing
3. Analyze sample texts using the
standards of academic writing
 Task 1
• Read and evaluate 4 given texts and
answer the following questions after
reading them.
1. In your opinion, which of the texts is an
academic text?
2. Why did you consider it/them an
academic text?
 Task 2
After answering the two initial
questions on your own, discuss your
answers with your classmates.
Compare and contrast your
answers. List down the similarities
and differences and try to infer what
distinguishes an academic text from
other texts.
 Task 3
Fill out this table based on your
evaluation of the texts.
Text A Text B Text C Text D
1. What is the text
about?
2. What is the
writer’s purpose in
writing?
3. Who is the
target reader of
the text?
What is the point of view
used in the text?
How much does the writer
know of the subject?
(writers knowledge)
How did the writer organize
the text? (style)

Did the writer write in a

formal or informal manner?
(tone)
How did the writer choose
words and organize the
sentences? Was the
language formal, informal,
or casual?
Academic writing is
_____________________
_______________________________________
Academic writing requires
________________
_______________________________________
Academic writing is different from a
creative essay, a business letter, and a
legal document in terms of
______________
_______________________________________
 Academic Writing
It is a process that starts with
 posing a question
 problematizing a concept
 evaluating an opinion
And ends in
 answering the question or questions
posed,
 clarifying the problem, and/or arguing for
a stand.
 Examples of Academic Writing
Academic writing is, of course, any formal
written work produced in an academic
setting. While academic writing comes in
many forms, the following are some of the
most common.
Literary analysis: A literary analysis essay
examines, evaluates, and makes an
argument about a literary work. As its
name suggests, a literary analysis essay
goes beyond mere summarization. It
requires careful close reading of one or
multiple texts and often focuses on a
specific characteristic, theme, or motif.
Research paper: A research
paper uses outside information
to support a thesis or make an
argument. Research papers are
written in all disciplines and may
be evaluative, analytical, or
critical in nature.
Dissertation: A dissertation (or thesis) is a
document submitted at the conclusion
of a Ph.D. program. The dissertation is a
book-length summarization of the
doctoral candidate’s research.
Academic papers may be done as a
part of a class, in a program of study, or
for publication in an academic journal
or scholarly book of articles around a
theme, by different authors.
Academic writing has specific
purpose.
To inform
To argue a specific point
To persuade
It also addresses a specific
audience.
Your teacher
Your peers
The academic community
They are people who are assumed
to be knowledgeable on the
subject that you are writing about.
 You have to remember
that…
In academic writing,
 You have to abide by the set rules and
practices in writing
 You have to write in a language that is
appropriate and formal but not too
pretentious
 You have to consider the knowledge and
background of your audience
 You have to make sure that you can
back up your statement with a strong and
valid evidence.
You are expected to engage
readers in a conversation by
giving them clear ideas and points
to evaluate and question
You have to make sure that your
purpose is clear and that your
language , style, and tone are
appropriate to convey your
purpose to your target readers.
 Chapter Quiz
Answer each of the following.
1. What is academic writing?
What are its features?
2. What are the purpose of
academic writing?
3. How is academic writing
different from other kinds of
writing?
 Structure of Academic Writing
The structure of your writing depends on the type of assignment,
but two common structures used in academic writing are the
three-part essay structure and the IMRaD structure. Even shorter
essays that are not divided into titled sections follow such a
structure. Longer texts may be further divided into subsections.
Different disciplines or departments may prefer that students use
a certain structure, so make sure to check with your instructor if
you are not sure what is expected of you.

The three-part essay structure

The three-part essay structure is a basic structure that consists of
introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction and the
conclusion should be shorter than the body of the text. For
shorter essays, one or two paragraphs for each of these sections
can be appropriate. For longer texts or theses, they may be
several pages long.
•
The IMRaD structure
The sections of the IMRaD structure
are Introduction, Methods, Results
and Discussion.
 Language used in Academic Writing
Objective
Explicit
1. Which among the following is not a
characteristic/feature of academic writing?
a. The purpose is clear and language , style,
and tone are appropriate to convey your
purpose to your target readers.
b. It abides by the set rules and practices in
writing
c. It uses a language that is appropriate and
formal but not too simple.
d. It backs up statements with strong and valid
evidences.
2. Which among the following is not
included in the start process of
academic writing?
a. posing a question
b. argue a specific point
c. problematizing a concept
d. evaluating an opinion
3. Which among the following is
not a purpose of academic
writing?
a. To inform
b. To argue a specific point
c. To persuade
d. To entertain
4. Which is true about academic
writing?
a. It uses 2nd person point of view.
b. Academic writing follows a
narrative structure.
c. Academic writing uses formal
and objective language.
d. It seeks to inform and entertain
readers at the same time.
5. Which among the following is not an example of an
academic text?
a. As a learner-centered process approach to second
language (L2) writing, peer response has been widely
adopted and studied since the 1990s (Hyland &
Hyland, 2006). The dialogic nature of peer response
seems to foster multiple support systems (Hyland,
2000) and communicative behaviours (Villamil & de
Guerrero, 1996). L2 research has shown that peer
response can increase chances for meaning
negotiation and language practice (Lockhart & Ng,
1995; Mendonca & Johnson, 1994), encourage
collaborative reading and writing (Tsui & Ng, 2000),
and promote writing revisions (Berg, 1999; Mendonca
& Johnson, 1994; Min, 2006, 2008; Stanley, 1992). These
interactive practices appear to draw upon and
enhance interactional and writing skills.
b. Infection after consumption of fresh duck blood and
undercooked poultry products has been suspected in
some cases of illness. Indeed, transmission to felids
was observed after experimental feeding of infected
chickens to domestic cats, and feeding tigers raw
infected chicken led to outbreaks of illness in Thai
zoos, in which felid‐to‐felid transmissions were also
implicated. Infected birds shed high concentrations of
virus in faeces . Direct intranasal or conjunctival
inoculation while swimming in contaminated water or,
perhaps, inhalation or ingestion of water could have
been potential modes of transmission to some
H5N1‐infected patients. As for human influenza, hand
contamination from fomites and self‐inoculation into
the eye or upper respiratory tract remain possible
modes.
c. Bad Witch? Good Witch? I was very in touch with
my sexuality at a young age. I may not have
understood sexuality as I do know, but I was always in
touch with it. I was 5 years old and having sexual
relations with my teddy bear. My mom walked into a
door that I thought was locked, and discovered me,
and my newfound passion. Being as close as I was to
orgasm I couldnt bring myself to stop. It was a weird
mixture of embarrassment and release. My mother
calmly told me to go take a bath and we would talk
about some things when I got through. This
experience opened another to relation ship with my
mother, and we have always been able to discuss sex
openly. My dad on the other hand had never
discussed sex as he did with my older brother
Brandon. I was comfortable with the situation on hand.
d. Panic attacks are a specific and severe form of
anxiety disorder, typified by the sudden onset of
overwhelming anxiety that presents with a variety of
physical symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of
breath, dizziness and nausea, and may involve fears
of ‘going crazy’ or of impending doom or death
(Ohman, 2000). The prevalence of panic attacks more
than doubled in the population of the United States
from 5.3%in 1980, to 12.7% in 1995 (Goodwin, 2003).
Panic attacks occur in many anxiety disorders and
may be associated with specific events or situations.
However, panic attacks as a central feature of panic
disorder (PD) generally occur ‘out-of-the-blue’
(American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The
prevalence of PD appears to be relatively consistent
across cultures at between 1% and 3% (Weissman et
al., 1997).