WRITING FOR ACADEMIC

PURPOSES

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LECTURER:
MS. FLORA MWANGI
COURSE OUTLINE

From the word document

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 DEFINITIONS

• Academic writing is, essentially, the writing you have to do for your
university courses.

• Your instructors may have different names for academic writing

assignments (essay, paper, research paper, term paper, argumentative
paper/essay, analysis paper/essay, informative essay etc), but all of these
assignments have the same goal and principles.

• Match from the pdf book page

 SKILLS OF ACADEMIC WRITING/
LEARNING OUTCOME

• Excellent Research skills

• Develop an academic argument

• Know your audience

• Good Organization skills

• Writing clearly and consistently. Use simple and clear sentences

• Using correct grammar, punctuation and spelling

• Using more formal and considered language

 PRINCIPLES OF ACADEMIC WRITING

1. Clear Purpose.
The goal of your paper is to answer the question you posed as your
topic. Your question gives you a purpose.
The most common purposes in academic writing are to:
• Persuade
• Analyze/synthesize
• Inform
2. Audience Engagement.
As with all writing, academic writing is directed to a specific audience
in mind. So you will have to engage them with your ideas and catch
their interest with your writing style, appropriate reasoning and
evidence to convince them of your ideas.
3. Clear Point of View.
Although you will present other people’s ideas and research, the goal of
your paper is to show what you think about these things. Your paper will
have and support your own original idea about the topic. This is called
the thesis statement, and it is your answer to the question.
4. Single Focus.

• Every paragraph (even every sentence) in your paper will support your
thesis statement. There will be no unnecessary, irrelevant, unimportant,
or contradictory information

5. Logical Organization.

• Academic writing follows a standard organizational pattern. For

academic essays and papers, there is an introduction, body, and
conclusion. Each paragraph logically leads to the next one.
Principles of AW Cont…
6. Strong Support.
• Each body paragraph will have sufficient and relevant support for the
topic sentence and thesis statement. This support will consist of facts,
examples, description, personal experience, and expert opinions and
quotations.

7. Clear and Complete Explanations.

• This is very important! As the writer, you need to do all the work for
the reader. The reader should not have to think hard to understand your
ideas, logic, or organization.
8. Effective Use of Research.
Your paper should refer to a variety of current, high-quality,
professional and academic sources. That means that source material will
be introduced, analyzed, explained, and then cited. Research and APA
Style Guide 2010 covers this topic in depth.

9. Correct APA Style.

All academic papers should follow the guidelines of the American
Psychological Association as found in Research and APA Style Guide
2010, regarding in-text citations, the reference list, and format
Principles of Academic Writing cont…
10. Writing Style

• Because this is your work, you should use your own words whenever
possible.

• Do not try to write like a boring, overly formal scholarly article.

• Use the natural conversational style that you would use on a daily
basis.
 LESSON TWO

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 ACADEMIC FORMAT, STRUCTURE AND STYLE

Subtopics include:

• The Academic Format: Introduction, body, conclusion

• Paragraph and sentence structure (topic sentence, supporting

examples, transition sentence)

• Using more formal and considered language

• Avoiding the use of the first person (I)

 STRUCTURE

• Simple, clear structure

1. A good structure to your Essay consists of an Introduction, main
body and conclusion
2. Reports, case studies and literature reviews should have this
structure
• Front Matter
• Abstract
• List of contents
• List of tables
• Declaration
• Acknowledgement
• Main body
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology/ case study
• Findings
• Discussion
• conclusion

• Back Matter
• References
• Appendices
NB: Our Main Focus will be the Essay
 FORMAT AND STYLE
• Sentence structure
It is a myth that academic writing has to consist of very long, complicated
sentences. If you write in this way, your reader will forget what you said
at the beginning of your sentence and will soon become lost.
Your job as a writer is to present your information and argument to your
reader clearly so they are not left wondering exactly what you mean.
Each of your sentences should be able to stand alone as a sub point to the
‘big idea’ of your paragraph.
A good strategy to check for clarity of phrasing, sentence length and
punctuation placement is to read your work aloud.
 SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• Normally, a complete sentence contains a subject, a verb and an object.
• In Academic Writing, a typical topic sentence, should be concise with a
clear purpose. The purpose determines the kind of essay that you will
be writing. (opinion, cause and effect, argumentative,
information/descriptive essay etc.)
• The topic sentence contains, the topic and controlling idea.
• Correct the following sentences to make a logical topic sentence
• I have an older brother
• There is a beach near my house
• Cigarette smoking
 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE

Unity and Coherence

• You may have heard that the most important feature of a paragraph is that it is one
'big idea'.

• That means that you should check each paragraph and make sure that all content
relates to one topic.

• Paragraphs are the building blocks of your essay. Although they might vary according
to your subject area and type of essay.

• Each one should have the same core elements.

 PARAGRAPH REVIEW
• A paragraph is a group of sentences about a topic.
• A typical paragraph begins with a topic sentence, which introduces
the topic. The supporting sentences that support the idea in the topic
sentence with explanations, reasons and other details.
• The concluding sentences that brings the paragraph to an end.
• Paragraph formatting
• One inch Margin on both sides
• Indent the first sentence
• Space your paragraphs
Using more formal and considered language

• Academic writing is all about accuracy and your choice of words

should be made carefully.
• Always avoid using informal words and colloquial expressions as
these don’t look very professional. For example, try not to include
contractions (can’t, isn’t) in your writing, simply write these out in full
(cannot, is not).
• If you use any abbreviations, for example: OT, NC, make sure you
have explained them in full first as well as showing your reader the
abbreviation you will use: Occupational Therapy (OT), National
Curriculum (NC) from then on you can just use the abbreviation.
Avoiding the use of the first person (I)

In academic writing, you should usually avoid using the first person;
• For example, never make statements such as: Based upon the literature
I have read, I think that… Instead, you need to make it clear in your
writing that you are being objective;
• Use statements such as: Based upon the literature, it could be argued
that…This shows your reader that you are not presenting your own
thoughts and views but providing them with an argument that is based
upon the research and evidence in the literature you have read.
Avoiding the use of the first person (I)
• How to avoid first language
1. Be Objective not Subjective
2. Use passive voice not active voice
• Correct the following sentences
a. I collected data from Berbera
b. I used questionnaire and interview as the method of collecting data.
c. We interviewed 150 respondents
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LESSON THREE
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TYPES OF ACADEMIC WRITING.

• There are four main types of academic writing

• Descriptive
• Analytical
• Persuasive
• Critical.
• Each of these types of writing has specific language features and
purposes.
DESCRIPTIVE

• This is the simplest mode of academic writing .

• Its purpose is to provide facts or information.

• An example would be a summary of an article or a report of the results

of an experiment.

• The kinds of instructions for a purely descriptive assignment include:

identify, report, record, summarise and define.
ANALYTICAL
• Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, but you also re-
organise the facts and information you describe into categories,
groups, parts, types or relationships.

• For example, if you’re comparing two theories, you might break your
comparison into several parts, for example: how each theory deals
with social context, how each theory deals with language learning, and
how each theory can be used in practice.
• The kinds of instructions for an analytical assignment include:
analyse, compare, contrast, relate, examine.
ANALYTICAL

• To make your writing more analytical:

• Spend plenty of time planning. Brainstorm the facts and ideas, and
try different ways of grouping them, according to patterns, similarities
and differences.
• Create a name for the relationships and categories you find. For
example, advantages and disadvantages. Most important, least
important etc
PERSUASIVE
• In most academic writing, you are required to go at least one extra step
further than analytical writing, to persuasive writing.
• Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (i.e
information plus re-organising the information), with the addition of
your own point of view.
• Most essays are persuasive, and there is a persuasive element in at
least the discussion and conclusion of a research article.
• The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment include: argue,
evaluate and discuss
PERSUASIVE
To help reach your own point of view on the facts or ideas:
• Read some other researchers' points of view on the topic. Who do you
feel is the most convincing?
• List several different interpretations.
• What are the real-life implications of each one?
• Which ones are likely to be most useful or beneficial?
• Which ones have some problems?
• Discuss the facts and ideas with someone else. Do you agree with their
point of view?
CRITICAL

• Critical writing is common for research, postgraduate and advanced

undergraduate writing.

• It has all the features of persuasive writing, with the added feature of
at least one other point of view.

• While persuasive writing requires you to have your own point of view
on an issue or topic, critical writing requires you to consider at least
two points of view, including your own.
CRITICAL
• For example, you may explain a researcher's interpretation or
argument and then:
• Evaluate the merits of the argument, or
• Give your own alternative interpretation.
• Examples of critical writing assignments include
• a critique of a journal article, or
• a literature review that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of
existing research.
• The kinds of instructions for critical writing include: critique, debate,
disagree, evaluate.
CRITICAL
You need to:
• Accurately summarise all or part of the work.
• Identifying the main interpretations, assumptions or methodology.
• Have an opinion about the work.
• Point out some problems and propose an alternative approach that
would be better, or
• Defend the work against the critiques of others
• Provide evidence for your point of view.
• Logical reasoning, reference to appropriate sources and research
data.
IN CONCLUSION:
• In many academic texts you will need to use more than one type.

• You will use critical writing in the literature review to show where there is a gap
or opportunity in the existing research
• The methods section will be mostly descriptive to summarise the methods used
to collect and analyse information
• The results section will be mostly descriptive and analytical as you report on the
data you collected
• The discussion section is more analytical, as you relate your findings back to
your research questions, and also persuasive, as you propose your interpretations
of the findings.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
• In Task 1, candidates are presented with a graph, table, chart or
diagram and are asked to describe, summarise or explain the
information in their own words. They may be asked to describe and
explain data, describe the stages of a process, how something works or
describe an object or event. (Example)

• In Task 2, candidates are asked to write an essay in response to a point

of view, argument or problem

• Responses to Task 1 and Task 2 should be written in a formal style

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LESSON FOUR
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 4.1 ABBREVIATIONS
Other
Acronyms
abbreviation
Abbreviations are widely used for convenience are made up
s are read as
and space saving. Students need to be familiar of the initial
Types of Abbreviations sets of
with general and academic abbreviations. Shortened letters of a
individual
words: name and are
letters. They
use normally pronounced
include
even without as words. or
names of
knowledge phrase e.g.
countries,
eg Fridge, AIDS =
organisations
TV, Memo Acquired
and
Immune
companies
Deficiency
eg USA,
Syndrome
PTO
 ACADEMIC GRAMMAR
• Adjectives, nouns and verbs
• Use of articles
• Use of conjunctions
• Prefixes and suffixes
• Prepositions
• Use of punctuations : capital letters, apostrophes, colons and semicolons, quotation marks, hyphens,
exclamation marks and parenthesis
• Singulars and plurals
• Synonyms and Antonyms
• Active and passive voice
• Tenses
THE ESSAY STRUCTURE

A STANDARD ESSAY FORMAT :

• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

• Reference: Academic writing guide

 THE INTRODUCTION
• The Introduction catches the readers’ attention, provides background
information, and lets the reader know what to expect.
• It also has the thesis statement.
• What is a thesis statement?
• The Introduction is funnel shaped or an Inverted triangle
 The body
• The body paragraphs support the thesis statement.

• Each body paragraph has one main point to support the thesis, which is named in
a topic sentence.

• Each point is then supported in the paragraph with logical reasoning and
evidence.

• Each sentence connects to the one before and after it.

• The readers do not have to work to find the connection between ideas i.e Unity
and coherence must be upholded
THE CONCLUSION

An acceptable conclusion performs the following functions

1) Restates the paper’s thesis using different words

2) Summarizes the main points of the essay

3) Shows the reader the significance of the paper’s findings.

LESSON FIVE

THE WRITING PROCESS

APA PAPER FORMATTING

• American Psychological Association (APA) format is;

• double spaced lines
• one-inch margins,
• Font: Use times new roman
• Font size 12
• Justify
• Bolding the titles and headlines
PLAGIARISM
• Plagiarism is using someone else’s work as if it were your own.
• It is academic dishonesty. 
Avoiding plagiarism
To Avoid plagiarism, You need to:
 Paraphrase
 Summarise
 Use of Quotation
 Referencing
• Know when to quote a source and when to paraphrase it
• link information from sources with your own ideas
• Correctly use referencing conventions.
Quotation

• When you quote a source, you use an extract exactly as it was used
in/by the source.

• You indicate a quote by using quotation marks or indenting the text for
long quotes.

• For example

“This is the writing of the UN”

Paraphrase

• This means putting the author’s ideas in your own words.

• It’s usually better to paraphrase than quote, as it shows a higher level
of thinking, understanding and writing skills.
• To rephrase ideas you need a large vocabulary of formal and technical
words for the subject matter, as well as grammatical flexibility.
• This is where the concept of synonyms and Antonyms is highly usable
Summarising

• This involves Condensing/Reducing the information that you read

• During the process of Summarising:

Write only the main ideas
Do not use examples or too much specifications
Referencing

There are 2 types of

referencing

1.
2. References
In text citations
1. IN TEXT CITATIONS
 It is important to refer correctly to the work of other writers that you have used.
The author is appreciated and also it avoids Plagiarism
• In text citations are quotations cited inside the main body of the Essay or report
• For every information borrowed from somewhere eg book, Thesis etc must be
cited
• Format
• Write only the first name and year. The two are then put into brackets
• Eg (Ahmed, 2019)
• If the authors are 3 or more, use the abbreviation et al
• Eg (Ahmed et.al, 2019)
2. REFERENCES
• References are written at the back of the thesis/Report/Dessertation
• It is a major part of the Back matter
• All sources that have been cited in the text MUST be referenced
• To reference, use the following APA format
• Author (year). Title of the book or journal or Title of the book or
journal. Edition. Area of publishing, the publisher.
Example:
• Ridener, B. & Fritzer, P. (2004). Mathematics content for elementary
and middle school teachers. Boston, MA: Pearson.
PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. Cite and Reference the following Information

• A book with the title ‘Occupational Health and safety’, published in

Sydney in 2004 by McGraw-Hill, with the authors Stewart Marcus and
Heyes Brooklin . This is the second edition

i. Citation ____________

ii. Reference __________

EDITING AND PROOF READING

• None of us get it right first time.

• James Michener author of over 40 books said “I'm not a very good
writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter.”

• Don't submit your first draft, make sure you allow time to edit.
EDITING AND PROOF READING

Proof reading involves checking through a piece of writing in search of

actual errors such as:
1. Spelling mistakes,
2. Repetition of words
3. Punctuation and grammar
4. Coherence of sentences
Editing and Proof reading
• You can do this by:
1. giving someone else to check the mistakes for you
2. doing it yourself.
• If you do it yourself:
• Allow some time to pass after you finish the write up. Don't try and do
it all at once, work in short bursts so that you don't lose concentration.
• Start with the bigger picture then narrow down to paragraphs
• Read it aloud
 THE WRITING PROCESS
1. Choose a topic.
2. Think (brainstorm).
3. Research.
4. Discover your thesis.
5. Plan (outline).
6. Write.
7. Revise.
8. Edit.
9. Proofread.
THE
END
Enjoy your new level
of knowledge !!!