Ⅳ Academic Writing Skills

A. Recognizing Different Styles

Different styles of writing have different features. Styles may be formal or informal, and will usually vary to fit the audience and the medium of publication. Moreover, the style will also affect how you read and interpret the document concerned. Understanding the writing style will help you put your writing into perspective.

Task

Read the following texts and choose the items from the box to decide where they are taken from.

1) At AT & Bell Laboratories infrared lasers are being used to capture live microbes. Working like optical tweezers, the pressure of the laser light traps minute objects in its focus point. Researchers are using the device to move around viruses, bacteria and other cells that they are studying under the microscope. After several hours, however,the focus light will heat up the microbes to a boiling point.

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2) All we ask is that you spend two hours of your time attending a Barratt Sales presentation. There, you'll discover the benefits of timeshare. At Barratt we call it Holiday Ownership because that's why it really is. You'll be under no obligation to purchase, but we think you may be tempted.

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3) There were only two Americans stopping at the hotel. They did not know any of the people they passed on the stairs on their way to and from their room. Their room was on the second floor facing the sea. It also faced the public garden and the war monument. There were big palms and green benches in the public garden. In the good weather there was always an artist with his easel. Artists liked the way the palms grew and the bright colors of the hotels facing the garden and the sea.

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4) Although many studies have already been done, more studies are needed to determine the effects of microcomputer-assisted instruction in various teaching situations.

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5) The parents of a seven-year-old Australian boy woke to find a giant python crushing and trying to swallow him. The incident occurred in Cairns, Queensland and the boy's mother, Mrs. Dryden said, “It was like a horror movie. It was a hot night. He suddenly started screaming. We rushed to the bedroom to find a huge snake trying to strangle him.” Mrs. Dryden and her husband, Peter, tried to stab the creature with knives, but the python bit the boy several times before escaping.

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B. Choosing Appropriate Styles

Academic texts are usually precise, reliable, formal, and structured because the writers always want to ensure that their work is clearly understood, and there is no room for ambiguity. They also want to justify their point of view. So they support their writing with evidence, either from their own work, or that of others.

Tasks

1 Suppose you are going to write an essay as an assignment. Think about which of the following sentences you would like to use in your writing and why. Then fill in the blanks of the table on the next page.

1) He couldn't finish his work in the time given.

2) The first set of results were compiled and presented by the other group of students.

3) I would like to focus on the following areas of research: ...

4) They argued that this methodology was unreliable.

5) In addition, the data was used to focus on the following hypothesis.

6) I enjoyed my English class with you and I am having a good experience this semester.

7) At about 12: 00 p.m. on August 21, 1984, she told us, I came out of the kitchen to toss out some water.

8) We, at any rate, will continue to keep an open mind.

9) Is the menu at that French restaurant giving you trouble? Then you might need the Voice, a hand-held computer that translates spoken English into French, Spanish,German or Italian.

10) There is an emerging consensus that a concerted effort on a national level will be required to capture the glittering prizes that a new technology offers.

2 Read the following paragraph about the picture. Then rewrite it in academic style.

Why are there so many jams on the roads these days? One thing is that public transportation like trains is so dear. A long time ago, cars cost a lot, but now, unfortunately,they've got a lot cheaper. Another thing is that driving is a lot nicer than waiting for a bus. The trouble is that if everyone buys a car, the roads get packed.

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3 Read an article or a book extract in your subject area and identify examples to match the characteristics of academic writing in the table. Make a list of these findings for future reference.