Academic writing conventions: academic language, paragraphs and how an argument flows

This week’s topics

Academic writing conventions: academic language, paragraphs and how an argument flows

1. Academic language
2. Paragraphs and argument flows

What you will be able to do

• 1.2 Explain different academic writing conventions.

Activity

Start with this week’s 4 videos, then discuss how they apply to this week’s topic and note one example from a real business.

Study materials

Videos

• Using nominalised verbs and adjectives to write effective arguments · Oak National Academy, Key Stage 4 (GCSE level) · plays on Oak’s website · for registered students
• Hedging (cautious language) in Academic Writing · YouTube · EAPFoundation.com · 14 min · for registered students
• PEEL Paragraphs (OR: how do I make sure my academic writing is doing what it needs to do?) · YouTube · University of Staffordshire Student Life · 8 min · for registered students
• An Introduction to Cohesion in Academic Writing · YouTube · AWUC · 8 min · for registered students

Further resources

• Writing for Success, ch. 6.1: Purpose, audience, tone and content · PDF · Saylor (2012), section 6.1 on formal and informal tone for different readers; pp. 216–231 · for registered students
• Writing for Success, ch. 9.2: Writing body paragraphs · PDF · Saylor (2012), section 9.2 on topic sentences, evidence and explanation – the basis of PEEL paragraphs; pp. 345–352 · for registered students
• Writing for Success, ch. 9.3: Organizing your writing · PDF · Saylor (2012), section 9.3 on ordering ideas and using transitions for argument flow; pp. 353–358 · for registered students
• Is academic writing becoming more informal? · Open-access article · Hyland & Jiang (2017), English for Specific Purposes. Corpus study of which informal features (I, questions, contractions) appear in academic journals and which do not. · for registered students
• Metadiscourse: What is it and where is it going? · Open-access article · Hyland (2017), Journal of Pragmatics. Readable overview of signposting and linking language that guides readers through an argument. · for registered students