Definition.

The term academic writing refers to the forms of expository and

argumentative prose used by university students, faculty, and researchers to convey a
body of information about a particular subject. Generally, academic writing is expected
to be precise, semi-formal, impersonal, and objective.
A simple definition of academic writing is hard to come by because it refers to writing done for
several reasons. Also, academic writing is used in many different forms. Following are
characteristics, explanations, examples, and a list of works where academic writing is used.
Read more at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-definitions/definition-of-academicwriting.html#GgbVdJgpLFVOfBwv.99
A broad definition of academic writing is any writing done to fulfill a requirement of a college or
university. Academic writing is also used for publications that are read by teacher and
researchers or presented at conferences. A very broad definition of academic writing could
include any writing assignment given in an academic setting.
Read more at http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/word-definitions/definition-of-academicwriting.html#GgbVdJgpLFVOfBwv.99

The Structure of Academic

Texts
An important feature of academic texts is that they are organized in a
specific way; they have a clear structure. This structure makes it easier
for your reader to navigate your text and in that way understand the
material better, but it also makes it easier for you to organize your
material. The structure should be clear on all levels of the academic
text: the entire text, each section, every paragraph, and even
sentences.

The Structure of the Entire Text and of Each Section

Most academic texts in the sciences adhere to the model called imrad, which is an
acronym for introduction, methods and materials, results, and discussion. Imrad is often
illustrated with the following image (see explanation below).

The model should however be complemented with sections for aims and research
questions, as these make up the very backbone of the academic text. They often
appear towards the end of the introduction, but sometimes after a separate heading.
Below is an overview of what should be included in each of the sections of the academic
text, as well as advice on how you can make the text coherent and how to structure your
text.

Aim
The aim determines the entire academic text and the content in all its parts. The aim
captures what you intend to achieve with your study. One example could be that the aim
was to investigate how effective nursing interventions are for smoking cessation. It is
crucial that the aim is the exact same in every part of the academic text. The title should
highlight the same aspects as the explicit aim, and all the subsequent parts should have
the same focus.

Research questions
The aim is often rather general, and may have to be narrowed down with research
questions. Research questions are, in other words, specific questions that will enable
you to reach your aim. For the example above, the research questions could be What
nursing interventions exist? and How many patients are still smoke free after one
year?. Remember that there must be a clear link between your aim and your research
questions, but they should not be identical. Only ask questions that will help you to fulfil
your aim.
If you have several research questions, you should consider the order of these. Is there
a logical order, so that some questions may only be understood after having read
others? Are some questions more important than others? Place the research questions
in an order that makes sense to you and then keep to the order in the rest of your thesis.
Your aim and your thesis must be delimited and narrow, as we can only research a
small part of the world in our studies. That is the reason that the parts that concern what
we have done in our study methods and results are narrow in the imrad model
above.

Introduction
In order to make our narrow research interesting to others we must however place it in a
larger context. For that reason the introduction of the text must start with something
much more general than your research questions. It is often said that the introduction
should be shaped like a funnel (as it is in the imrad model above) that means that you
should start in a broad and general manner and then gradually zoom in on your own
specific and narrow topic. The text needs to start with something that your reader can
relate to, and something that shows what field your research will contribute to, and how.
The introduction should provide everything the reader needs to know in order to
understand your aim, but also to understand why the aim is important. Convincing your
reader that your aim is important often entails showing that there is something we do not
know, but that we would benefit from knowing perhaps in order to provide better care
or develop a new drug or a new treatment method. It could also entail indicating that
there is a problem with an existing method and that alternative methods are needed.
When you have accounted for the context and pointed to the importance of new
knowledge in the field, your reader will be well prepared when you present your aim and
research questions towards the end of the introduction. (As mentioned above, the aim
and research questions are sometimes placed under a separate heading, which may be
placed right after the introduction.)
Please note that the introduction may also be called background. Sometimes the two
terms are used for the exact same thing, but sometimes there is a difference. There may
be a short introduction that raises interest and gives a very short introduction to the
field, and which is followed by a more extensive background section. Sometimes your
instructions specify what parts your thesis or assignment should include, and what
should be included in each part but if not, you could ask your teacher. If you are
writing a thesis you can also examine previous theses from your field in order to get an
idea how they normally look. (Just remember that theses may differ from each other
significantly, so in order to get a good perception, it may be a good idea to look at
several theses.)

Methods and Materials

In the methods section you should show your reader exactly how you have conducted
your research, that is, what you have done to be able to fulfill your aim and answer your

research questions. Firstly, your reader should understand how you got the results you
did, and secondly, they should be able to duplicate your research. But what do we mean
by exactly how you conducted your research? You do not need to tell your readers that
you went to the library or that you talked to Barbro the librarian. Neither do you need to
tell your readers about all the ideas that you had but did not use. The most important
thing is to focus on what you actually did in your study, as well as account for the
choices you made, when necessary.
It is helpful if you begin your methods section by writing something overarching about
your method, mentioning your study design. If you tell your readers right away that your
work is a literature review or that your method is to interview nurses using a semistructured interview, it is easier for the readers to understand than if you go straight to
the details about your search process or the study group, without telling your
readers what you intend to do with them.

Results
In the results section you should account for your results in an objective manner, without
interpreting them (that you do in the discussion part). If you study several aspects
related to your research questions you should account for the results in the same order
that you posed your research questions; the consistent order makes the text coherent
and helps your reader follow your points.
It may help your readers if you use illustrations such as tables and charts when
presenting your results. The illustrations should be clearly linked to your text, but you
should not repeat all the information provided in the chart. Instead you can account for
the most important aspects, that is, tell your reader what you want them to observe.
Please note that tables and charts should be understandable without reading the body
text, so it is important that you have a caption that indicates what your picture illustrates.

Discussion
The discussion part is the part in which you interpret your results, and it is also the part
that takes longest to write. The reason is that you do not merely write about something
that you have already done you actually write and analyze at the same time. All parts
of your discussion should focus on the analysis of your results there should not be too
much repetition from your background, your methods and materials, or your results

(sometimes you may need to remind your readers about things that you have accounted
for in these parts, but there cannot be too much focus on them). Please read the section
about the principles of paragraphing and topic sentences and make sure that each
paragraph except the very first one contains some analysis of your topic. A common
outline of the discussion is the following:
The first paragraph reminds your reader about the aim, preferably hinting at how you will
contribute to the field. You may for example write This is the first study to examine the
correlation between Then you briefly account for the most important parts of your
results, perhaps linking them to your hypothesis if you have one. You may say that the
first paragraph makes for a shortcut into the discussion: it should enable your readers to
understand the discussion without reading all the sections of your thesis.
The rest of the discussion should analyze and discuss your results. It may be helpful to
keep the following questions in mind:

What do your results mean?

How do they relate to previous research? What are the reasons for potential
differences between your study and previous research? What do potential
similarities indicate?

How may your method have affected your results?

What are the strengths and weaknesses of the study? How do they affect your
results?

How are your results important to future development? What are the clinical
implications, for example?

What kind of research is needed in the field in the future, and why?

It is also common to divide the discussion into two parts, a results discussion and a
methods discussion. If you do that, you first focus on the results of your study, and then
scrutinize your methods.

Conclusion

In your conclusion you should fulfill your aim and account for what you have found in
your study. When you write your conclusion you have a golden opportunity to check and
make sure that all the parts of your thesis are connected and that the same parts are
central in each part of the text in other words, that you actually do what you promise to
do.
Please remember that the conclusion should not merely be a brief repetition of your
results in that case your discussion would seem fairly pointless. Focus instead on
what your results may imply after careful consideration (consideration that you have
outlined in your discussion).
However, accounting for what you have found in your study does not mean that you can
or even should say anything for sure clear conclusions cannot often be drawn from a
small study, if ever. Focus instead on what your results may imply and it rarely hurts to
note that more research is needed.

The Structure of Paragraphs

The academic text has an expected structure even in each paragraph. Each paragraph
should begin with something more general and then gradually become more specific.
Each paragraph should also be about one thing, and each paragraph should add
something new and contribute with something that no other paragraph contributes with.
To be able to achieve a clear structure in each paragraph you can use topic sentences.

The Structure of Sentences

Sentence structure also affects your text and how it is perceived. What comes first in a
sentence is often given more attention and appears to be most important. Read more
about the structure of sentences.

Making Your Structure Visible and Indicating How Different

Parts Relate to Each Other

A clear structure also entails that different parts are clearly connected to each other. Two
ways of achieving a clear structure are to use transition words and start sentences with
what your readers have just read about.

Features of academic writing

Introduction
Try this exercise.
Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or
theme with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without
digressions or repetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As
well as this it is in the standard written form of the language.There are eight
main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic writing
is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and
responsible. It uses language precisely and accurately.

Complexity
Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language. Written
language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more varied
vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases.
Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity,
including more subordinate clauses and more passives.
Complexity

Formality
Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that in an essay
you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
Formality

Precision
In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.

Precision

Objectivity
Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has
fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main
emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the
arguments you want to make, rather than you. For that reason, academic
writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).
Objectivity

Explicitness
Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it
is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how
the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made
explicit by the use of different signalling words.
Explicitness

Accuracy
Academic writing uses vocabulary accurately. Most subjects have words with
narrow specific meanings. Linguistics distinguishes clearly between
"phonetics" and "phonemics"; general English does not.
Accuracy

Hedging
In any kind of academic writing you do, it is necessary to make decisions
about your stance on a particular subject, or the strength of the claims you are
making. Different subjects prefer to do this in different ways.
A technique common in certain kinds of academic writing is known by linguists
as a hedge.
Hedging

Responsibility
In academic writing you must be responsible for, and must be able to provide
evidence and justification for, any claims you make. You are also responsible
for demonstrating an understanding of any source texts you use.
Responsibility

^
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses provide language instruction for
academic study in American universities. Language skills addressed include: listening
comprehension, fluency development, oral intelligibility, reading, grammar, writing, and
vocabulary development. Academic study skills addressed include: test taking and note
taking skills, academic vocabulary usage, critical reading and writing, comprehending
academic lectures, research and library skills, formal composition forms and
development, including research papers.
Students in the Academic Track may apply for conditional admission to the University of
Delaware and to any of our many partner universities. See Conditional Admissions.
English for Academic Purposes courses are available to students in several programs,
including the Intensive English Program (IEP), the Conditional Admissions Program
(CAP), and the Accelerated University English Program (AUEP).

English for Academic Purposes

Listening/Speaking, Level V and VI
These courses develop academic listening and speaking skills for advanced level
students who are interested in undergraduate or graduate study in the United States or
other English-speaking countries. Learner outcomes include general academic
vocabulary development, listening skill improvement in an academic setting,

development of effective note-taking skills, and improved academic discussion and

presentation skills. Students build skills through practice with an ESL pronunciation text
and materials that use authentic academic content-based lectures and American
university texts. Activities include formal presentations, discussions, and reports on
elementary research. (Students in the CAP program must complete the High Advanced
Level English for Academic Purposes courses, earning grades of B or higher, before
matriculating in their degree program of choice.) Successful completion of these two
courses satisfy conditional admission requirements.

English for Academic Purposes

Reading/Writing, Level V and VI
This course develops academic reading, writing, and research skills of advanced
students who are interested in undergraduate or graduate programs in the United States
or other English-speaking countries. Students learn and develop the skills for university
and college content courses. Learner outcomes include academic vocabulary
development, improvement in reading and comprehension of university textbook
materials, short stories, magazine articles, and on-line/library materials, and
development of academic essay and research paper writing skills. Materials include a
reader with authentic selections from American university texts, short stories from online libraries, and other authentic reading materials. Students read and present material
both verbally and in writing, and write essays, and complete a research paper up to ten
pages in length. (Students in the CAP program must complete the High Advanced Level
English for Academic Purposes courses, earning grades of B or higher, before
matriculating in their degree program of choice.) Successful completion of these two
courses satisfy conditional admission requirements.

Listening/Speaking
Programs

for

Graduate

Level VI
This course develops academic listening and speaking skills for advanced level students
who are interested in graduate study at an English-speaking university. Learner
outcomes

include

general

academic

vocabulary

development,

listening

skill

improvement in an graduate-school setting, development of effective note-taking skills,

and improved seminar, discussion, and presentation skills. Students build skills through
practice with an ESL pronunciation text and materials that use authentic academic
content-based lectures as well as authentic supplemental materials. Activities include
formal presentations, discussions, and reports on research. (Graduate-CAP students
must complete this class, earning grades of B+ of higher, before matriculating in their
graduate program.)

Reading/Writing for Graduate Programs

Level VI
This course develops students ability to read and write graduate-level texts, including
summaries, definitions, essays, bibliographies, critiques, and data commentaries. Each
student also conducts in-depth library research into a topic of interest in their graduate
field of study and writes an analytical literature review. The course includes a
comprehensive review of academic written English grammar. Students must hold a
completed undergraduate degree (bachelors degree) to take GRAD VI classes. This
course is suitable for anyone considering starting a graduate degree (masters or
doctorate) at an English-speaking university. (Graduate-CAP students, including MBACAP students, must complete this class, earning grades of B+ of higher, before
matriculating in their graduate program.)

Reading/Writing in Your Field

Level V and VI
This course develops advanced academic reading and writing skills for students who
have completed the English for Academic Purposes courses. Students do academic
work in their field of interest including research and research paper writing. Learner
outcomes for the course include improved reading comprehension, writing proficiency,
academic vocabulary, and research skills, all in a single content area of the students
choice. The reading materials are authentic and from publications in the chosen field.
Students will write brief reports on their research and present them to the class.
This class does not satisfy conditional admission requirements.

Apply

now

for

the

Intensive

English

Apply now for the Conditional Admissions Program (CAP)

Program

(IEP)