ACADEMIC TEXT IS A KIND OF TEXT THAT IS

COMMONLY CHARACTERIZED WITH BEING

FORMAL, STUDIED, RESEARCHED, OBJECTIVE,
EXACT, DIRECT, AND HAS THE ABILITY TO
INFLUENCE ITS READERS.
 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 ten 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. It is also well organized and
planned.
Examples of Academic Text
1. THESIS/ DISSERTATION
2. ESSAY
3. ARTICLE FROM ACADEMIC JOURNALS
4. BOOK REVIEW
5. RESEARCH PAPER
6. CONFERENCE PAPER
7. FEASIBILITY STUDY
8. PROPOSALS
9. REPORTS
10. COLLABORATIVE WIKI ARTICLES
STRUCTURE OF ACADEMIC TEXT
TYPES OF ACADEMIC WRITING
 • The simplest type of academic
writing is descriptive. Its purpose is
to provide facts or information. An
example would be a summary of
DESCRIPTIVE an article or a report of the results
of an experiment.

• The kind of instructions for a purely

descriptive assignment include:
identify, report, record, summarize
and define.
 • Analytical writing includes descriptive writing, but you also re-
organize the facts and information you describe into categories,
groups, parts, types or relationships.

• The kind of instructions for an analytical assignment include: analyze,

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, parts, similarities
and differences. You could use colour-coding, flow charts, tree diagrams or
tables.
 create a name for the relationships and categories you find. For
example, advantages and disadvantages.
 build each section and paragraph around one of the analytical
categories.
 make the structure of your paper clear to your reader, by using
topic sentences and a clear introduction.
 • Persuasive writing has all the features of analytical writing (that is,
information plus re-organizing 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.
• Points of view in academic writing can include an argument, a
recommendation, and interpretation of findings or evaluation of
the work of others. In persuasive writing, each claim you make
needs to be supported by some evidence, for example a
reference to research findings or published sources.
PERSUASIVE • The kinds of instructions for a persuasive assignment include:
argue, evaluate, discuss, and take a position.

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?
 look for patterns in the data or references. Where is the evidence
strongest?
 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?
• To develop your argument:

 list the different reasons for your point of view

 think about the different types and sources of evidence which you can use to support
your point of view
 consider different ways that your point of view is similar to, and different from, the points of
view of other researchers
 look for various ways to break your point of view into parts. For example, cost
effectiveness, environmental sustainability, scope of real-world application.

• To present your argument, make sure:

 your text develops a coherent argument where all the individual claims work together to
support your overall point of view
 your reasoning for each claim is clear to the reader
 your assumptions are valid
 you have evidence for every claim you make
 you use evidence that is convincing and directly relevant.
 • 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
CRITICAL own point of view on an issue or topic,
critical writing requires you to consider at
least two points of view, including your own.

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.
You need to:

accurately summarize all or part of the work. This could include identifying
the main interpretations, assumptions or methodology.
have an opinion about the work. Appropriate types of opinion could
include pointing out some problems with it, proposing an alternative
approach that would be better, and/or defending the work against the
critiques of others
provide evidence for your point of view. Depending on the specific
assignment and the discipline, different types of evidence may be
appropriate, such as logical reasoning, reference to authoritative sources
and/or research data.
NON-ACADEMIC TEXT
NON-ACADEMIC WRITING
•Non-academic texts are articles
written for the mass public. These could
be written and published quickly by
anyone. The authors of these texts may
not be authorized or don't have any
credentials in writing and they may also
use informal, casual or sometimes slang
words in their texts.
• To site an example, the texts in 'Wikipedia' could also
be considered as a non-academic text because the
information provided there could be revised by
anyone so we can't consider that as a credible
source at all times. Another example are the
'Facebook posts or articles', most of the time the
information provided on these posts are unreliable
and often use slang, casual and colloquial words.

• Non-academic text other examples are DIARY,

COMICS or any article written in an informal way or
uses jargon and colloquial words.
• Non-academic writing refers to writing that is
informal and intended for a lay audience, often
without research or sources involved. Examples
include letters, blog posts, newspaper and
magazine articles, and fiction.

• Non-academic writing may be considered that

writing which is personal, emotional, impressionistic,
or subjective in nature. Such writing is often found in
personal journal entries, reader response writing,
memoirs, any kind of autobiographical writing, and
letters, e-mails, and text messages.