Lesson 2: STRUCTURE OF
ACADEMIC TEXT
BODY
TEXT STRUCTURE
• develops the question,
• refers to how information is “What is the topic about?”.
organized in a composition. • considered as the heart of
• the writer could organize the essay because it
his material appropriate for expounds the specific ideas
the level of the readers. for the readers to have a
(So this way, the reader could comprehend better understanding of the
better the message being conveyed by the topic.
writer.) (usually is the largest part of the essay)
TWO KINDS OF STRUCTURE OF CONCLUSION
ACADEMIC TEXT
• closely related to the
1. 3-PART ESSAY STRUCTURE introduction and is often
2. IMRAD STRUCTURE described as its ‘mirror
image’.
3-PART ESSAY STRUCTURE
• usually begins by briefly
• is a basic structure that summarizing the main
consists of introduction, scope or structure of the
body and conclusion. paper, ends with a more
• introduction and the general statement about
conclusion should be how this topic relates to its
shorter than the body of the context.
text.
(shorter essays - one or two paragraphs for
each of these sections can be appropriate THE IMRAD STRUCTURE
longer texts or theses - they maybe several
pages long) 01. Introduction
02. Method
INTRODUCTION 03. Results
• to clearly tell the reader the 04. Discussion
topic, purpose and structure
INTRODUCTION
of the paper.
• introduction and the • uses introduction to show
conclusion should be that the author is
shorter than the body of the knowledgeable about his
text. field of study.
(introduction might be between 10 and 20 • contains summary of
percent of the length of the whole paper, most existing research on the
general information, the core of the subject, a thesis statement,
introduction, where you show the overall and an introduction to the
topic, purpose, your point of view, the most field, the current situation
specific information, describing the scope and
or to prevailing practice.
structure of your paper)
(introduction might be between 10and 20 PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
percent of the length of the whole paper)
METHOD
DESCRIPTIVE
• to show that he arrived at
his results by applying valid • this type of structure
and reliable methods. He features a detailed
explains what he did, his description of something to
research, treatment or give the reader a mental
professional intervention, picture.
and how he did it. Signal Words
• accounts for and documents
what the author did and did • characteristics are, to
not do. illustrate, also, one
example, in addition
RESULTS
(example: information sheets about
• presents the findings, products for sale
organizes, classifies, in short: Describes a topic by listing
analyzes, and categorizes. its characteristics)
• is the essence of the paper.
• Introduction and Methods CAUSE AND EFFECT
builds up to the Results by
showing how the author • presents the casual
arrived at his results and relationship between
significance. specific event, idea, or
concept and the events,
DISCUSSION ideas, or concept that
follow.
• the author discusses the
results of his study/project. Signal Words
• determines the strong and
• as a result of, because of,
weak aspects of the paper.
thus, for these reasons
• the author decides if more
research needed and makes (example: warning labels naming
recommendations to be possible side effects of using a product
applied. in short: Tells the reason why
something happens and what happens
after)
COMMON TYPES OF TEXT
STRUCTURE
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
DESCRIPTIVE
• examines the similarities
CAUSE AND EFFECT
and differences between
COMPARISON AND
two or more people, events,
CONTRAST
concepts, ideas, etc.
ORDER/SEQUENCE
Signal Words
• like, in contrast, similar to,
while, as opposed to,
whereas
(example: news articles about the
position of two political parties on
certain issues
comparison - pagkakaiba
contrast – pagkakahalintulad
in short: Looks at how two things are
similar or different)
ORDER/SEQUENCE
• gives readers a
chronological of events or a
list of steps in a procedure.
Signal Words
• first, second, last, next,
then, before, another
(example: directions in a manual for
using an appliance
in short: Presents events or ideas in
the order they happened)
PROBLEM AND SOLUTION
• sets up a problem(s),
explains the solution, and
then discusses the effects of
the solution.
Signal Words
• the problem is, the solution
is, the difficulty is
(example: a political speech
proposing a solution for a problem
in short: Identifies a challenge and
suggests ways to fix it)
