ENGL 214

Academic & Professional

Communication

Drafting, revising, and editing

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 1

Aims
• To discuss the next steps in the
report writing process
• To give general feedback on the
submitted drafts
• To study a model report
• To look at document design
• To consider the final submission

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 2

What is next?

• After the drafting

classes have
finished, you are on
your own, so to
speak.
• This is the last time
we will discuss the
report in class.
• If you have any
questions, today
would be the time.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 3

Path to completion

SUBMIT
4 Run your work through Turnitin, possibly multiple times, and make sure that there is no unacceptable text
matching. Ensure that you upload the correct document. One submission only.

REVISE & EDIT

3 Ensure proper document design. Check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and tone. Refine your
summaries and paraphrases. Make sure your quotations (if you have them) are done properly.

FINISH
2 Complete the report at home, add visuals, write an introduction and conclusion, complete your list of
references. Aim for about 1750 words (not including cover page, outline, or references).
DRAFT
1 Write as much as you can in class. If you have worked diligently then you may have finished 750 words,
which is about halfway there. The writing will be quite rough at this point, which is okay.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 4

Finish it. [approx. 1,750 words]
• You probably have already COVER PAGE
finished a rough copy of your TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 150
background…
• …as well as part of the body. BACKGROUND
300
Definitions; description; history;
• Now, complete the remainder current situation.
of the body.
BODY
• The conclusion and Outline of the items to compare;
500
introduction should be written 1,750 Outline the problems;
Outline the main arguments.
last.
• Finally, add your references DEVELOPMENT
Comparison & contrast;
page, outline, and a cover page. Solutions & recommendations;
700

• The cover, table of contents, Argument-counterargument.

and references are not included CONCLUSION 150
in the word count. REFERENCES

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General feedback on drafts

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Revise and edit
Give your sections (and subsections)
numbering.

This citation:
(a) has a rogue comma;
(b) needs spaces after the second
and third comma;
(c) should have a small “p” to
indicate page;
(d) should have a space after the
period.

Space after the punctuation.

Small “p” for a single page.
Pp for plural pages.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 7

References
References don’t have bullet points
or numbers. They are ordered
alphabetically from top to bottom.

References don’t start with the title.

The format for most references (but

not books) goes like this:

Surname, Initial. (Date). Article title.

Publication (in italics). Place (URL
or DOI)

Just remember:
S, I. (D). A. P. P

The second line (and subsequent

lines) need to be indented.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 8

more citation stuff We don’t use initials in citations; only
in references.
(…and don’t forget it is a small “p”
and then a space after)

Two authors can be mentioned in a

citation, but more than that will be
shortened.

The correct way to cite more than two

authors is this:

1. According to Author1 et al. (year),

…
2. Author1 et al. (year) stated that …
3. … (Author1 et al., year)

“Et al.” is short for the Latin term “et

alia,” meaning “and others.”
Every sentence that contains
uncommon data needs to have a
citation.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 9

images
• Use the form prescribed by APA 7
• If a title is given, crop the title out
of the picture and type it
out yourself between "Figure X"
and the image.
• If the image came from
somewhere else, be sure to
include a citation in the
Note section at the bottom.

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numbers

Large numbers are separated by a

comma every three numerals,
starting from the left.
Do it like this:
100,000

Measurements can be expressed in

numerals, no matter the size.

Small numbers: APA style

recommends using words to express
numbers below 10

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 12

clarifying points

It’s not a requirement,

but it is a nice courtesy to
readers to simplify
information citations
with an interpretive
move.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 13

other small stuff
A red underline means there is a
spelling mistake.

A green underline represents

questionable vocabulary or grammar.

Extreme adjectives and adverbs are

emotional and run the risk of being
opinions. Better to use academic
terms like significant(ly), or just
provide actual data.

Okay, thanks for mentioning the

research, but since that is specific
data it will need a citation.

To open a quote you use “

(It looks like a small 66)
To close a quote you use ”
(It looks like a small 99)

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 14

more minutiae
After you have trained the reader
about an unfamiliar term’s acronym,
you can use just the acronym from
that point forward.

The position of commas and periods

in a sentence will always be directly
after the word, with a space after
them.

Careful of using personal pronouns.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 15

watch your text matching

This is okay because it is quoted and

cited, with a page number.

These are not, because they are

missing quotation marks, and a
citation.

Either quote them, or

summarise/paraphrase and cite.

This needs quotation marks, author,

and year.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 16

Formal, academic report language (in general)
IMPRECISE & INFORMAL DEVICES USE COMPLETE SENTENCES
• Do not use etc., !, ?, emojis, lots of, a lot of, • Make sure each sentence has a subject and a verb.
a few, a long time, thing, and stuff. • Join smaller sentences together with connectors (and,
• Whenever possible, give precise data. so, but, because, while, whereas, however).

CORRECT GRAMMAR & VOCAB

ABBREVIATIONS • Edit your work for errors, informality and
• Abbreviations are permitted, but you imprecision.
should “train” the reader as to what they • Use MS Word and Grammarly.
mean the first time the full term is • You may wish to find a proofreader.
mentioned.

FORMAL ACADEMIC TONE NO PERSONAL LANGUAGE

• Do not refer to the audience or yourself.
• Write to strangers who are experts. • Do not use personal pronouns or questions.
• Use formal, academic, vocabulary. • Do not use emotional language.
• Use more passive voice. • Do not use language that offers opinions.
NO INFORMAL LANGUAGE
• No slang, phrasal verbs, simplistic verbs (get, make) NO CONTRACTIONS
• No extreme adjectives (huge, massive, awesome) • Just write both words in full.
• No simplistic adjectives (good, bad, big, small) • Do not contract words.

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Activity: Identify problems, and rewrite (5 mins)

Firstly, the environment. We must care

for the environment or everyone will be
screwed! People can’t make too much
pllution in the environment or the world
will get horrible in a just a few years.
Luckily, I think that there is a lot of stuff
that people can do for the environment,
don’t you?

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Problems:
The text should This is a sentence fragment (no verb). personal pronouns
be left aligned.
repetition

Firstly, the environment. We must care

for the environment or everyone will be slang

screwed! People can’t make too much informal

pllution in the environment or the world contractions

will get horrible in a just a few years.
Luckily, I think that there is a lot of stuff vague

that people can do for the environment,

spelling don’t you?
opinions emotional imprecise

This paragraph has no facts, data or citations.

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Formal and academic

Firstly, the environment is a significant

concern. According to the International
Panel for Climate Change (2018),
humankind has nine years to curb carbon
emissions or face the risk of drought, floods,
extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of
millions of people. Preventative solutions
are outlined below.

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Pair work: Discuss how to fix these sentences (5 mins)
a) You can’t always trust the numbers on that
website.
b) He was over the moon when he won the prize.
c) I think we should pay students to study.
d) Sadly, the high inflation led to poverty, social
unrest and so on.
e) A few years ago, they allowed women to vote.
f) What were the main causes of the Russian
revolution?

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 21

Model report

Document

Double-click to open.
(It only works in edit mode.)

It works best if viewed as

“Multiple pages” in the “View”
tab. See top left.

The instructions are on the

left, and the model is on the
right.

Instructions Model report

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 22
Document design
• Use plain, white, A4-sized paper.
• Use standard, uniform black font (even for headings).

• Use normal margins.

• Use left alignment, and left-to-right direction.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 23

Document design
• Line spacing should be double spaced
(APA recommendation) or 1.5 or 1.15
(ENGL 214 recommendation).

• Leave just a small line space between

paragraphs.
• Insert page numbers.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 24

Cover page
• Theme (20-point, boldface, centered, and
capitalized).
• Title of your report using capital letters for the main
words only. 32 point. Centered.
• Your title should also show a clear link between your
major and the semester’s theme. Centered.
• Writer’s details: your name, your ID number, your
section and serial numbers, and your major. All items
are 16 point and centered.
• Teacher’s details: name followed by the title of the
English course, and the course code.
• Descriptive abstract of about 50 words; 12 point;
single-spaced.
• Date of submission.
• As neat, simple and attractive as possible.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 25

Table of contents
• The difference between an outline and a table
of contents is the page numbers.
• MS Word can help you write a TOC in the
References tab.

• Also, your report will contain images, and

these should be included in the List of
Illustrations below.
• Illustrations are divided into Figures and
Tables.

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Figures & Tables
Illustrations can be either …

Tables:
• Information and data is presented
horizontally and vertically

Figures:
• Information is presented in graphs,
photos, maps, charts, and clip art

27
ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL
Illustrations
• You should have a minimum of two illustrations in
your report, but you can have as many as you like.
• Select visuals that are informative rather than
decorative.
• You can select them from your existing sources.
• You can also find a new image in a new source, but
that source should then be added to your reference
list.
• Images should be cited and referenced the same as
quotations. (Author, year, page)

Images used for decoration do not add to the effectiveness of the report. Choose data-based images that educate or inform.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 28

 Five requirements for illustrations:

Figure 2: COVID-19 deaths in KSA, by city, in 2020 Reference them

at the end of the
report, in the same
350
manner as any other
Label them 300 source.
with a figure / Riyadh
table number, 250
and also a 200 Jeddah
unique title.
This should be 150 Mecca
added to the 100 Dammam
table of
contents. 50 Medina
0
JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC
(Al-Zahrani, 2021, p. 5)

Introduce them in the text by Cite them the same as a quotation, by Interpret them by providing a summary
referring to their number and title. providing the author, year, and page. of significant data in the text.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 29

Table of contents (formatting)
• The main sections of the TOC are
capitalized and boldfaced.
• The sub-sections of the report are indented
under the main sections with only the first
letter of each important word capitalised.
• Third-level headings are indented still
further, are italicized, and only the first
letter is capitalised (except for proper nouns
and the word after punctuation.  
• Every first- and second-level heading in
your report must be reproduced exactly in
the TOC.

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Introduction (approx. 100-200 words)
The introduction can be a single paragraph, but it
should contain five distinct elements:
• Some essential background
• Provide information needed for readers, such as
definitions, description or history.
• The need for the report
• State why your topic is an important one.
• A statement of the problem
• Your report will almost certainly be addressing a
particular problem. State it clearly and concisely.
• A specific purpose statement
• Tell the reader concisely in a single sentence what the
report is specifically aiming to do.
• The scope of the report
• Indicate the limits of the report.
• Identify the intended audience.  

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 31

Conclusion (approx. 50-100 words)
• A simple summary of the main ideas and
findings of the report.
• It does not need to be very long.
• It is unlikely that there will be citation because
the ideas are likely to be yours
• Some reports may have recommendations in a
separate section.
• However, recommendations are not required.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 32

References
• References come on a separate page at A
the end of the document.
• There is no limit on the number of
sources you can use to write your report
but there is a minimum requirement of
six.
• Arrange your sources in alphabetical
order according to the author’s family
name (or the title, if there is no author).
• Remember to insert a hanging indent for
the first line of each reference.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 33

Paragraphs
• Paragraph length can vary, but
an average paragraph would
be 80–100 words.
• Most paragraphs will have one
or more citations, unless the
information presented is
common knowledge, or the
results of your own primary
research. average
80–100
• It is not necessary to indent words

the first line, but it is okay to

do so.

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The burger paragraph is a good template (but is not always necessary)

[ B u n - Topic sentence] Climate change is an important concern that should be

 States the central idea of the
recognised and given proper attention.
paragraph, in a general way.
Scientists generally agree that climate change is real
[ S a l a d - Add point] and that it is caused by human activities.
 Outline a point in a specific way,
using your own words. According to the United Nations (2018), carbon
[ M e a t - Proof ] emissions have caused a 0.5% increase in average
 Give evidence or proof for the temperature since the industrial revolution.
point with a citation.
[ M u s t a r d - Interpret ] This means that human-caused carbon emissions are
 Clarify or simplify the making the climate of the earth hotter.
implications of the idea above.
Increased temperatures are likely to cause more natural
[ S a l a d - Refine [optional] ]
 Add details or further the point disasters and widespread poverty.
in original words.
Therefore, further consideration should be given to
[ B u n - Conclude [optional] ] reducing emissions and limiting climate change.
 Restates and rephrase the
central idea of the paragraph. [Six sentences: 80 - 100 words]

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Citation formats
Summary / Paraphrase
According to the Faubert (2015), the best maple syrup is made in Quebec, Canada.
The best maple syrup is made in Quebec, Canada (Faubert, 2015).
The Faubert (2015), states that the best maple syrup is made in Quebec, Canada.
Quotation
“The best maple syrup is made in Quebec, Canada .” (Faubert, 2015, p.3).
A page number is required for quotations, but their use is not encouraged in ENGL 214.

Indirect

According to Faubert (2014), Dave makes the best maple syrup in all of Canada (as cited in
the
First, Ministry
Second of (date,
& Third Agriculture,
p.7) 2015).
First et al.(date, page)
Note: Indirect quotation is only required if you are directly quoting something that someone else has directly quoted. It is rare.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 36

Final Report (soft copy)

• Due sometime soon after the T202 MTE

• Submitted into Blackboard
• Using either Turnitin or SafeAssign
• It should be:
• your own work;
• free from plagiarism;
• checked beforehand in the plagiarism
checker.
• Late penalties will apply.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Questions Discussion Thank you

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 38