ENGL 214

Academic & Professional

Communication

Academic style & formal tone

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 1

Aims

• To learn the basics of academic

style, and formal tone
• To make some informal phrases
more academic
• To encourage preparation for the
upcoming drafting sessions

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Style in writing

• Style is how something is written rather

than what is written.
• It determines how well you
communicate with an audience and how
well your readers understand and
receive your message.
• It involves the choices you make about:
■ the construction of your paragraphs
■ the length and patterns of your sentences
■ your choice of words

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 3

Tone in writing

• Tone in writing, like tone of voice,

expresses your attitude toward a
topic and toward your audience.
• In general, your tone can range from
formal and impersonal (a scientific
report) to informal and
conversational (an e-mail or IM to a
colleague).
• Tone, like style, is signalled in part
by the words you choose.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 4

 Which characteristics should my report writing have?

PERSONAL IMPERSONAL
Addresses audience directly. ∎ ∎ Does not address audience.
Mentions self. (I, me, my) ∎ ∎ Does not mention self.
Asks questions. ∎ ∎ Does not ask questions.

SUBJECTIVE OBJECTIVE
Identifies with subject. ∎ ∎ Looks at big picture from outside.
Interested in feelings and opinions. ∎ ∎ Does not identify with subject.
Uses emotional language. ∎ ∎ Interested in facts, not feelings or opinions. ∎
Uses neutral language.

INFORMAL FORMAL
Uses casual language and slang. ∎ Speaks ∎ Uses academic style.
to the average person, possibly a friend. ∎ ∎ Uses formal tone.
∎ Speaks to experts and strangers

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 5

Formal and academic?

• Academic documents always require a degree of

formality to how they are written.
• Academic writing is very different from other
genres in terms of format, style, tone, and
language used.
• Being formal does not mean to be wordy and to
fill your document with long sentences and
words.
• What it means is to be clear, concise, and
objective.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 6

Language is heavily weighted in the rubric

(25%) (25%) (25%) (25%)

Content Organisation Language Referencing
∎ Task ∎ Document design ∎ Grammar and ∎ Source quality
achievement ∎ Thesis statement & Vocabulary
topic sentences ∎ Paraphrases convey
∎ Response to the ∎ Paragraph structure ∎ Density of errors the sense of the original
question ∎ Signposting & linkage ∎ Formal, academic ∎ Accuracy in citation
∎ Original ideas style and tone

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Informal language Formal language

Incomplete sentences Full sentences

Govt. closed schools The government closed all the schools.
Informal grammar & vocab Correct grammar & vocabulary
r u feeling gr8?  Are you feeling great?
References to self No references to self
In my report I will prove that … This report will prove that …
Contractions No contractions
can’t - don’t - it’ll cannot – do not – it will
Slang, idioms, phrasal verbs No slang, idioms, phrasal verbs
cool! - piece of cake – give up fashionable – easy - quit
Active voice Passive voice
The police closed the street. The street was closed.
Abbreviations No abbreviations
ASAP as soon as possible

Informal punctuation No informal punctuation

? - ! – etc. -  -

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 8

When drafting, include headings and numbering

Follow your outline, and

include all main section and
subsection headings and
numbering.

Do not include third-level

headings.
Your report text should
match your outline exactly
(including sub-titles).

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 9

Avoid informal words

personal pronouns

In this report I will provide a background to the subject, and I

will offer you some solutions to make our roads better, and
improve the quality of life for all of us.

This report will provide a background to the subject, and

offer solutions to improve the country’s roads, and improve
the quality of life for all citizens.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Avoid informal words

slang, idiomatic, or colloquial vocabulary

Excuse me guys, I need to pick up my kids. Can you tell the

boss for me?

Gentlemen, I need to collect my children. Please inform the

manager.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Most words have formal and informal forms

https://englishwithnab.com/

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 12

Avoid informal words

adverbs

Luckily, Ali finished the test quickly, and surprisingly he

passed.

Ali passed the test in time.

Many (most) adverbs show the writers personal attitude.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Avoid informal words

contractions and abbreviations

Students shouldn’t try to read the whole text. They won’t

understand it and it’s mostly irrelevant. Just read each
question and answer ASAP.

Student’s should not read the whole text. They will not
understand it, and it is mostly irrelevant. Just read each
question and answer as soon as possible.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Avoid repetition

The most important problem for the people of Jeddah

is the problem of flooding. This problem needs urgent
attention.

The most important problem for the people of Jeddah

is the matter of flooding. This issue needs urgent
attention.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 15

Avoid repetition
MSWord has a good thesaurus which can help you avoid repetition.

The most important problem for the

people of Jeddah is the problem of
flooding. This problem needs urgent
attention.

Highlight =
Highlight the target word, click SHIFT + F7, and select a synonym.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

Avoid questions
Questions prompt responses, and imply that there is some kind of dialogue.

How serious is the issue? What can be

done about it?

This section will determine the

seriousness of the issue and provide
solutions.
Questions are more appropriate for speaking or for presentations.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 17

Avoid phrasal verbs

She could not go on working, so she gave up in

order to bring up her children.

She could not continue working, so she quit to

raise her children.

Phrasal verbs are informal, and can always be replaced with a formal alternative.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 18

Avoid imprecise terms

Hundreds of years ago, an Italian guy made a thing that could

store lots of electrical energy, and since then, the quality of life
for millions has got better.

In 1800, Italian physicist Alessandro Volta invented a device

capable of storing significant amounts of electrical energy,
improving the quality of life for millions.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 19

Avoid vague, simplistic words

Studies prove that small amounts of homework are not

really that bad, and can be good for students. It can
make them get big results in tests.

Studies prove that minor homework tasks are not

harmful and can improve test results.

Imprecise words like good, bad, big, small, get and make are not that
useful, and can always be replaced with more precise terms.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 20

Practice: Rewrite these sentences (4 minutes)

(a) Another thing to think about is the chance

of crime getting worse.
(b) Regrettably, these days lots of people
don’t have jobs.
(c) Sometime soon they will find a vaccine
for ebola.
(d) A few years ago, the price of property in
Japan went down a lot.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

(a)

Another thing to think about is the

chance of crime getting worse.

Another issue to consider is the

possibility of crime worsening.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 22

(b)

Regrettably these days lots of people

don’t have jobs.

Currently, 20% of the population are

unemployed.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 23

(c)

Sometime soon they will find a vaccine

for ebola.

Scientists are expected to discover a

vaccine for ebola by 2024.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 24

(d)

A few years ago the price of property in

Japan went down a lot.

In 2009, the Japanese property market

dropped by 35%.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 25

Task: Rewrite this informal paragraph (5 mins)

I. How to make people work harder?

It’s a topic that lots of people have written about in the
last few years. There are lots of different theories, etc., and
I think some of them are ok. When we think about this we
should remember the old Chinese proverb that you can lead
a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. So how do we
increase production? It’s a quite complex subject but I’ll
just talk about a couple of ideas.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 26

Formal and academic

I. INCREASING WORKPLACE MOTIVATION

Motivation was the subject of numerous studies during
the 1990s, but this section will focus on Maslow’s
(1986) hierarchy of needs theory (p.16). His
contemporary relevance to the need to motivate
employees effectively will be examined critically,
given that this can be crucial to a firm’s survival in the
current economic climate.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 27

Homework

• Rewrite these sentences:

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?

• Continue working on your Progress Report (10%).

• Prepare to start drafting in the next class.

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL

 Questions Discussion Thank you

ENGLISH 214 ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL 29