INTRODUCTION TO ACADEMIC WRITING

Language for Communication

Language is a system of communication that relies on verbal or non-verbal codes to

transfer information and knowledge. Communication is a way of interchanging
messages or information between two or more people. Therefore, language is a tool
used in communication.

Communication helps us meet various needs through our ability to express ourselves
(written, oral or use of sign language). Communication is used for several purposes; ask
questions that provide us with specific information, describe things, people, share ideas,
inform, persuade, and entertain others, as well as share our observations, thoughts,
feelings, and needs (McKay, Davis, & Fanning, 1995).

In this Course, the emphasis is on verbal/oral and written communication. It should be

noted that verbal/oral and written communication are important for students. In the
University, students are required to produce different types of texts and document,
these include but not limited to; essays, reports, theses etc. In addition, students are
expected to possess effective communication skills for purposes of sharing knowledge
and information.

To be able to produce different types of texts and documents as well as effectively

share knowledge and information, students must possess well-developed information
processing skills to enable them select relevant information from information-load, to
combine the pieces of information and to find relations between them.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF WRITING

When writing, it is important to bare the following points in mind.

1. Why Do You Write?

Each time you write, you write for a reason. For even the shortest casual message, you
have a purpose that prompts you to communicate in text. Therefore, clarifying your
purpose will always help you to choose what to write, how to structure your ideas, and
keep you on track as you write.

2. Why Write Essays?

Writing a correctly structured, well-supported essay teaches you how to learn and how
to think more effectively—to solve problems. You will be assigned essays that ask you
to explore and learn more about your subjects. You must read deeply and conduct
research to stimulate your thinking and to find material relevant to your topic. Learning
in University does not mean collecting and memorizing facts. To take a position on a
topic, and to explain or defend that position, you must understand and interact with
information gained from reading and research. You learn a new way of learning. As you
test facts and ideas, you expand your ability to think. In fact, you are practicing the
essential skill of critical thinking, which is distancing yourself from those automatic
like/dislike, yes/no responses to ideas. You repeat this thinking and problem-solving
process, selecting, weighing, and testing information, each time you work on the
argument and proof for an essay.

Regardless of how you define effective writing, writing the academic essay for a specific
purpose, to a defined audience is the best training for you to become an effective writer.
If you want to write well enough to meet important goals in your life, you will always
need to be able to state your point and assure your reader that what you say is fair and
valuable. To engage your reader, you must create interest, then hold your reader’s
attention. You must know your audience. You must express yourself in words that help
your reader to trust you as competent and well informed. You must also choose words
and language that suit your topic and your purpose, and supply the right level of detail
for your audience. Finally, you must choose a pattern, a way of arranging your
information that reveals your ideas in the most understandable and appealing way.

3. Who are you writing for?

Unless you are writing a private diary, you are writing for someone else: an audience. In
fact, even your diary is a conversation with yourself—you are your audience. In
University, you must learn to “profile” or analyze specific reading audiences every time
you write.

4. Audience-Focus and Tone:

Every time you write, begin by focusing on your audience. Visualize that person or
persons. When you write essays, your lecturer is your primary audience, a typical
educated adult, a stand-in for your future managers, professors, or supervisors. Your
main goal is for your lecturer to understand your ideas as easily as possible. Write in
Standard English, the common language shared by you and your reader(lecturer). Your
audience determines the tone of what you write. Tone describes your attitude toward
your subject as expressed by the words you choose: simple or complex, slangy or
formal. When your lecturer is your audience, your essay’s tone should be appropriate
for an educated adult.

5. Audience-Focus, Clarity, and Support

Can your audience read your mind?

You know what is in your mind as you write, but have you explained it clearly so that
your lecturer can see exactly what you mean and where your ideas come from?

Never assume that your reader “knows what you mean”; explain and support each point
you make.

In addition, there is need to give yourself the best chance for a good grade by giving
your lecturer essays that respond accurately to the requirements of the assignment
question. That is, essays that answer the question.
If your lecturer is confused because your essay does not relate to the topic, how is he or
she likely to evaluate you? By misunderstanding or ignoring the question/topic, you risk
losing marks.

NOTE: First-year essay assignments are previews of your future academic and
professional writing challenges. Writing these essays is thus less about expressing
yourself and more about meeting the requirements of your audience and your
assignment.

Ultimately, the academic essay is the foundation for business and technical memos and
reports, research papers, analyses, and most of the writing formats you will work with in
your life.

NOTE: Writing is not a smooth one-way trip, from beginning to end. It is a process; you
proceed through it in stages. Writing involves discovering, then ordering your thoughts,
and no one thinks in a linear fashion. Moreover, writing well is a skill, not a trick. As with
all skills, you develop competence with practice, and with trying.

6. Proofreading

After editing sentences in your essay so that they flow smoothly and clearly, and bring
out your intended meaning most effectively, you must perform one last step before your
essay is ready for your submission. Proofreading means checking for and correcting
mistakes in grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, and word use. Even if you write
an otherwise effective essay, you will make an unfavourable impression on readers if
you present a paper full of mistakes. You cannot hope to achieve the purpose of your
essay if someone finds it hard to read.

Therefore, once you have edited your sentences to your satisfaction, but before you
submit your first essay to your lecturer, try the following proofreading tips.

To proofread an essay, check it against the agreed-upon rules or conventions of written

English. Here are the most common of these conventions:

1. Write complete sentences rather than fragments.

2. Make sure that subjects, verbs, and pronouns agree.

3. Use capital letters where needed (e.g., Names, at the beginning of the sentence).

4. Use punctuation correctly: apostrophe, quotation marks, comma, semicolon, colon,

hyphen, dash, parentheses.

5. Eliminate slang.

6. Eliminate careless spelling errors.

7. Revising

Revising is as essential as prewriting, outlining, and drafting. Your first draft is your
attempt to put your ideas into sentences in the shape of an essay. When you revise,
you are evaluating and rewriting as you work on the entire content and structure of your
essay. Professional writers say writing is revising. In other words, the work of revising,
restating, and restructuring is what creates a good piece of writing. Typically, students
confuse revising with editing or proofreading; they look over a first draft, fix a few
sentences and some spelling errors, and believe they have revised their essay. This is
far from the case.

Revising means literally re-seeing. Revising consists of three activities:

a. Building on existing strengths in your draft;

b. Evaluating your draft according to accepted standards for essay writing; and

c. Rewriting your draft based on your evaluation.

Revising Checklists Writers’ Tips for General Revising.

First, set your first draft aside for a while. Then, come back to it with a fresh, more
objective point of view. Allow yourself at least one day for your revision.

2. Second, work from printed text. You will be able to see your work more impartially.

3. Third, revise on the computer. Put your revisions in a different colour from the text of
the draft you are working on. Each time you revise, print a copy on which you can make
manual changes (if you can).
4. Fourth, read your draft aloud. Hearing how your writing sounds will help you spot
problems with meaning and style, and errors and omissions.

5. Finally, as you read your draft aloud, add your thoughts and changes above the lines
or in the margins of your paper. Your written comments can serve as a guide when you
work on the next draft. When you revise on the computer, create a “notes” section at the
end of your document for your comments.
PATTERNS OF ESSAY DEVELOPMENT

Usually, you will find that the topic(s) of the essay and the essay question will determine
which pattern of development, or combination of patterns, is most appropriate. For most
essays however, the followings are the most common patterns:

1. Illustration by Examples: Essays that present specific facts, observations, or

scenarios to make your points and details concrete for readers. Every pattern of essay
development makes use of examples in this way.

2. Process: Essays that demonstrate or break down a process to instruct or

show readers how something works, or how something happens etc.

3. Cause or Effect: Essays that show or analyze causes and effects to break
down and explain either the reasons for (causes) or the consequences (effects) of some
situation or issue.

4. Comparison and/or Contrast: Essays that compare or contrast show the

similarities and/or differences between two subjects or two aspects of one topic.

5. Definition: Essays that mainly define or explore various meanings of a word

or concept.

6. Classification and Division: Essays that classify or divide (break a topic

down) into categories to help readers grasp different aspects of that subject.
Argumentation or persuasion naturally occurs in many well-supported essays as the
subject is carefully explained and defended.

7. Essays whose main goal is arguing a point use specific tactics either to gain
support for a potentially contentious idea or to defend a position about which there
might be differences of opinion. Such essays usually ask students to ‘critically discuss’
or to ‘critically analyse’.

8. Essays whose main goal is persuasion are intended to alter the thinking of the
reader, or to move readers’ emotions in the direction of the writer’s position. Persuasion
is meant to lead to action on the reader’s part—or at least to an openness to change.
Persuasion, unlike argumentation, will rarely openly challenge a reader; instead, it will
offer a series of appeals, based on knowledge of the reader. Essays that argue or
persuade will often make use of several patterns of development as part of making their
point. Such essays usually ask students to take a position and support it with facts.
IMPROVING WRITING SKILLS

Becoming a better writer takes practice, and you have been practicing already. Even if
you don’t think of yourself as a writer, you put thoughts into text more often than you
realize. At the very least, you write emails, post on social media, and message your
friends.

To improve your writing skills, you must become conscious of the things you can do to
give your text more structure and make your copy crisp and readable with a
conversational style. Here are some tips.

1. Make sure you are clear on the concepts you are writing about

Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it
yourself.” Before you start writing, take a moment to mentally explain the concept to the
six-year-old who lives inside your head. (We all have one, don’t we?) If your writing goal
is to achieve a specific result, ask yourself what that result should be. Before you dive
into writing, have a clear purpose (as explained previously) and then stick to it.

2. If the message is complex, outline it

It doesn’t take much thought-organizing to compose the average text message,

however, if you are writing something more complex, with multiple angles, questions, or
requests, get all that stuff sorted before you sit down to write. Making an outline, or even
just some quick notes about the topics you want to cover, can save you time answering
clarifying questions later.

3. Anticipate your readers’ questions

Improving writing involves putting yourself in your readers’ shoes. Do they have enough
context to understand what you have written for them? If not, fill in the blanks by
expanding, clarifying or providing appropriate level of detail.

4. Don’t over-explain everything.

If you have taken the time to organize your thoughts in advance, you should be able to
keep things simple. The idea is to give readers just enough to understand what you are
communicating without overwhelming them with trivial details. If you find yourself getting
in the weeds with more details than you need, look at each piece of information and ask
whether it’s essential to help your reader understand your message. If not, get rid of it.

5. Eliminate the filler words and phrases

Some words show up in our writing all the time, and yet they don’t contribute much of
anything. Although these filler words and phrases sometimes add color or even
meaning, most of the time they contribute nothing but clutter. Here are thirty-one of
them you can eliminate right now.

READ MORE: How to Ensure Your Writing Is Concise and Clear

6. Stick with simple words.

Bestselling author John Grisham said, “There are three types of words: (1) words we
know; (2) words we should know; (3) words nobody knows. Forget those in the third
category and use restraint with those in the second.” There’s a difference between
having a rich vocabulary and dropping million-dollar words into your writing just to show
off. Unless it’s your intent to be poetic, keep your language simple and direct.

7. Keep your sentences simple.

Note that short, less complicated sentences are easier to read. Keep it simple while
varying your sentence length so your writing has a nice flow. Avoid too long sentences.

8. Practice, practice, practice!

As indicated before, the ultimate way to improving writing is to learn what weakens it in
the first place, and then set your mind to fixing (and eventually preventing) the glitches.
The more you write, edit, and proofread, the better you get at it.

9. Read

To become a better writer, you must read a lot of books, magazines, journals etc. You
will not become a better writer if you do not read widely and extensively. Reading will
expose you to different writing styles but also to well-written documents and, eventually
help you to improve your writing.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD SENTENCE?

As indicated previously, for both students and professionals, clear communication is

important. Whether you are typing an e-mail or writing a report, it is your responsibility to
present your thoughts and ideas clearly and precisely. Writing in complete sentences is
one way to ensure that you communicate well. This section covers how to recognize
and write basic sentence structures and how to avoid some common writing errors.

Components of a Sentence

Clearly written, complete sentences require key information:

a subject,

a verb and

a complete idea.

A sentence needs to make sense on its own. Sometimes, complete sentences are also
called independent clauses. A clause is a group of words that may make up a sentence.
An independent clause is a group of words that may stand alone as a complete,
grammatically correct thought. All complete sentences have at least one independent
clause. You can identify an independent clause by reading it on its own and looking for
the subject and the verb.

i. Subjects

When you read a sentence, you may first look for the subject, or what the sentence is
about. The subject usually appears at the beginning of a sentence as a noun or a
pronoun. A noun is a word that identifies a person, place, thing, or idea. A pronoun is a
word that replaces a noun. Common pronouns are I, he, she, it, you, they, and we.

ii. Verbs

Once you locate the subject of a sentence, you can move on to the next part of a
complete sentence: the verb. A verb is often an action word that shows what the subject
is doing. A verb can also link the subject to a describing word. There are three types of
verbs that you can use in a sentence: action verbs, linking verbs, or helping verbs.
 iii. Subject

What is the subject of the sentence?

iv. Capitalization

Text messages, casual e-mails, and instant messages often ignore the rules of
capitalization. In fact, it can seem unnecessary to capitalize in these contexts. In other,
more formal forms of communication, however, knowing the basic rules of capitalization
and using capitalization correctly gives the reader the impression that you choose your
words carefully and care about the ideas you are conveying.

Basic Rules of Capitalization

a. Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence

b. Capitalize Proper Nouns—the names of specific people, places, objects, streets,
buildings, events, or titles of individuals—are always capitalized.
c. Do not capitalize nouns for people, places, things, streets, buildings, events, and
titles when the noun is used in general or common way.
d. Capitalize Days of the Week, Months of the Year, and Holidays
e. Capitalize Titles
 PUNCTUATION

Suppose you are presenting a speech. If you speak too quickly, your audience will not
be able to understand what you are saying. It is important to stop and take a breath a
few times as you read from your notes. But how do you know where to pause, where to
change your voice, and where to stop? The answer is easy. You can use the
punctuation marks you encounter as a guide for your pacing.

Punctuation marks provide visual clues to readers, telling them how they should read
the sentence. Some punctuation marks tell you that you are reading a list of items while
other marks tell you that a sentence contains two independent ideas. Punctuation marks
tell you not only when a sentence ends but also what kind of sentence you have read.
The following are some of the most common types of punction marks.

1. Comma

One of the punctuation clues to reading you have encountered is the comma. The
comma is a punctuation mark that indicates a pause in a sentence or a separation of
things in a list. Commas can be used in a variety of ways. Look at some of the following
sentences to see how you might use a comma when writing a sentence:

• Introductory word: Personally, I think the practice is helpful.

• Lists: The barn, the tool shed, and the back porch were destroyed by the wind.

• Coordinating adjectives: He was tired, hungry, and late.

• Conjunctions in compound sentences: The bedroom door was closed, so the

children knew their mother was asleep.

• Interrupting words: I knew where it was hidden, of course, but I wanted them to find it
themselves.

• Dates, addresses, greetings, and letters: The letter was postmarked December 8,
1945.

Commas after an Introductory Word or Phrase

You may notice a comma that appears near the beginning of the sentence, usually after
a word or phrase. This comma lets the reader know where the introductory word or
phrase ends and the main sentence begins.

2. Semicolons (;)

Another punctuation mark that you have encounter is the semicolon (;). Like most
punctuation marks, the semicolon can be used in a variety of ways. The semicolon
indicates a break in the flow of a sentence, but functions differently than a period or a
comma. When you encounter a semicolon while reading aloud, this represents a good
place to pause and take a breath.

Semicolons to Join Two Independent Clauses

Use a semicolon to combine two closely related independent clauses.

E.g., Be sure to wear clean, well-pressed clothes to the interview; appearances are
important.

Semicolons to Join Items in a List

You can also use a semicolon to join items in a list when the items in the list already
require commas. Semicolons help the reader distinguish between items in the list.

E.g., The color combinations we can choose from are black, white, and grey; green,
brown, and black; or red, green, and brown.

3. Colons (:)

The colon (:) is another punctuation mark used to indicate a full stop.

Use a colon to introduce lists, quotes, examples, and explanations.

You can also use a colon after the greeting in business letters and memos.

Dear General Manager:

To: Human Resources

From: Deanna Dean

Use colons to Introduce a List

Use a colon to introduce a list of items. Introduce the list with an independent clause.

The team will tour three provinces: Eastern, Central, and Luapula. I have to take four
classes this semester: GMS 1035, POL 1015, PAM 1025 and DEV 1050.

Use colons to Introduce a Quote

You can use a colon to introduce a quote.

E.g., Mark Twain said it best: “When in doubt, tell the truth.”

Use colons to Introduce Examples or Explanations

Use a colon to introduce an example or to further explain an idea presented in the first
part of a sentence. The first part of the sentence must always be an independent
clause; that is, it must stand alone as a complete thought with a subject and verb. Do
not use a colon after phrases like such as or for example.

E.g., Our company offers many publishing services: writing, editing, and reviewing.

4. Quotes

Quotation marks (“ ”) set off a group of words from the rest of the text. Use quotation
marks to indicate direct quotations of another person’s words or to indicate a title. Note;
quotation marks always appear in pairs.

Direct Quotations

A direct quotation is an exact account of what someone said or wrote. To include a

direct quotation in your writing, enclose the words in quotation marks. An indirect
quotation is a restatement of what someone said or wrote. An indirect quotation does
not use the person’s exact words. You do not need to use quotation marks for indirect
quotations.

Example:

Direct quotation: Carly said, “I’m not ever going back there again.”
Indirect quotation: Carly said that she would never go back there.

5. Apostrophes

An apostrophe (’) is a punctuation mark that is used with a noun to show possession or
to indicate where a letter has been left out to form a contraction. An apostrophe and the
letter s indicate who or what owns something. To show possession with a singular noun,
add ’s

v. Parentheses

Parentheses ( ) are punctuation marks that are always used in pairs and contain
material that is secondary to the meaning of a sentence. Parentheses must never
contain the subject or verb of a sentence. A sentence should make sense if you delete
any text within parentheses and the parentheses.

6. Dashes

A dash (—) is a punctuation mark used to set off information in a sentence for
emphasis. You can enclose text between two dashes, or use just one dash. To create a
dash in Microsoft Word, type two hyphens together. Do not put a space between
dashes and text.

For example:

Arrive to the interview early—but not too early.

Any of the suits—except for the purple one—should be fine to wear.

7. Hyphens

A hyphen (-) looks similar to a dash but is shorter and used in different ways.

For example: The fifty-five-year-old athlete was just as qualified for the marathon as his
younger opponents.
WRITING PARAGRAPHS: SEPARATING IDEAS AND SHAPING CONTENT

Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content

Imagine reading one long block of text, with each idea blurring into the next. Even if you
are reading a thrilling novel or an interesting news article, you will likely lose interest in
what the author has to say very quickly.

During the writing process, it is helpful to position yourself as a reader. Ask yourself
whether you can focus easily on each point you make. One technique that effective
writers use is to begin a fresh paragraph for each new idea they introduce. Paragraphs
separate ideas into logical, manageable chunks. One paragraph focuses on only one
main idea and presents coherent sentences to support that one point. Because all the
sentences in one paragraph support the same point, a paragraph may stand on its own.
To create longer assignments and to discuss more than one point, writers’ group
together paragraphs.

Three elements shape the content of each paragraph:

1. Purpose. The reason the writer composes the paragraph.

2. Tone. The attitude the writer conveys about the paragraph’s subject.

3. Audience. The individual or group whom the writer intends to address.

A strong paragraph contains three distinct components:

1. Topic sentence. The topic sentence is the main idea of the paragraph.

2. Body. The body is composed of the supporting sentences that develop the main
point.

3. Conclusion. The conclusion is the final sentence that summarizes the main point.
Commonly Confused Words

Some words in English cause trouble for speakers and writers because these words
share a similar pronunciation, meaning, or spelling with another word. These words are
called commonly confused words. The following are some of them:

New/ Knew:

Accept/Except

Affect/Effect

By/Buy

Its/It’s

Know/No

Loose/Lose

Quite/Quiet/Quit

Right/Write

Here/Hear

Than/Then

There/They/The/Their/They’re

To/Two/Too

Who’s/Whose

Your/You’re

Cease/Seize

Weather/Whether