Academic writing1

Academic Writing

Referencing style: Harvard

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Introduction
Academic writing is a general term that is difficult to be explained. This is because it basically
refers to writing for several different reasons. The main definition is any writing that is made for
the purpose of satisfying the requirement of an institution often school, college or university. It is
also used for publications read either presented in conferences or read by researchers and
teachers. It is often done using an academic setting (Swales. and Feak, 1994). It often includes;
essays, research articles, academic journals, books and reports, dissertations and even thesis
among others.
Characteristics of academic writing
An academic writing has to be planned before being written. This is in order for it to be
analytical and organized so that it can impress the reader or user of the article. An academic
writing should have a proper outline. The outline not only formulates ideas but also the thoughts.
This will help the writer to the particular information to be included and the pattern of including
the information. When writing an academic writing, a formal tone is used for formality. The
language should also be clear with chosen words for precision purposes (Canagarajah, 2013).
When writing an academic article, the point of view is made in the third person. This is mainly
because the main reason of the writing is to give an education on the existing facts, not to
support the opinion. An academic writing is approach with a deductive reasoning. This makes
the reader to follow the path that took the writer to the conclusion. Therefore an academic
writing basically uses both deductive reasoning and an analytical approach.
Academic writing structure
There are three main sections in an academic writing. They include; the introduction, the body
and the conclusion (Swales and Feak, 2004).
The introductory part is intended to grab the attention of the reader and identify the thesis of the
article. It is written with the main intention of giving the reader a preview of the entire article. It
is often done by making definitions the important terms that are related to the work.
The body is the main part of the task. The paragraphs have to be written clearly with a logical
order. This is done by putting ideas in a chronological order or rather in the order of importance
and necessity. Initial sentences need to define the preceding paragraph to make the entire
sections to flow smoothly. Cohesion in the paragraph is attained by repeating the important
words (Canagarajah, 2011).
The conclusion makes the decisions of the writer. It shows the final conclusion to the reader. The
writer emphasizes the thesis and to summarize all the points. The conclusion is meant to give a
solution, a decisive idea or rather give the writer a platform to make own decision.
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Conclusion
An academic writing is an organized journal meant for different reasons. The varying reasons do
not however make any much difference on the structure and format. The format always depends
on the requirement of the writing.

Bibliography
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Swales, J.M. and Feak, C.B., 1994. Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: University of
Michigan Press.

Canagarajah, A.S., 2013. Critical academic writing and multilingual students. University of Michigan
Press.

Swales, J.M. and Feak, C.B., 2004. Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills (Vol.
1). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Canagarajah, S., 2011. Codemeshing in academic writing: Identifying teachable strategies of

translanguaging. The Modern Language Journal, 95(3), pp.401-417.