What is good academic writing?
Authors: Zuzana Tomas and Erik Wilder
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Good writing may reflect the writer's culture.
Good writing may reflect the writer's culture.
Cultural values we grow up are reflected in our writing. For instance, if we come from cultures where hierarchy and academic status are of great importance, we may reference seminal works much more frequently than if we are from more individualistic cultures that value practicality and innovation.
Good Writing.docx (3).pdfResources and examples
Resources and examples
The video linked above includes accounts of international university students sharing their experience learning to produce effective academic writing at U.S. universities. Another example to help illustrate how culture can influence writing is the email analysis activity linked on the left. The first email has been adapted from an email written by an Arabic writer. Cultural clues embedded in the first email include: reverence for education, an exaggeration in the first sentence, and the inclusion of the main point of the email at the end. While these rhetorical strategies may seem unfamiliar to Western audiences, they are common in most Middle Eastern discourse. The second email was adapted from writing by a Chinese writer. The cultural clue is humility expressed in the sentence "I'm not going to say "I'm smart." "I'm the excellent one....." Finally, the last email has been written by an American writer. The cultural clue is the directness and efficiency/succinctness--the writer states what they need accomplished in the very first line of the email and keep the message focused on the request.
Good academic writing is aligned with established genre standards and discourse community expectations.
Good academic writing is aligned with established genre standards and discourse community expectations.
"...texts are most successful when they employ conventions that other members of the community find familiar and convincing. (Hyland, 2008, p.543)" When diving into a writing project, whether for a course or a more high-stakes publication, you should always analyze the genre that you are hoping to produce.
Genre_and_academic_writing_in_the_discip.pdf
2019+11-+Rodrigue,+Teaching+Genre+Activities+Booklet.pdfResources and examples
Resources and examples
Hyland, K. (2008). Genre and academic writing in the disciplines. Language Teaching, 41 (4), 543-562.
This article provides an excellent overview of genre, which refers to how various types of writing share recurring elements and patterns. Good academic writing should use the patterns and conventions of the discipline in order to be more convincing to an audience familiar with them.
Hyland, K. (2012, 28 June). The ESP version: Genre, community and identity [Keynote address]. Rethinking Genre Twenty Years Later: An International Conference on Genre Studies, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxdmAtlkCoI
This conference presentation linked here delves into genre in academic contexts. Hyland discusses the differences in language used in texts of different academic disciplines, and notes the ways academics can express their individual beliefs, their opinions, and their personality within the accepted conventions of their field.
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Swales's book is a seminal work in the field of genre analysis, and he describes genre within different oral and written contexts in English. In particular, he focuses on how academic and research articles are composed in English, and this book can help to make your academic writing more professional.
Rodrigue, T. (2019). Teaching genre conventions and building genre awareness [Sample lesson plan]. https://www2.cortland.edu/offices/ict/files-to-share/2019%2011-%20Rodrigue,%20Teaching%20Genre%20Activities%20Booklet.pdf
Engaging in genre analysis activities such as those developed by Rodrigue here can greatly improve your understanding of genres and better prepare you to produce the genre you are expected to produce.
Good academic writing reflects the authors' (ever growing) expertise and interest in the subject.
Good academic writing reflects the authors' (ever growing) expertise and interest in the subject.
Choosing a topic for an academic project such as a capstone project or thesis can be very difficult. However, what is more difficult is having to write extensively about a topic you are not interested in.
Resources and examples
Resources and examples
Short video-recorded interview excerpts with student explanations about how they choose a topic to write a paper/thesis on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEOxnWbbgvA
A 4-min. talk about options in choosing a topic for an undergraduate research project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKaNKX79GjM
A 14-min. talk about how to choose a research topic for a graduate/doctoral thesis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJfNqad_zWw
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