hi my name is John Connor Oskie I'm an

English as a foreign language instructor

here at the National University of

Science and Technology new species in

this series of videos for the academic

Writing Center I will be talking about

different concepts techniques and

strategies related to the field of

academic writing in English in this

first video I'd like to begin the series

by providing a brief introduction to the

field of academic writing and answer the

following questions question 1 what is

academic English number 2 what is

academic writing number 3 what are the

general characteristics of academic

writing and number 4 why's academic

writing important let's begin by

addressing the first question what is

academic English according to dr. Karen

oh well of the Cambridge University

Language Center at its most basic

academic English is the variety of the

English language that we use to share

research research refers to the process

of answering a research question by

creating an argument that is supported

through critical analysis and the use of

evidence we use academic English to

reach a wide general academic audience

in an attempt to persuade them that the

argument we've created to answer our

research question is an effective one

there are two varieties of academic

English spoken academic English and

written academic English let's take a

closer look at this second variety when

most people think of academic writing

they think of thesis papers composed by

graduate students and research articles

written by professional scholars while

these are two great examples of academic

writing the concept can be applied more

generally to include a much wider

variety of tasks and objectives as I

mentioned in part 1 academic English is

the variety of English used to convey

research so academic writing is the

variety of academic English used to

convey

research in writing that means there are

many different kinds of academic writing

from literature reviews to research

papers to abstracts and lab reports

while trying to compare and contrast all

the many different types of academic

writing is a tall order the most

important thing to remember is that

generally each kind of academic writing

has its own rules and conventions as

such it's important to identify the

rules and expectations for a particular

genre of writing before starting to

write I will discuss the rules and

expectations for a few different genres

in later videos while the

characteristics of a piece of academic

writing may differ depending on type

there are few traits that are common to

most academic writing first there are

focused and specific expectations when

producing a piece of academic writing

academic writing is used to answer

research questions these questions are

either provided by a course instructor

or developed by the writer or researcher

good academic writing starts with

focused and specific questions to be

answered

second academic writing emphasizes

logical reasoning over emotional or

sensory perceptions facts are more

important than feelings writing clearly

means thinking clearly

and so effective academic writing

demonstrates clear critical thinking and

the ability to make arguments stronger

by supporting them with evidence

third academic writing must be clear

English is both a low context and reader

responsible language by this I mean

readers will depend on what's been

written and believe it is the writers

job to make his or her argument as

comprehensive as possible

fourth academic writing must be coherent

this means that there are logical

connections between sentences one way to

do this is to begin sentences with

information that relates back to the

previous sentence it also means that

paragraphs are unified around the single

idea and that all the information

included in a piece of writing

helps to create an effective argument

used to answer the research question

finally the most effective academic

writing follows a process while each

writer will eventually develop his or

her own unique process there are a few

steps that most people follow when

producing a piece of academic writing

these steps include analyzing the task

this involves clarifying your purpose

for writing and identifying your target

audience
number two planning your argument next

you need to develop a main claim and

decide how you will support this claim

using evidence step 3 research this is

necessary in order to gather quality

fact-based objective evidence that you

need to create the argument you will use

to support your main claim number four

start and engage in the writing and

drafting process no good writing is done

overnight it's important to produce

multiple drafts and to both edit and

proofread your writing while it is

important to consider things like

punctuation and proper spelling it is

even more important to see how well

you've structured your argument and the

information in your writing to do this

it's a good idea to ask for comments

from peers and colleagues finally there

are many benefits of investing your time

and energy in becoming a proficient

academic writer academic writing is an

important skill to master for a wide

variety of professional and personal

reasons first it allows writers to make

individual contributions to the ongoing

dialogues in their fields it allows

individuals a greater voice and ability

to participate in conversations about

topics important to them additionally by

mastering the skills necessary to become

an effective academic writer a person

also becomes an effective researcher and

critical thinker finally academic

writing is a marketable skill that

improves one's professional

qualifications and makes one a more

attractive candidate

for potential employers so in the end we

see that academic writing is about much

more than just the act of writing which

is itself not simply a skill but a

collection of skills in addition to

putting your thoughts on the page

effective academic writing involves

critical thinking the ability to create

a convincing argument and good research

skills I hope this video has helped to

improve your understanding of what

people mean when they talk about

academic writing if you have any

questions please feel free to bring them

to us at the academic Writing Center

once again I'm John Capp NeuroSky

see you next time