EAPP

READING ACADEMIC TEXTS

Lesson 1
What is an academic text?

•The process of breaking down ideas and

using deductive reasoning, formal voice and
third person point of view. It is about what
you think and what evidence has
contributed to that thinking.
The Academic Text
• Academic means in relation to the academe and/or which is the source of
knowledge, new learnings, skills, values and habits.

• Academic texts, therefore are educational texts.

• Used in schools or classrooms.
• Includes school books, newspapers, articles, textbooks and anything written by
experts in various fields of specialization.
• Uses jargons or specialized language
• Not opinionated
• Backed up with valid and reliable information
• Cites further references
Examples of Academic Texts
• Textbooks
• design to help learners
• vary in style, tone and level depending on their audience

• Student Essays
• vary in length and formality
• 3 sections: Introduction, main body and conclusion.
• includes citations of sources
Examples of Academic Texts
• Theses and dissertations
• Result of long period reading, research and reflection.
• Master’s level: 10, 000 to 20, 000 words
• Doctor’s level: 60, 000 to 80, 000 words
• structure varies but is likely to include:

a. Introduction
b. Background
c. Literature Review
d. Research Design/Methodology
e. Results/Findings
f. Discussion/Interpretation
g. Recommendations
h. Conclusion
Examples of Academic Texts
• Research articles
• written mainly for specific audience-researchers, academics and post
graduate students.
• Usually contains the following:

a. Introduction to the research

b. Literature Review
c. Background to the research and method
d. Results or main findings
e. Discussion including authors’ interpretation of the results
f. Recommendations: Ideas for future research
g. Bibliography
h. Appendix (optional)
Examples of Academic Texts
• Case studies
• A report about a person, group or a situation that has been studied
• Primarily descriptive
• most common in disciplines such as business, sociology and law
• typical structure:

a. Context (What is focus? where? when?)

b. Description of the setting (person, company or place)
c. An account of how this changed over the period of time under
investigation
d. Headings help the audience work through text
Examples of Academic Texts
• Report
• to describe what happened (e.g. in a piece of research) and discuss and
evaluate its importance
• found in various disciplines like science, law and medicine
• Usually contains the following:

a. Context/Overview (Title, Contents, etc.)

b. Introduction
c. Methodology/Description of the event (e.g. piece of research)
d. Findings/ Main Points
e. Discussion/ Evaluation
f. Conclusion