Academic/Formal Writing MYP5

Academic/Formal Writing MYP5 Mrs. Volzer Fall 2008

Formal Language • When writing or speaking, we choose the words which seem most suitable to the purpose and audience. In academic writing we use formal language, avoiding the use of slang and colloquial language. • Try to learn a range of appropriate language for expressing your opinions and referring to those of others.

Some of the language in the following examples is more appropriate for speaking than writing. Identify which expressions are too informal.

When I look at the situation in emergency wards, with many staff leaving, it's hard not to worry about how many doctors will be available to treat patients in the future. • If we consider the situation in emergency wards, with increasingly low staff retention rates, there are concerns about the capacity of hospitals to maintain adequate doctor to patient ratios.

It's so obvious that people were given jobs just because they were male or female. I don't think that is an acceptable approach and is even against the law. • It appears that in a number of instances jobs were assigned on the basis of gender. Given the current anti-discrimination laws, this raises serious concerns.

In contrast to spoken English, a distinctive feature of academic writing style is for writers to choose the more formal alternative when selecting a verb, noun, or other part of speech.

English often has two (or more) choices to express an action or occurrence. The choice is often between, on the one hand, a verb which is part of a phrase (often verb + preposition), and a verb which is one word only. • Often in lectures and in everyday spoken English, the verb + preposition is used (eg speak up, give up, write down); however, for written academic style, the preferred choice is a single verb wherever possible.

For example • Informal: The social worker looked at the client's history to find out which interventions had previously been implemented. • Academic: The social worker examined the client's history to establish which interventions had previously been implemented.

Exercise 1 • Rewrite the sentences in a more academic style using verbs from the list below. Note that you may need to change the verb tense.

Systems analysts can help out managers in many different ways. • This program was set up to improve access to medical care. • Medical research expenditure has gone up to nearly $350 million. • Researchers have found out that this drug has serious side effects.

Exercise alone will not get rid of medical problems related to blood pressure. • Researchers have been looking into this problem for 15 years now. • This issue was brought up during the coroner's inquest.

Impersonal style

Informal writing When I look at the situation in emergency wards, with many staff leaving, it's hard not to worry about how many doctors will be available to treat patients in the future. Academic writing If we consider the situation in emergency wards, with increasingly low staff retention rates, there are concerns about the capacity of hospitals to maintain adequate doctor to patient ratios. Compare the changes

Informal writing It's so obvious that people were given jobs just because they were male or female. I don't think that is an acceptable approach and is even against the law. Academic writing It appears that in a number of instances jobs were assigned on the basis of gender. Given the current anti-discrimination laws, this raises serious concerns. Compare the changes

You will notice that, in general, in academic writing we: • minimize the use of the personal I in the text: avoid writing 'When I look; I don't think this is an acceptable approach' • use formal verbs, and fewer verb phrases (verb + preposition), use consider rather than look at • use impersonal expressions: there are…, this raises • use more nouns than verbs: concerns, rather than to worry • avoid emotional expressions, such as it's so obvious (it appears is preferable); just because (assigned on the basis of is preferable) • aim for concise, often abstract expression, gender, rather than male or female.

Objective writing • In general, academic writing aims to be objective in its expression of ideas. Therefore specific reference to personal opinions, or to yourself as the performer of actions, is usually avoided.

Personal In my opinion I believe that… In my view… 'Objective‘ It has been argued that Some writers claim… Clearly,… It is clear that… There is little doubt that… Expressing opinions

Agent or performer I undertook the study… I propose to … In this essay I will examine… No agent / performer The study was undertaken… It is proposed to… This essay examines… Avoiding too much reference to yourself as agent in your writing

There are times when it is important to emphasize authorial stance – i.e. that it is specifically your position or view. Check with your tutor in the unit as to how much of yourself as the author it is appropriate to acknowledge and include in your writing.

Passive / Active Voice To some academics, passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking! These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments.

Passive Voice • A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. • form of "to be" + past participle = passive voice

Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke: • Why was the road crossed by the chicken? • Okay so you get it – there is something wrong; but, to many young writers, it is not always obvious as to why!

Who is doing the action in this sentence? • The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. • The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). • We use active verbs to represent that "doing," whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly).

Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. • Look for a form of "to be" (is, are, am , was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being) followed by a past participle. (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in "-ed." Some exceptions to the "-ed" rule are words like "paid" (not "payed") and "driven." (not "drived").

For example: • The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. • When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

So how do you fix it? • Let's briefly look at how to change passive constructions into active ones. You can usually just switch the word order, making the actor and subject one by putting the actor up front:

The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. becomes • The dragon scorched the metropolis with his fiery breath. • When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. becomes • After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

Let’s Review: • the key to identifying the passive voice is to look for both a form of "to be" and a past participle, which usually, but not always, ends in "-ed."

Just one more : • When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. Like many passive constructions, this sentence lacks explicit reference to the actor—it doesn't tell the reader who or what invaded Penelope's house. The active voice clarifies things: • After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

How to identify Passive Voice • Look for the passive voice: "to be" + a past participle (usually, but not always, ending in "-ed") • If you don't see both components, move on. • Does the sentence describe an action? If so, where is the actor? Is he/she/it in the grammatical subject position (at the front of the sentence) or in the object position (at the end of the sentence, or missing entirely)?

How to evaluate PV: • Is the doer/actor indicated? Should you indicate him/her/it? • Does it really matter who's responsible for the action? • Would your reader ask you to clarify a sentence because of an issue related to your use of the passive? • Do you use a passive construction in your thesis statement? • Do you use the passive as a crutch in summarizing a plot or history, or in describing something? • Do you want to emphasize the object?

Finally, Revise it –make it active • If you decide that your sentence would be clearer in the active voice, switch the sentence around to make the subject and actor one. Put the actor (the one doing the action of the sentence) in front of the verb.

Subject-Verb-Object, or not?Syntactic differences: • There are six types of language syntax: subject-verb-object, subject-object-verb, object-subject-verb, object-verb-subject, verb-subject-object, and verb-object-subject (abbreviated SVO, SOV, OSV, OVS, VSO, and VOS), with the most frequent being SVO, VSO, and SOV.

So what are they? • Examples of each are: • English (SVO) • Irish, Welch (VSO) • Japanese (SOV) • Panare from Venezuela (OVS) • Xavante from Brazil (OSV) • Huave from Mexico (VOS) • There are others called Free languages : Korean

Academic/Formal Writing MYP5