English is the predominant language of academic writing and communicating in the world. There have always been some problems connected with the use of the written English language in scientific purposes due to disciplinary differences. When writing a research article you should sound like a researcher, which means if you are writing about geography, for example, you should sound like a “geographer”. You should be aware of communication conventions. You should also find a balance between authority and deference. Thus, sounding right for the audience is one of the keys to writing a successful research paper.
As for humanitarian field of studies, the use of English should be especially correct and relevant. Here are some recommendations (tips) on how the academic language can be “acquired” and enhanced:
· Read more written texts from academic genres (textbooks, research articles, university websites, book reviews, press releases);
· Listen to authentic lectures with scientists and scholars;
· Work with a corpus of academic language: learn collocations, find out and use more grammar structures.
We would like to give a list of some expressions that are typical of scientific style[9]:
| Adverbial Expressions | In a certain way… In the same way… In much the same way… In a different way, in various ways… In this way or other… e.g. Dr. Green describes this phenomenon in much the same way. |
| By + Gerund | By analyzing the examples… By studying the effects of… By combining the two approaches… e.g. We observed the changes by comparing the two texts. |
| Without + Gerund | e.g. We observed the process without using this method. |
| For + Gerund / Infinitive as an Adverbial Modifier of Purpose | e.g. For increasing the reliability of our data we repeated the experiment several times. To increase the reliability we repeated the experiment several times. |
| For-To Infinitive Construction As an Adverbial Modifier of Purpose | e.g. For this method to become applicable we have introduced several alterations. |
| Adverbial Modifiers of result | Too Sufficiently Enough e.g. The results are good enough. The results are sufficiently good. |
| Adverbial Modifiers of Time and Attendant Circumstances | In certain conditions… In some circumstances… In studying these processes… When estimating the results… When carrying out the experiments… e.g. In estimating the results I follow several principles. |
| Concession Clauses Introduced by | Whether or not No matter what (which, how) Although Though Inspite of the fact that e.g. No matter what examples you take the result will be the same. His lectures are always interesting although they are sometimes difficult to understand. |
| It is + adjective + that /to-infinitive | It is possible … It is important … It is difficult … It is necessary … It is straightforward … It is helpful … It is safe … It is clear … It is likely … It is true … It is significant … It is surprising … It is interesting … It is notable … It is obvious … It is evident … |
| It-Phrase + seem/appear | It seems interesting… It appears possible… |
| One in Subject Position | One should weigh any generalizations with caution. One can easily apply the above principle. |
| Pronoun + Noun + is + that | My belief is … Our suggestion is … His view/opinion is… |
| Object (Infinitive or Gerund) | Permit/ Allow/ Enable/ Make it possible + infinitive Avoid/ Consider/Suggest/ Remember/ Be worth + Gerund e.g. This evaluation permits us to make some preliminary conclusions. We suggest using the approach suggested by Dr. Brown. |
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KEY CONCEPTS
Here is a list of key concepts that were printed in bold and used in this manual:
abstract - a written summary of the contents of a book, article, or speech.
academic writing - the forms of expository and argumentative prose used by university students and researchers to convey a body of information about a particular subject; generally, academic writing is expected to be precise, semi-formal, impersonal, and objective.
accuracy - freedom from error (correctness), or closeness to truth or fact, resulting from exercise of painstaking care or due diligence; e.g. grammatical accuracy is obtained when each word in a sentence represents the meaning the author intents to convey and are arrange in the correct order.
addressee or recipient – the person to whom the message (text, speech, etc) is addressed.
analysis – a careful examination of something in order to understand it better; the way in which someone describes a situation or problem, and says what causes it to happen.
appropriacy – (linguistics) - the extent to which a word or phrase sounds correct and natural in relation to the situation it is used in.
brainstorm – to solve specific problems, amassing information, stimulating creative thinking, developing new ideas, etc., by unrestrained and spontaneous participation in discussion.
coherence – (linguistics) - the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from the links among its underlying ideas and from the logical organization and development of its thematic content; unity of a linguistic sequence or chain, defined in terms of its relations with its surroundings.
cohesion – (linguistics) - the property of unity in a written text or a segment of spoken discourse that stems from links among its surface elements, as when words in one sentence are repeated in another, and especially from the fact that some words or phrases depend for their interpretation upon material in preceding or following text;unity of a linguistic sequence or chain, defined in terms of its internal semantic relations.
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collocation – the way in which some words are often used together, or a particular combination of words used in this way.
content or subject matter - the substance of a discussion, book, writing, etc., as distinguished from its form or style.
context – the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect.
controlling idea - the main point, or purpose of any piece of writing; it is usually written in either the thesis statement or the topic sentence and allows you to state what you want to say about the topic you are writing about.
defining relative clause – a clause that gives essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies, without which the sentence wouldn't make sense as the listener or reader would not be able to identify the noun in the sentence.
evidence – the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid; a statement helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment.
features – (linguistics) - a property of linguistic units or forms; in generative linguistics, any of various abstract entities that combine to specify underlying phonological, morphological, semantic, and syntactic properties of linguistic forms and that act as the targets of linguistic rules and operations.
function – (linguistics) - the reason or the purpose why we write a text.
guideline - a statement or other indication of policy or procedure by which to determine a course of action.
hypothesis – a tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation.
inference - an assumption or conclusion that is rationally and logically made, based on the given facts or circumstances.
key word - a significant or descriptive word.
modeling - a schematic description of a system, theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further study of its characteristics.
non-defining relative clause – a clause in which the information is not essential; it tells us more about someone or something, but it does not help us to identify them or it.
noun phrase (NP) - a word group with a noun or pronoun as its head.
plagiarism - an act or instance of using or closely imitating the language and thoughts of another author without authorization and the representation of that author's work as one's own, as by not crediting the original author.
reasoning – use of reason, especially to form conclusions, inferences, or judgments; evidence or arguments used in thinking or argumentation.
reason - a statement offered in explanation or justification.
register - one of many styles or varieties of language determined by such factors as social occasion, purpose, and audience.
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reiteration – repetition of a statement or opinion in order to make your meaning as clear as possible.
rhetorical device or resource of language - a technique that an author or speaker uses to convey to the listener or reader a meaning with the goal of persuading him or her towards considering a topic from a different perspective.
style - a way of expressing something (in language) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period; a characteristic way of conveying information.
subskills - specific behaviours that language users do in order to be effective in each of the skills.
summary - an overview of content that provides a reader with the overarching theme, but does not expand on specific details; a summary describes a larger work (such as an entire book, speech, or research project), and should include noticeably less content than the original work. A summary can save the reader’s time because it prevents the reader from having to actually go through and filter the important information from the unimportant.
synthesis - the combining of the constituent elements of separate material or abstract entities into a single or unified entity (opposed to analysis) the separating of any material or abstract entity into its constituent elements.
thesis - the main idea of an essay, report, speech, or research paper, often written as a single declarative sentence.
topic sentence - a sentence that expresses the essential idea of a paragraph or larger section, usually appearing at the beginning.
validity - the quality of being logically or factually sound; soundness or cogency.