Academic Writing:
elements of an academic register
Mark Howie
mark.howie@det.nsw.edu.au
The Speaking / Writing Continuum
Spoken-like
Immediate audience
(personal & subjective)
Written-like
Elliptic
Distant audience
(impersonal & objective)
Elaborated & Dense
Spontaneous
Rhetorical
Colloquial & informal
Technical & formal
Moving students along the continuum
can be a challenge........
• Context is a text exchange about related texts
forwarded by an ex-student of mine now
tutoring a TAFE student in HSC English:
Brilliant! but I’m a bit confused about the
last message. I just bought the study guides
from dymocks cause no c**t wanted to help
me find the actual books!! Sure babe xx
Teaching writing –
where does grammar fit in?
Texts work at:
1. Whole text level
2. Paragraph level
3. Sentence level
4. Clausal level
Think & Share
• What aspects of grammar do you believe to
be most useful in creating an academic
register?
Read & Share
What aspects of grammar give this model text (used recently
with 11 Standard) an academic register? Share your thoughts.
In “The Year of the Kiln Portraits” Murray represents a vibrant
domestic scene in a voice that is full of gratitude and love. Murray pays
homage in a generous voice to the deeply spiritual and creative life his
wife and family have helped to create and he accordingly voices his
gratitude for the joy and he comfort he finds in his day to day life with
them. He also voices his reverence for tradition and continuity by
representing the connections between the activities undertaken in the
house and ancient creative traditions. This is most evident in the way
the poem is paradoxically structured around oppositions but still
creates a sense of harmony. (add example and analysis). It is also
evident in (add technique and analysis). In summary, “The Year of the
Kiln Portraits” gives voice to a generous and loving representation of
the spiritual and emotional sustenance to be found in the family
home, at the same time expressing great reverence for the values of
tradition and continuity.
Focus: noun & verb groups
• What are they?
• What do they add?
• How do they contribute to an academic
register?
Text deconstruction:
noun & verb groups
• In “The Year of the Kiln Portraits” Murray represents a vibrant
domestic scene in a voice that is full of gratitude and love. Murray
pays homage in a generous voice to the deeply spiritual and
creative life his wife and family have helped to create and he
accordingly voices his gratitude for the joy and he comfort he finds
in his day to day life with them. He also voices his reverence for
tradition and continuity by representing the connections between
the activities undertaken in the house and ancient creative
traditions. This is most evident in the way the poem is paradoxically
structured around oppositions but still creates a sense of harmony.
(add example and analysis). It is also evident in (add technique and
analysis). In summary, “The Year of the Kiln Portraits” gives voice to
a generous and loving representation of the spiritual and emotional
sustenance to be found in the family home, at the same time
expressing great reverence for the values of tradition and
continuity.
Noun groups: pre & post-modifiers
What are they?
A noun group is a group of words building on a
noun. Noun groups usually consist of an article (the,
a, an) plus one or more adjectives. They can also
include demonstratives (eg this, those), possessives
(eg ‘my’, ‘Ann's’), quantifiers (eg ‘two’, ‘several’),
classifiers (eg ‘wooden’) before the head noun.
These are called pre-modifiers. After the noun, we
can find phrases and clauses as post-modifiers
following the head noun (eg ‘the girl with the red
shirt who was playing soccer’).
(Substitute adverbs / adverbials for verb groups)
Noun groups: pre & post-modifiers
What are they?
Consider the following example from a newspaper article:
In some of the more realistic, sophisticated and subtle images we
choose to make just for ourselves, Australians seem so much freer to
rush forward.
Here we see the noun images positioned within a noun group that
includes:
a pre-determiner: In some of
a determiner: the
post determiners: more realistic
pre-modifiers: sophisticated and subtle
head (noun): images
post-modifier: we choose to make for ourselves.
Noun groups: pre & post-modifiers
What are they?
Compare the original with this rewriting:
Australians make images for themselves. Some of these are
realistic, sophisticated and subtle. They move us forward.
Both sentences present, more or less, the same information.
But which seems to be the expression of an individual working at a
higher order of thinking and with a better command of language?
Select one:
a. the original
b. the rewriting
c. both
d. neither
Noun groups & adjectival phrases
What do they add?
Answer yes or no to the following suggestions:
1. A sense of development or elaboration?
2. Less complex sentence structures more typical of
informal ‘spoken’ text than a ‘formal’ written text?
3. An impersonal voice?
4. A sense of (creative) flair in the writing?
5. Precision?
6. Irrelevant waffle?
7. Lower order cognition
Text deconstruction
Text element
Example from the model text
Elaboration
a vibrant domestic scene in a voice that is full of gratitude and
love.
A ‘written’ like
formality &
density
to a generous and loving representation of the spiritual and
emotional sustenance to be found in the family home
A personal voice
(created through constant evaluation & judgement)
Sense of flair
spiritual and emotional sustenance
Precision
ancient creative traditions
Higher order
evaluation
a generous voice / deeply spiritual /great reverence
Application:
identify 1 noun group & 1 verb group from this
12Advanced student example & share your answers
Through the appropriation of both Republican and Imperial rhetoric within
Julius Caesar, Shakespeare represents on stage conflicting perspectives on
political discourse through the dramatic juxtaposition of his characters,
naturally being drawn to such aspects in a tumultuous political era. More
specifically, the question we are dealing with here is whether Shakespeare
was explicitly vocalising radical personal views on political or moral order, or
whether this prevalent ambiguity was deliberate. Shakespeare seems to be
siding with emerging humanism through the very act of Caesar’s
assassination immediately after his ascension to the throne, distributing
power to the common people, evident in the very first act. The apposite
diction of the cobbler’s lines “thou saucy fellow!” seems to be favouring the
oft-overlooked yet charming wit of the commoners. The pun of “mending bad
soles” effectively communicates the purging of Imperialism and Caesar,
somewhat justifying the conspirators Cassius and Brutus. Caesar’s murder is
wholly moral (on the surface) for lending the commoners the ability to
partake in public discourse, and disallowing the dismal breakdown of the
historical and cultural values of Rome.
Application:
identify 1 noun group & 1 verb group from this
12Advanced student example & share your answers
Through the appropriation of both Republican and Imperial rhetoric within
Julius Caesar, Shakespeare represents on stage conflicting perspectives on
political discourse through the dramatic juxtaposition of his characters,
naturally being drawn to such aspects in a tumultuous political era. More
specifically, the question we are dealing with here is whether Shakespeare
was explicitly vocalising radical personal views on political or moral order, or
whether this prevalent ambiguity was deliberate. Shakespeare seems to be
siding with emerging humanism through the very act of Caesar’s
assassination immediately after his ascension to the throne, distributing
power to the common people, evident in the very first act. The apposite
diction of the cobbler’s lines “thou saucy fellow!” seems to be favouring the
oft-overlooked yet charming wit of the commoners. The pun of “mending bad
soles” effectively communicates the purging of Imperialism and Caesar,
somewhat justifying the conspirators Cassius and Brutus. Caesar’s murder is
wholly moral (on the surface) for lending the commoners the ability to
partake in public discourse, and disallowing the dismal breakdown of the
historical and cultural values of Rome.
Lesson Planning
Building Field
Independent
construction
Assessment
Joint construction
Modelling
Possible strategies
(in context of content being taught & an essay required)
Phase in Cycle
Strategies
Building Field
’mini-lesson’ or revision on adjectives /nouns/adjectival
phrases: worksheet, parsing or labelling etc
Modelling
paragraph written by teacher: labelling / deconstruction
’real life’ examples (e.g. from newspaper) & discussion of
effects
using word banks to build noun groups (relevant to the
content that has been studied)
building noun groups through matching activities
Joint construction
cloze exercise on another paragraph written by teacher,
replacing or suggesting noun groups
paragraph writing in pairs or groups
Independent
Construction
writing of paragraph/s with focus in assessment on noun
groups (n.b. presumes confidence with content & a
supporting structure such as PEEL)
Task:
complete the matching activity to reconstruct noun
groups & share 2 of your responses
Nouns
deregulation
Pre & post-modifiers
the redundant cattle
responsible for the changes
dog,
the rural
elites
in Australia in the 1990s
victims
which has been put down following the
foreclosure on the farm,
of rapid economic change in Australia in
the 1990s
banking
the city economic
A second Murray poem, “The Rollover”, shifts the idea of home from a domestic scene
to the idea of the nation and a national identity. Murray sharply satirises banking
deregulation in Australia in the 1990s, voicing his anger at the pain and disruption this
caused to farmers and country people more generally, showing that they are no longer
at home in their own country. In keeping with his reverence for tradition and
continuity, highlighting the way such things sustains a sense of community and enrich
people’s lives, Murray bemoans the loss of the local bank branch and staff as important
aspects of rural life, using a satirical voice to illustrate the moral bankruptcy of the
changes he sees around him. This is most evident in his use of the literary technique of
inversion. Familiar phrases are inverted to show the corruption and moral bankruptcy
of the city economic elites responsible for the changes, “it’s all an Owned Boys story”
and “But you have to line the drawer somewhere”. It is also seen in the deliberately
false pathos that Murray expresses through absurd images. Rather than the sad loss of
the redundant cattle dog, which has been put down following the foreclosure on the
farm, Murray’s imagined bankers, who have instead been evicted, have to put to death
their computers, “There’s the faithful VDU, shot dead, still on its lead”. Using a sharp
satirical voice in “The Turnover”, Murray champions the rural victims of rapid economic
change in Australia in the 1990s, using inversion and false pathos to show that they are
the true holders of decent values, in the process lamenting the loss of some very
important traditions that sustained life in country towns.
Other useful grammatical elements:
• Nominalisation: verbs to nouns
*Murray sharply satirises banking deregulation in
Australia in the 1990s....
* Familiar phrases are inverted to show the corruption
and moral bankruptcy
* following the foreclosure on the farm, Murray’s
imagined bankers,....
Given/new pattern at sentence level
• Working within a PEEEL structure at paragraph
level
A second Murray poem, “The Rollover”, shifts the idea of home from a domestic scene
to the idea of the nation and a national identity. Murray sharply satirises banking
deregulation in Australia in the 1990s, voicing his anger at the pain and disruption this
caused to farmers and country people more generally, showing that they are no longer
at home in their own country. In keeping with his reverence for tradition and
continuity, highlighting the way such things sustains a sense of community and enrich
people’s lives, Murray bemoans the loss of the local bank branch and staff as important
aspects of rural life, using a satirical voice to illustrate the moral bankruptcy of the
changes he sees around him. This is most evident in his use of the literary technique of
inversion. Familiar phrases are inverted to show the corruption and moral bankruptcy
of the city economic elites responsible for the changes, “it’s all an Owned Boys story”
and “But you have to line the drawer somewhere”. It is also seen in the deliberately
false pathos that Murray expresses through absurd images. Rather than the sad loss of
the redundant cattle dog, which has been put down following the foreclosure on the
farm, Murray’s imagined bankers, who have instead been evicted, have to put to death
their computers, “There’s the faithful VDU, shot dead, still on its lead”. Using a sharp
satirical voice in “The Turnover”, Murray champions the rural victims of rapid economic
change in Australia in the 1990s, using inversion and false pathos to show that they are
the true holders of decent values, in the process lamenting the loss of some very
important traditions that sustained life in country towns.
Reflection
Reflect on your learning tonight by writing (&
sharing)
*2 sentences that include a VERB group and a
NOUN group with
at least one pre-modifier in each
a post modifier in each
*1 nominalisation
*A given/new structure in the movement from
the 1st to the 2nd sentence