EAPP : Academic Text What is A Text? ✓ is a large unit of written work. ✓ a group of ideas put together to make a point or one central idea. ✓ A connected discourse. What is a Discourse? ✓ it is a formal and often lengthy discussion of a topic, where concepts and insights are arranged in an organized and logical manner. ✓ It can be an utterance, talk, speech, discussion, conversation, or even text. Academic Text can be defined : ➢ They are critical, objective, and specialized texts that are written by professionals or experts in a particular field. ➢ They are written in formal language and has a formal style and tone. Since these are objective texts, they are based on facts. Discourse defined: ➢ it is a formal and often lengthy discussion of a topic, where concepts and insights are arranged in an organized and logical manner. ➢ It can be an utterance, talk, speech, discussion, conversation, or even text. ➢ They rely far more formally on research-based, factual and verifiable materials for their content. ➢ It is different in vocabulary and structure from the everyday spoken English of social interactions. It is important to note that Academic language is different to Social language, but neither is a “superior” against each other. Academic Language vs. Social Language Academic - It is the vocabulary that students or adults must learn to succeed in the classroom or in the workplace. - Variety of words, more sophisticated vocabulary - Sentences start with transition words, such as "however", "moreover", and "in addition". - No slang Social - It is the simple, informal language we use when talking face to face with family members and friends. It allows us to use contemporary or slang terms like “cool,” “awesome,” or “dude.” - Repetition of words - Sentences start with "and" and "but" - Use of slang: "guy", "cool", and "awesome". Characteristics of an Academic Text Academic Text utilizes the use of Academic Language. 1. Formal ➢ It should not be conversational and casual. ➢ Avoid colloquial and idiomatic expressions, slang, and contractions. Academic Language can be defined as : ➢ It represents the language demands of school (academics). Academic language includes language used in textbooks, in classrooms, on tests, and in each discipline. Examples to avoid: - Dude, like, I am so on cloud nine right now! - My Physics teacher is the GOAT! - Don’t mess with that guy. He’s sus. 2. Impersonal ➢ Do not refer to yourself as the performer of actions. Do not use personal pronouns. For example: ➢ “It is commonly said that” ... instead of “Many of my friends and colleagues say that...” ➢ “Research revealed that...” instead of “I discovered that” 3. Precise ➢ The facts are presented accurately. The choice of words is appropriate. The use of technical terms to achieve precision is applied. Examples: The pi symbol (π) denotes the number 3.14159 (and so on). The pi symbol (π) means 3 something... something... 4. Objective ➢ It is unbiased, based on facts and is not influenced by personal feelings. For example: “The essay on... is distressing.” instead of “I do not like the essay” Major Examples of Academic Text 1. Textbooks ➢ These are specifically designed to help the learners for specific subjects or disciplines. They have highly set languages depending on the discipline to which the textbooks will be used For. 2. Essays ➢ Essays usually help you show how deep you have learned a topic or lesson. They usually need to include citations of sources. 3. Theses ➢ You will probably have to write longer texts when and if you decide to enroll in a post graduate course in the future. 4. Research Articles ➢ Research articles are written mainly for a specialist audience, meaning other researchers, academics and postgraduate students. 5. Case Studies ➢ These may be found in any discipline, though they are most common in disciplines such as humanities, example business, sociology, and law. They are descriptive and in-depth studies into the lives of particular individuals. 6. Reports ➢ The purpose of reports is to describe what happened and discuss and evaluate its importance. ➢ Reports are found in different disciplines, such as science, law, and medicine. NON-ACADEMIC TEXTS DEFINED... ➢ Non-academic texts include writings that are informal and dedicated to a lay audience. ➢ Non-academic articles are written for the widespread public. They are published rapidly and can be written by anyone. Non-academic texts may also include research or verifiable material but are less likely to include references to any source material and may be published in a rather informal setting. Characteristics of Non-Academic text ❖ Less formal (may idioms, slangs, contractions) ❖ Casual language ❖ Use any point of view ❖ Opinion-based ❖ Free of rigid structures ❖ On general topics - Major Examples of Non-Academic Texts 1. Emails ▪ Simple and informal. They are sent or received over a computer network and can be sent to multiple recipients and carry multiple attachments at the same time. 2. Newspapers ▪ A publication and form of mass communication and mass media usually issued daily, weekly, or at other regular times that provides news, views, features, and other information of public interest. 3. Magazines ▪ is another kind of non-academic text which is usually used for leisure time. 4. Blogs or Social Media posts ▪ Blogs or social media contents can add more ideas about a particular thing but it’s not good to be a source of research, like for a thesis, except if your topic is about social media. Similarities of Academic and Non-Academic Text ❖ Both texts may be written with the goal to persuade, to entertain, or to inform. ❖ Academic and non-academic texts are both written for a particular audience. ❖ Both texts may be found in print, periodical, and digital forms. Academic Text vs. Non Academic Text Academic - Audience : Academia Purpose : Inform the readers with solid evidence Style : Formal and Impersonal Structure : Standard Structure Language : Formal language avoids colloquialisms Subject / Content : Shared historical events or literature or other forms of knowledge Non Academic Text - Audience : Mass Public - Purpose : Inform, entertain or persuade the readers - Style : Personal, Impressionistic, emotional or subjective - Structure : No Rigid Structure - Language : Informal and Casual language, may contain colloquialisms - Subject / Content : Personal life and everyday event TEXT STRUCTURES The readers can significantly improve their comprehension and retention of information when they can identify and recognize the text structure of a text. It can also help them: 1. Organize information and details they are learning in their minds while reading. 2. Make connections between the details being presented in a text. 3. Summarize the important details shared in a text. - TYPES OF WRITING Descriptive Narrative Expository Persuasive TYPES OF TEXT STRUCTURE 1. DEFINITION ➢ The focus of this text is to explain or give a comprehensive understanding of a concept, a term or an idea. ➢ To define a term, a writer provides a general definition, then gives clear details to support. TYPES OF DEFINITION 1. Formal Definition ➢This type is factual by nature. The definitions provided in dictionaries are examples of formal definition, which generally include three elements: a) term, the word being defined; b) class, which refers to the (big) group to which the term belongs; and c) Differentiating features, the word or phrase that makes it different from the others from the same class. Example: Science is the field of study which attempts to describe and understand the nature of the universe in whole or part. 2. Subjective definition ➢This type aims to defines complex terms in a personal way where it is influenced by personal feelings or emotions. Example: What is passion? Passion is something that I need to learn to feel by enduring not just the highs of life but also the downtimes. It also goes with loving what I do. 2. DESCRIPTION ➢This pattern of development gives characteristics or details on what an object, a person or a place looks like. ➢When using this pattern, use powerful and appropriate adjectives and use effectively the five senses (sight, smell, taste, hear, touch) to create a clear image on a reader’s mind. TYPES OF DESCRIPTION 1. Objective description ➢ is used in scientific writing to describe factual and scientific characteristics. ➢ It describes something without conveying the writer’s own emotions. 2. Subjective description ➢ is used in fiction wherein a writer uses their own perspective or impressions to describe a person, an event or a thing. STRUCTURE OF CLASSIFICATION ➢ This pattern allows you to either divide a topic into its component parts, or to categorize (or classify) a group of related items or events. ➢It divides and organizes ideas or concepts in classes, groups or categories based on criteria and relationships between the items. STRUCTURE OF CHRONOLOGY ➢Present ideas or events in the order in which they happen. ➢used to show order of things, how something happens and the logical arrangement of things. ➢Words such as first, next, during, and finally can signal this text structure to tell the dates and events that happened in the text. - Usage of Beginning, Middle and End. STRUCTURE OF CAUSE & EFFECT ➢ It is used to explain why things happen, and the results of a certain phenomenon. Writers enumerate factors and possible outcomes resulting from phenomena or events. ➢ It uses words like because, as a result, resulted, caused, affected, since, due to, effect, and so to present the cause and effect of the topic. THE STRUCTURE OF COMPARISON AND CONTRAST ➢The purpose of a compare–contrast text structure is to describe how two or more things are similar and different. ➢A compare–contrast text structure will frequently use words like both, unlike, similarly, and in contrast. There are two people in the picture. One boy and one girl. The girl smiles sweetly as she leans on the boy. The girl has a hair laced on a hue of darkish blue with a cute pink hair bow tie. She carries a small purple plushie that resembles an eggplant. The boy on her right wears an apathetic expression with a pure black color. LESSON 3: Summarizing Techniques Summary Defined... • Summary is a direct to the point narrative or re-telling of a much longer material, either a story, an essay or any body of knowledge. • Summarizing is a short restatement of the main idea of the text. The output is called A Summary. It is the shortened version, ideally, only one-third of the original text. It contains the main points and important details of the text and should be written in your own words. • It involves restating a work’s thesis and main ideas “simply, briefly, and Accurately”. For you to do proper summarizing, there are tips you can actually follow. Tips in summarizing: 1. Read the original text not just once but several times. Make sure to comprehend it Well. 2. Identify the text structure (compare-contrast, cause-effect, sequence, descriptive, question-answer, and problem-solution) by looking into how the relationships between ideas are established. 3. Take note or highlight the important details in the text. 4. After getting the main idea and important details, write your preliminary summary. 5. Make sure to use your own words. 6. Check if your work does not go stray from the original text. 7. Read it again and make necessary revision or editing. Rules of Summarizing 1. Erase things that don’t matter. Delete trivial material that is unnecessary to Understanding. 2. Only write down important points. If it is not something that will help you understand or remember, then don’t write it down. 3. Erase things that repeat. Delete redundant material. In note taking, time and space are precious. 4. Use your own words to write the summary. Do not just copy the sentences from the original text. However, do not inject your opinion in your summary. Importance of Summarizing? ✓ Learning to summarize will improve your memory for what you have read. ✓ It is an essential skill and learning strategy that allows students to monitor their own progress in learning a course material. ✓ It helps you stay on topic while still presenting what's most important about each paragraph in an easy-to-read format that will not bore the reader into skipping over it entirely or looking for something else to do instead of reading what you have Written. ✓ Students who can adequately summarize a long text are good at focusing and extracting the main ideas. SUMMARIZING TECHNIQUES 1. Outlines ➢ An outline is a snapshot of one’s paper as it captures the important points. ➢ An outline is a general plan of the material that is to be presented in a speech or a paper. Outlining will help construct and organize ideas in a sequential manner and thoughtful flow. It also breaks down a text into its main ideas and its supporting arguments or supporting details. A topic outline is a list of ideas arranged in a specific order, and it shows how information is presented in writing. ➢ It is a list of the main points and supporting ideas that the writer intends to discuss in writing. It uses keywords or key phrases instead of complete sentences. A topic outline is made up of: 1. The headings represent the main ideas and are indicated by Roman numerals. 2.The subheadings represent the supporting ideas; they are indicated by capital letters and are indented. Sub-subheadings are the specific details or concrete examples of the supporting ideas. Steps in Making a Topic Outline 1. Figure out the main points. Doing so will help you come up with the structure of your writing. 2. Arrange the main points in a logical order. You can arrange them from the least important to the most important. 3. Identify and write down the supporting ideas for each main point. 2. Graphic Organizers. ➢ They are a communication tool that uses visual symbols to express knowledge, concepts, thoughts, or ideas, and the relationships between them. ➢ They are a way to organize information visually to see how ideas relate to one Another. Graphic organizers can help students focus their thoughts for planning, decision making, and writing. They help students see connections, patterns, and relationships. They can also help students show understanding of the “big picture” from a lesson or book. EXAMPLES Mind map ➢ It is used to represent your knowledge of a concept or idea. ➢ It is useful for brainstorming and exploring topics or ideas. Venn diagram ➢ It is used to show the similarities and differences between two or more people, objects, or ideas. It uses overlapping circles to represent different objects or ideas that share similar traits in some way. Flow Chart ➢ A flowchart is used to show the different steps in a process. It contains information on the stages of a process in the order that it must be completed. philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Literary Approaches What are Literary Approaches? They are the body of ideas and methods we use in the practical reading of literature. Literary theory is a description of the underlying principles, one might say the tools, by which we attempt to understand Literature. Hierarchical topical organizer ➢ A hierarchical topical organizer shows the order of ideas and their place in a hierarchy. FORMALISM It compels readers to judge the artistic merit of literature by examining its formal elements, like form and technical skill. Focus: The text and How it was written. 3. THE 5 W’S AND 1 H TECHNIQUE ➢ This technique relies on six crucial questions: Who, What, When, Where, Why, & How. ➢ These questions make it easy to identify the main character, important details and the main idea. The critic should evaluate the following contents: ✓ The literary elements ✓ The language used ✓ The literary style WHO - Who are the Characters in the narrative? WHAT - What happened in the Narrative? WHY - What caused the events in the Narrative? WHEN - What's the time and year of the Narrative? WHERE - What's the place of the Narrative? HOW - How did the Narrative play out? LESSON 4: Literary Criticism Literary Criticism defined... - It carefully examines a text, or one element of a text, such as character, setting, plot or theme of a story. Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the FEMINISM It is concerned with "the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women". Focus: The female entity in the text. MARXISM This viewpoint considers particular aspects of the political content of the text; the author; the historical and socio- cultural context of the work. Focus: The Society. READER RESPONSE CRITICISM The reader-response criticism is rooted in the belief that a reader's reaction to or interpretation of a text is as valuable a source of critical study as the text itself.
