At the heart of helping students to be successful in academic course work is the idea of register, which we have mentioned in most discussions on this site. It underlies the ideas of local/Global literacy, BICS/CALP, Academic Discourse and the development of academic text types.
Below are some of the more effective ways to illustrate strategies that help move student writing upwards on the language continuum. Some of these strategies can be found in the section for students (Stylistics and Register) and can be shared as appropriate.
Language students spend a long time studying grammar, vocabulary, etc. At the end, students still find themselves making errors, not necessarily in grammar, but in what to say, when to say it and how to say it. That brings us to the study of Stylistics. In Stylistics we study how to take the grammar we have learned and apply it in the appropriate ways, so that our writing is effective and is written in a way that is best suited to the situation. This is particularly important when a text type of higher register is required. This page will highlight how to use things like the passive, modal verbs, noun phrases and other things to improve academic style.
SOCIAL PURPOSE
Social purpose simply means that every time you write something, it is a social act because it is communication. If nobody reads what you have written (your shopping list or perhaps your diary) then it is not communication, so not social and it will not matter what kind of style you use. Any other kind of communication needs to be considered for social purpose, in other words- who you are writing to and why.
Imagine you are looking for a new job. You send an email to your friend and say, “Oh man I HATE applying for jobs!! I guess I’ll send my resume if I’m not too lazy this weekend. What a pain in the butt!”
Now imagine you are applying for a job at that bank. Would you send that same email to the president or HR director of the bank? You certainly would never get the job!! Why not? – because the social purpose of the email has not been considered. We need to think about who is reading and what our purpose in writing is. What you say to your best friend is not what you would say to your boss, your mother, even your husband or wife.
Social purpose is particularly important in these cases:
Job applications
Letters of complaint (or other business letters)
Advertisements
Artistic Expression
Requests or Refusals
Apologies
Academic Communication and Text Types
Research
ACADEMIC STYLE – BEING OBJECTIVE
In research and paper writing, it is very important to appear objective. In the academic world, bias is seen as a weakening element and discredits both the work and the writer. It is very important to write in a very objective manner. The register should be high and the writer should rarely refer to himself, unless recounting a personal experience required by the assignment (of course it is always important to understand fully what is required of you in the assignment – consult your tutor or lecturer for clarification if you need to). The following points are some ways in which to make your writing more academic, more objective and of a higher register. It is important to understand that no piece of writing should over-use any of these elements. Everything should be balanced and look like the thoughts of an educated, well read person.
Below you will find a number of strategies to help you with register, academic style and social purpose.
THE PASSIVE
The Passive Voice is a very commonly used form in English, although it is often absent from Creoles or Patois. It occurs when the person performing the action in the sentence is not the subject. In an Active sentence, the person performing the action is the subject, but in a passive sentence, the subject is the object of the ACTIVE sentence. The person performing the action becomes the Agent and is usually indicated using the preposition ‘by’.
Ex:
ACTIVE: The police have arrested three criminals.
Subject Verb Object
PASSIVE: Three criminals have been arrested by the police.
Subject Verb Agent
For a more detailed discussion on the Passive, see the chapter on the passive in this course.
Use of the passive in academic writing makes the writer sound more academic and more neutral. It has a scientific feeling, so it seems to remove bias by avoiding the identification of the agent.
For example:
ACTIVE: In the rainforest, people, companies and other things have killed many animals.
PASSIVE: Many animals have been killed in the rainforest.
The second sentence does not identify who might have done this, but it does indicate that the animals did not die naturally because it has used the word “killed”.
Ex:
ACTIVE: The teacher gave the students a test.
PASSIVE: A test was given to the students.
The second sentence removes the agent (the Teacher) so that it sounds more scientific or academic. There are other purposes for the passive – also found in the chapter on the passive.
NOMINALIZATION
Nominalization refers to making verbs or other word forms into nouns or noun phrases. This often sounds more academic because it takes the verb or action out of the sentence and makes it a noun, sounding more like an object than an action.
Example:
People are destroying forests at an alarming rate and that makes environmentalists worried.
NOMINALIZED: The rate of forest destruction is alarming, a worry for environmentalists.
In the nominalized sentence, “forest destruction” and “worry” have become nouns. This makes the sentence cleaner, more concise and more academic sounding.
Sometimes prepositions are used to clarify who the agent and who the object are. For example, if we have the expression: Canada’s American Occupation, it is not clear if Canada is occupying the US or if the US is occupying Canada.
To clarify:
Canada’s Occupation of America (Canada is occupying America).
Canada’s Occupation by America (America is occupying Canada).
Nominalization makes the language sound more academic but can also make it sound awkward and heavy if not used appropriately, especially if too many prepositions are used. The same can be said for the passive.
EXAMPLE: The children didn’t understand why he wanted them to study so much.
NOMINALIZED: His need for the high level of study of his children, was not understood by the children.
This sentence would actually be annoying to the reader and would defeat the purpose of good fluent writing. Both the nominalization and the passive voice here have made the sentence awkward and unnatural. Both the passive and the use of nominalization should be tempered appropriately.
HEDGING
Hedging is basically a form of using words that are non-committal. This can range from time (sometimes, at times, periodically) to probability (likely, possibly) to certainty (perhaps, it may be that…) and rhetorical or actual questions (What might this show? How can this affect the study?).
The idea is to be factual, accurate and objective in your presentation of ideas and statistics, but to present them in a very flexible and non-committal way. The last example in the previous paragraph included two modal verbs. The next section will deal with modal verbs specifically.
MODAL VERBS
Modal Verbs are some of the most versatile and useful elements of English language. (To understand fully how they work, see the chapter entitled “Modal Verbs”.) For the purposes of academic writing, modal verbs can be used to soften the effect of language that may be too harsh or that may leave too little room for maneuver. This is particularly important in areas of a paper where recommendations are called for.
For instance, if you are doing a research paper and you think that teacher should use a new educational software package you have been researching. In your conclusion you make recommendations like this:
Teachers must begin using ABC123 software in every classroom.
This will be easily attacked by those who disagree and if a counter-point is raised, you will not have the room to move or lessen your stand if you wish to save face.
It is better to say:
Teachers might want to think about incorporating parts of ABC123 software in their classrooms.
This sentence is much softer and leaves room to move. If an opponent brings up the point that there are negative things about ABC123 software, you can say that you only mentioned using parts of it. You are not being forceful with teachers or sounding aggressive, by saying “teachers might want to think about” you are adding three levels of removal from the sentence (might, want and think about).
Here is another example:
Companies have to reform and every firm will make its employees retrain.
Improved:
Some companies should consider reforming and may want to think about retraining some or all of their employees.
This gentler, more maneuverable language is far more appropriate for academic writing. This technique can also be referred to as couching, as when one “couches’ ideas in certain kinds of language.
TRANSITIONS
One area of higher register vocabulary that is often overlooked is that of transitions. An essential part of sign-posting in an academic essay, the choice of transitions in a piece of writing can dramatically improve the impact of the language. Here is a list of transitions and their meanings. Coaching students to use them effectively, as appropriate in your subject, is an essential tool. As we mentioned in Academic Vocabulary and Discourse, transitions (and conjunctions) help make up the mortar between your lexical bricks. This list can also be found in the student section entitled Conjunctions and Transitions.
Many people confuse conjunctions and transitions. Here are some transitions:
Finally Incidentally Firstly Ultimately
Nevertheless Furthermore In conclusion Besides
Moreover In fact Besides Foremost
However On the other hand Indeed For example
Transitions, like conjunctions, are like glue in your writing. Conjunctions are like grammar glue – you have to have the bricks held together with something. Transitions are like the parts of the building that make it beautiful. When the building is constructed you need colour, form, line and shape to flow beautifully. You need that in your writing too. Now that you have held the bricks together it is time to think about how to make your language flow smoothly and to help your reader understand well all the ideas you want to discuss.
So, a transition is simply a change or a movement. It signals movement in your writing to an idea, an example, something opposite, etc. It’s like a light for your reader to help make the ideas blend together into one work. So decorate your writing with transitions and see it come to life.
Transitions help us to link ideas together, but they cannot link sentences. This is one reason that people confuse them. Look at the examples below:
1. Art is present everywhere we look. For example, on every package we buy you can see some design.
2. Many people say that music is a very individual and personal experience. On the other hand, some musicians draw huge crowds of people who enjoy the experience together.
3. Cooking is an experience for all of the senses. Moreover, it is experienced with the eyes, as well as with the mouth.
4. It is important for people around the world to understand mathematics. Indeed, without math, we would not know so much about the universe.
You can see in the examples above that for example, on the other hand, moreover and indeed help us to link ideas together or to make transitions from one idea to the other, but grammatically they cannot link sentences together (to make one longer sentence). Don’t worry, with transitions your writing will also be much better, even more beautiful, but just remember not to use them in place of conjunctions.
Below is a list of transitions that you can use for various purposes in your writing. There are many more than the ones you see here. You can easily find lists with dozens of transition words in each category.
To show the flow of ideas:
First (firstly), Second(ly), Third(ly)
First of all, to begin, next, in the first (second) place
To add more information:
In addition, additionally, besides, moreover, to add, furthermore, also, in fact, similarly, in the same way
To give examples:
For example, for instance, as you can see, in other words, to illustrate, not only that, take for instance
To show time:
Finally, at last, previously, subsequently, further, simultaneously, at the same time, eventually, in the meantime
To show something similar:
Similarly, by the same token, likewise, in a similar way, just as we have seen, equally, in comparison
To show something different or opposite:
On the other hand, on the contrary, however, from another perspective, conversely, in contrast
To show that you agree with some of the opposite opinion:
Even though, of course, yet, still,
To show result or consequence:
As a result, consequently, because of this, therefore, so, hence, accordingly, fortunately, unfortunately
To show strength or impact:
Ultimately, above all, undoubtedly, without doubt, it is perfectly clear, to emphasize,
To show reason:
For this reason, so, for this purpose, to account for this, to explain,
To finish:
In conclusion, as you can see, in the end, finally, to conclude, in summary, all things considered
There are many more transitions than the ones you see here. As you learn to use them effectively, add them to your vocabulary and build up your stock of transition words.