ACADEMIC WRITING

Dr. Jamba Gyeltshen (6/4/2010)

College of Natural Resources

ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF BHUTAN

ACADEMIC WRITING ? For what?

As a student you need to write:– Class assignments, Project reports, Term papers,

DissertationsAs a researcher you need to write:– Research proposals, research project reports, journal

articlesAs a civil servant you will need to write:– Progress reports, project proposals, minutes of

meetings, workshop proceedings and official correspondences

ACADEMIC WRITING ? For what?

• Whether you are a student, research officer or a general civil servant, you will need to do some writing in your life.

• This writing is FORMAL writing because you need to follow certain conventions (rules)

• ACADEMIC WRITING is nothing but a form of FORMAL writing employed in the field of education.

ACADEMIC WRITING ? For what?

If you learn ACADEMIC WRITING, you will be able to:

1. Write your course assignments and projects well and achieve academic success.

2. Critically analyse other’s works and learn to synthesize information from different sources

What you will learn during this course?

• Principles of good writing• How to do a literature review?• Extract and synthesize relevant information• Citing and referencing• Note taking and summarizing skills• Reading skills and strategies• Writing skills• Conventions of Academic Writing

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD WRITING

1. Simplicity, economy and clarity of words 2. Follow correct grammar, punctuation and

spelling 3. Improving sentences4. Working towards, coherence, vigor, and

rhythm

SKILLS REQUIRED FOR ACADEMIC WRITING

• Surveying material• Note-taking and summarizing skills• Avoiding plagiarism• Citing and referencing

Reading skills and strategies• Predicting• Skimming• Scanning• Detailed reading• Guessing unknown words• Understanding main ideas• Inferring• Understanding text organization• Assessing a writer’s purpose• Evaluating a writer’s purpose

Writing skills• Incorporating source material• Dividing a text into paragraphs• Writing introductions and conclusions• Synthesizing from different sources• Including tables and figures• Layout of written work• Writing a bibliography• Revising and proof-reading• Commonly used abbreviations

What is Academic Writing?

• Read Assignment Sheet 1

Topic 1: Definition of Academic Writing

• Part A: In about 3 sentences, write what Academic Writing means to you? (5 min)

• • Reporting: You will be asked to read out your

answer to the class.

• Part B: You will be given a sheet of paper that explains what Academic Writing is all about. Read and identify the key points that characterize Academic Writing (15 min). Discuss in groups of five (30 min).

• • Reporting: A member from each group will report

to the whole class (5 min). Subsequent group representatives will either add or present the points that are different from the previous groups.

Topic 2:

• What is a literature review? What purpose does it serve in Academic Writing?

• A. Answer the question in a sheet of paper in not more than 3 sentences (5 min)

• Reporting: Your answer sheet will be exchanged with another person. It will be read to the class but the anonymity of the author will be maintained.

• B. Read the given handout (to be distributed) and pick up 5 main purposes and/or benefits of writing literature reviews and write them down (20 min). You will be then given another sheet of paper that summarizes the purpose and benefits of writing a literature review. Note the differences and ask questions.

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