The language of study

New students in English-language colleges and universities often find some academic terms confusing. For example, teachers can be called, in order of seniority:

                 Professor/  Senior Lecturer/ Lecturer

A tutor is normally responsible for students'  general welfare.

All teachers give/ teach modules/courses

Newly-arrived students are freshers. Up to first degree level they are then undergraduates, and beyond that postgraduate students (or postgrads).

All students:

Study/ Take/ Read a subject (eg medicine)

           Attend lectures /seminars/ workshops/ conferences

(Note that lectures are for large numbers, while seminars are smaller groups for

discussion)

Submit assignments /Meet deadlines

          Take courses/ modules

Sit & re-sit exams

           Gain Credits/ Marks

Pass/ Fail a course/module

           Receive Academic awards: First degree (eg BSc) / second or Masters degree (MA) /
          doctorate or PhD

Making the 'write' start to the new academic year

All over the world international students are arriving at colleges and universities to start new courses. Most will have to write essays and reports in the first semester, and it’s a good idea to start preparing for these from the start.
 

Some points to remember:

·         Find out what are the writing guidelines for your department – ask your teachers. These should cover topics such as format, font size and system of references.

·         Make a habit of backing up all your work on a memory stick – even your notes. There’s nothing more annoying than losing work you have started.

·         Make a wall chart of your writing tasks for the semester. Work back from the deadlines to calculate how much time you need for reading, note-making and writing the draft. Stick the plan on your wall so you can’t forget it!

·        Don’t put off starting to write for too long. You may feel you need to do more reading, but until you actually begin to write you don’t know how much information you really need.

Holland, Netherlands or Dutch?

Much academic writing demands accurate use of nationality words. These are the nouns and adjectives used for countries, languages and people. In English, these are often regular:

       Germany is a leading industrial nation. (country)
       The German capital is Berlin (adjective)
       German is spoken by over 100 million people in Europe (language)
       Germans are fond of drinking beer (people)

But certain nationalities are irregular and need to be learnt:

       Holland/ The Netherlands is a crowded nation (country)
       The Dutch have a strong tradition of sea-going (people & language)

Also note (country/ people/ language):

       Denmark/ Danes/ Danish
       Thailand/ Thais/ Thai
       Poland/ Poles/ Polish
       China/ The Chinese/ Chinese

A few countries take the definite article:

      The Czech Republic
      The United Kingdom
       The United Arab Emirates

Note that England is not a country. Although we can say English people or The Bank of England the nationality word is British. The name of the country is Britain or The United Kingdom.

Does academic writing have to be boring?

Compared with other styles of writing, such as in newspapers or magazines, many people find academic texts rather dull.  This is partly because the more popular styles use personal pronouns like ‘we’ and ‘us’, as well as idiomatic language, so they are more like the style of everyday speech.

But in addition, academic writing is unlike a newspaper article, which attempts to interest every reader. Instead it is usually intended for a very limited audience: those interested in the same subject as the writer, which may be a very specialised area.  Usually it assumes prior knowledge of the topic and often uses a distinct vocabulary.

This does not mean that the writer can forget about the reader. All writing should aim to be clear, accurate and develop logically, paragraph by paragraph. But because the reader is interested in the topic from the start there is no need to sensationalise the subject. Given this, and a well-written paper, there should be no danger of boredom!

Questions in academic writing

Most academic research involves looking for the answer to a question. Therefore it seems reasonable to use question forms in academic titles. But care must be taken to avoid ‘newspaper’ style questions. Compare:
            Skyscrapers: how big is too big?
            Is there a practical limit on the height of very tall buildings?

The second example is a more suitable title for an academic paper.  A recent study of the titles of 100 published articles in an academic journal found that 15% contained a question.

In the text, questions should be used rarely. In most cases it is better to write a statement. Instead of:

            What were the main causes of the first world war?

           How can the energy efficiency of detached houses be improved?

it is better to write:

           There were three main factors leading to the outbreak of war in 1914.

Insulation is the key to improving energy efficiency in detached houses.

To explain the purpose of an essay, it is again better to avoid question forms. Instead use:

           This paper sets out/ attempts to establish the main causes of the first world war.