Academic Writing Vs Non Academic Writing Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Academic writing is generally used in items such as scholarly essays, business reports and textbooks. In contrast, non academic writing is commonly employed in newspaper reports, internet postings and novels. This analysis defines these categories and contrasts them in terms of readership, structure and style. Two extracts, each of which offers perspectives on privacy in the modern world, are utilised to illustrate these differences.

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The introduction from the book, the privacy advocates: resisting the spread of surveillance by colin j. Siva vaidhyanathan's online guardian article, our digitally undying memories is an exemplar of a non academic text. How academic writing differs from non academic writing look at the two texts below. Which one is academic and which is non academic writing? what differences can you identify between them in terms of structure, language and content? 1 throughout the world, cell phones have become omnipresent in classrooms, cafeterias and hallways, and research indicates that cell phones are used more frequently to send text messages than to make phone calls mindlin, 2008. 2 indeed, forty three percent of teenage respondents in a 2010 report by the nielsen company claimed that they got a cellular phone primarily for text messaging the nielsen company, 2010. 3 the same report found that american adolescents aged 13 17 send more text messages than any other age group, averaging 39 a month. 4 however, this dramatic rise in popularity has led parents and teachers to question the effect of using this technology on adolescents' understanding of english grammar during a developmentally critical period of language skills acquisition.

5 similar to synchronous online communications such as instant messaging, the speed, ease, and brevity of text messaging have created a perfect platform for adapting the english language to better suit attributes of the technology. 8 in addition, techspeak adapts standard conventions of structure by de emphasizing proper punctuation and capitalization what we call 'structural adaptation' , all in the interest of speed. 9 understandably, with this evolution of the english language there is much debate among leaders in education, teachers, and parents as to the effects of techspeak on students' grammar and writing skills. 10 of particular concern, as mentioned above, is the effect on adolescents during their formative learning years in the classroom setting eger, 2007 sidener, 2003. 11 indeed, routine use of textual adaptations by current and future generations of 13 17 year olds may serve to create the impression that this is normal and accepted use of the language and could rob this age group of a fundamental understanding of standard english grammar.

12 as edmonds 2007 stresses 'there is a need for teenagers to learn to exist in a world outside of their social networks, which requires them to use proper grammar and spelling when they speak and write'. Department of education reports that the averaged freshman graduation rate afgr is, at 78 percent, the highest it's been in nearly 40 years, it should not obscure the fact that many students are graduating without learning how to spell even the simplest words. 2 the evidence is starting to show up on resumés and job applications according to some recruiters. 3 thanks to the 'art' of texting and anonymous blogging, proper spelling and syntax are falling by the wayside. 4 abbreviations that were usually reserved for personalized license plates like c u l8r see you later , have become standards in text lingo. 5 improper word construction like 'where you at' has found its way into the mainstream, and too many children are not being corrected when they repeat what they hear, likely because their parents and a new breed of teachers don't know any better either.

6 there is a debate as to whether traditional grammar is even necessary anymore. 7 since the new generation grew up texting and on facebook, some say content matters over structure that is, what is being said trumps how it is being said. 8 content does matter, but a well intended thought not properly written will most certainly turn readers off. 9 some may argue that even at its best, professionals and expert grammarians alike tend to disagree on proper grammar usage e.g.

Beginning a sentence with the conjunction and is widely found in newspapers , holding that it comes down to a matter of style. 10 every writer has his or her own style or voice, but a writer who wants to be taken seriously, and be read on a wide scale owes it to him/herself to use universally recognized standards. 11 texting is alright in its place, but can you imagine receiving a company manager's e mail response that reads f u on this ? i was shocked when i got it until i realized it meant follow up on this. Most people learn how to talk before writing it is understandable that writing tends to follow the habits of ordinary speech. When you are simply writing a friendly email or text message to a friend, ordinary speech serves its purpose.

Correspondence between family and friends often has less than perfect grammar and spelling, since the writer can assume the reader will understand their writing style. Using the conventions of ordinary speech in a college paper, however, tends to lead to bad marks and negative comments. To determine whether or not a piece of writing is ordinary speech, review this list: in the eyes of some grammar and writing experts, informal writing can be defined more broadly as any writing that violates the requirements of traditional requirements and expectations. First of all, acadmeic writing is focus on a specific field or a academic category. But nonacademic writing might be a general issue or someone's idea or someone's thinking.

When we refer a article as a academic writing, it should have a unique structure and tone. At the beginning of a academic writing, there would be a research background and research object. Then, there would be a literature review to demonstrate other scholars's contribution and achievement about this topic. And then, the author will take a methodology to collect data or conduct some academic interview to act as a evidence to support his point and argument. Other researchers in the same field will realize the author's idea and research result quickly and precisely by this standard structure. When we refer a article as a nonacademic writing, there would be no statndard structure and rigid logic in it. It might be a free style and sometimes reflects the author's style and personality.

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Like a newspaper report or criticism, we can sometimes tell the author by the content structure or the vocabulary he uses in the article. It might be a funny story or a heart touching story, but it would not become a theory in any specific academic field. The tone of a academic writing is also quite different from that of the nonacademic writing. Since it might be someone's opinion or idea, so the tone of the writing would be more flexible and reflects the atmosphere that the author want to create in his article. In conclusion, an academic writing is a rigid, logical, and well structured article in a specific academic field. It only tell someone's opinion or idea, and it might not make much contribution to any further academic research. We should be able to tell the differences between the two different type articles.

Enga14 finnish institutions research paper hopkins the focus of the enga14 research paper is academic writing in english. But what exactly is academic writing ? note that in english, academic writing is what finnish often refers to as tieteellinen 'scientific' writing the english scientific writing generally refers to writing in the 'hard' sciences, such as biology and chemistry see for example the science of scientific writing pdf. In brief, academic writing is 'structured research' written by 'scholars' for other scholars with all university writers being 'scholars' in this context. Academic writing addresses topic based 'research questions' of interest to anyone who is seeking factually based, objectively presented information on a particular topic. The objective of academic writing is the presentation of 'new knowledge' via a a review of what is currently known about a given topic as b the foundation for the author's new views or perspectives on the topic.

In the case of fin 1, the topics would all be relevant to current or historical finnish institutions. With the topic, students must define one or more research questions concerning the chosen institution that the paper will address. The resulting paper will help readers understand the topic more fully, or in a new way, on the basis of how the author has treated the topic, in particular through the answer s given to the research question s. See for example writing games taarluoto 2007 and in search of the essence of clay kortelainen 2008 , vs. In academic writing, the author covers the selected topic from an authoritative point of view. The writing is 'thesis driven', meaning that the starting point is a particular perspective, idea or 'thesis' on the chosen topic, e.g.

Establishing, proving or disproving 'answers' to the 'research questions' posed for the topic. In contrast, simply describing a topic without the questions does not qualify as academic writing. Defining a research question requires the student to first consult existing information on the topic. How the topic may be understood more fully or differently from what is currently known. The author's perspective may come from the use of a more extensive or b more up to date sources than had been available to previous scholars, or by c interpreting the details of these sources differently from how other scholars have done. Totally new information may also be created to 'test' or 'confirm' questions arising in the paper.