Its a great way to catch weak dialogue where it should cascade and shimmer. Academic writing aims to be clear and precise, with a direct style that moves logically from one idea to the next. When you proofread your work, look for filler words like very, really, just, and totally. Secondary Sources in Their Natural Habitats, 5. Who is experiencing this concern might be clear from the context. What Does Clarity in Writing Even Mean? A good topic sentence summarises the main message of the paragraph and helps the writer to stick to that topic. They can help you improve your clarity, coherence, argument, and style, as well as identify and correct errors and . No student should be without ample time and help in mastering such basic skills.B. The study concludes that the language of academic report communicates and authenticates the findings, thus editors give priority to manuscripts that demonstrate clarity, objective and analytical . document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Rhetoric refers to how meaning is overtly or subtly built into the structure of language. If found guilty, the sentence will be the maximum of 20 years. Academic writing in English has a distinctive style it is formal and uses particular language norms that you need to learn. One of the first things you will learn about writing in college is that you have to be concise. While you cant often summon elegance out of nowhere, you can learn a few structures that are often pleasing to the readers ear because they harmonize what youre saying with how youre saying it. Routledge. Similarly, think about punctuations role in a sentence and what purposes rules like subject-verb agreement and verb conjugations serve. The same principles that apply to sentences apply to paragraphs. Mast cells are typically regarded as troublesome cells due to their prominent role in IgE-dependent allergic hypersensitivity reactions such as allergic asthma and food allergy. This page describes how you can structure sentences and paragraphs to achieve clarity and 'flow' in your writing. Recent findings show that their functionality is not only pro-inflammatory, but can on the contrary have suppressive or immunomodulatory effects in allergic inflammation. Which manufacturers? Thank you for including it in your blog. Concision is a constant and watchful process. Clarity and Focus. In academic writing, like essays and research papers, detailed writing enables the reader to understand the topic. They describe and provide examples of the linguistic procedures that . Writing, grammar, and communication tips for your inbox. Parataxis literally means to place alongside; it refers to constructions in which information is juxtaposed, leaving out the kinds of indicators we look for to understand the relationship between ideas: Although it is strongly implied in each case that the second statement is a consequence of the first, because this relationship is not explicitly stated, their relationshiptechnically remains ambiguous. In fact, nine times out of ten, being succinct is going to serve you and your reader much better. ): watch out for situations in which the antecedent (the noun that the pronoun replaces) might be absent or unclear: Clarify by reiterating the antecedent or restructuring the sentence: This, that, these, and those can function as either demonstrative adjectives or demonstrative pronouns: Demonstratives often serve as transitions, referring back to material previously introduced. these, those) are often enemies of clarity. It can actually be a satisfying part of the process. Academic writing is complex. The last sentence essentially says that after the relationship was broken, the relationship was broken. Say we use a simile (a comparison using like or as) to describe the snake: He pedalled hard as he whistled. As Michael Harvey explains,[1] the desire to sound more academic might prompt a student to write To satisfy her hunger for nutrition, she ate the bread rather than simply She was hungry, so she ate the bread. It is true that a lot of academic writing is laden with unnecessary jargon, but the culture is shifting among scholars to favor plainer language and insist on clarity. The words, phrases, and sentence structures a writer selects must not allow for misinterpretation. Look for bits that are redundant: (each, Look for opportunities to replace longer phrases with shorter phrases or words. . He pedalled hard as he whistled. Always very supportive and informativ content. So get a decent style guide, such as Strunk and White or Oxfords Essential Guide to Writing. Developmental editing (i.e. To introduce you to this world of academic writing, in this chapter I suggest that you should focus on five hierarchical characteristics of good writing, or the "5 Cs" of good academic writing, which include Clarity, Cogency, Conventionality, Completeness, and Concision. Improving on this takes practice. The volume is also excellent in its serious treatment of the concept of language as a resource. Although variations exist across disciplines, we can identify some common features: Formality, Objectivity, and Clarity. Favoring active sentences over passive ones is probably the most repeated advice regarding clarity and concision. Academic writing refers to a style of expression that researchers use to define the intellectual boundaries of their disciplines and specific areas of expertise. While it is true that some people can produce extraordinarily elegant and graceful prose, it is also true that anyone can learn to write effectively in ways that will persuade and satisfy readers. Clarity and Coherence in Academic Writing: Using Language as a Resource (1st ed.). Nominalizations can also create ambiguity when they participate in noun clusters; see Concision. Clarity in writing goes out the window when your reader is trying to understand what information applies to which noun. That is, make them clearer.A. For that reason, I write this section of the chapter envisioning someone who has already cranked out a very rough draft and is now in the process of revising for clarity and concision. For example, Stacy Schiff writes this in her best-selling biography of Cleopatra:[12]. Unclear and bloated prose isnt just tedious to your reader; its a needless obstacle to your own thinking. In college, expect to write essays in many of your courses, especially your humanities and social science courses. Describe this specific detail, that cut and gleaming facet. Clear writing also tends to be concise. Note: it is easier to see coherence and clarity in other people's writing because by the time we reach a final draft, everything we write seems old or familiar to us. Im taking a creative writing course next fall. Academic writing uses prescriptive grammar Use short sentences containing a single main point for information you want to highlight. Your professors are much more likely to find a self-consciously highbrow writing style tedious than impressive. Simplify where it makes sense to. It is the belief that the 1950s provided a more family-friendly economic and social environment, an easier climate in which to keep kids on the straight and narrow, and above all, a greater feeling of hope for a familys long-term future, especially for its young. Thats an interesting thought, Midathala. Draw similes and metaphors from the same neighbourhood of images and ideas, for claritys sake. If youve fallen prey to habits of academese, I hope this chapter helps you develop a more straightforward writing style, one well-suited to nuanced thinking and effective communication. Academic writing takes an objective, detached stance from the subject being discussed. Nominalization and Clarity: Ensuring the Right Balance in Academic Writing. Write Actively: Whenever possible it is preferable to place sentences in the active voice rather than thepassive voice, which means that the "doer" is in the subject position and not the receiver of the action.Consider the following sentences, and determine which is easier to understand and why. The third sentence is refreshingly straightforward in structure (though vague on details). He is also a former president of TESOL International. A nominalization is the noun form of a verb or adjective. She is the author of Creating a Multilingual Self: Autoethnography as Method, and co-editor of Plurilingualism in Teaching and Learning and Language and Culture: Reflective Narratives and the Emergence of Identity. ', ClaireKramsch, Professor Emerita University of California, Berkeley, USA, 'The authors invite you as readers to engage with how academic texts are crafted, to consider how you tackle the process of writing, and to reflect on your own writing. Read it through carefully, then try to rewrite it with the same overarching meaning. Suggestions for connecting ideas at the sentence and paragraph level in academic writing. Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window). For instance, Biber and Gray (2010) argue that the extensive phrasal complexity, especially noun-noun phrases, makes the expression of logical relation among . Daylighting the creek under Elizabeth Street [7] would be an ambitious project because it would require major alterations to the public transport network [8], but it would help to manage seasonal flooding and create an attractive city park [9]. Where is internationally? Then your ideas can be clearly seen and understood, as through a clean window pane. The engine overheated during the first trial, Webpage with short video and exercises: ". Take a look at these examples of vague writing: Vague writing often leaves the reader with more questions than answers. One common metaphor notes that a good edit is like the last twist of a camera lens that brings the whole picture into focus. In an essay, you demonstrate your understanding of the course material by discussing a topic related to the coursework. Clarity and precision are also more persuasive. Although the focus is on academic writing, these procedures are relevant for all writing. [4] Short, emphatic sentence, which changes the direction of the text. Generally speaking, it's clearest tocouple figurative language with a literal version of your pointor just to stick with the literal. If the author were to rewrite the passage to make the grammatical subjects match the characters, he or she would be prompted to clarify what exactly the king, the Parliament, the English populace, and the American colonists did (and to who), something which the author of the above passage may not actually understand. The key point is this: one of the best things you can do to revise for greater clarity is to recast a passage so that the characters are the grammatical subjects and the key actions are the verbs. pushed back against the power of the English crown in a manner similar to the Parliamentarians in 1215 (after having apparently been struck by an idea of how much power the King had). There might be nothing untrue in this sentence, but it leaves us with numerous questions: Later when? Please email us at [email protected] if we're missing something! Overall, clarity and conciseness are your main goals. A government that is unwilling to listen to the. This may be a fact, an argument or a scholarly opinion. In your studies, then, you will probably have to engage with important texts that violate almost all the advice given here. The idea of how much power the King had struck Parliament. Clarity in writing is a "Clean Sweep" intervention for the chaos created by word clutter. Good academic writing should flow, which means it should be easy to read with ideas logically connected to one another from one sentence to the next. Analysing a task in the right way can help you to meet the task requirements, and prevent you from going off-topic in your assessments and exam responses. The Cleopatra example above (. When you start sentences with your main topic in subject position, you provide a clear context for the new information at the end of the sentence. Thanks for reading our blob, Max! Trinka understands where academic writing gets tricky. We modified the casing, replacing it with a circumdiagonal sheet of nanoporous carbon alloy. In reading this passage,[13] imagine ego and alter as two people interacting: Heres a version after I edited for concision using the three moves described above: The revised version is about 30 percent shorter, and it demonstrates how concision makes ones points come through more clearly. Welcome to the inaugural blog post for MargaretEdits. Something else? In This Article Hide. What Does the Professor Want? If we were describing a girl whistling while she cycles through a forest, this would be an incorrect use or dangling modifier: Whistling and cycling through the forest, the snake made the girl scream. When we talk about clear writing, however, what exactly do we mean? appointment with GWC coaches, how to schedule, commas, nonessential / nonrestrictive information, restrictive vs. nonrestrictive information, thesis advisor, selecting and working with, Please read our Privacy Policy Consider the difference between describing a character as a writer and describing them as a lifelong poet. Clarity is important because it ensures that your reader understands exactly what you're communicating, whether that's a request, an observation, a question, a statement, or a response to a question they asked you. This is when the noun which a participle phrase applies to is left out of the sentence. This chapter provides many great practical pointers for editing our papers in order to produce clear, refined arguments and should be returned to frequently. Precise words:Favor fewer precise words over numerous vague ones. ": Diplomatic pressure from Erewhon has compelled the Flatlanders to officially renounce their claim to South Houyhnhnm, but they remain heavily involved in the region, funneling both materiel and humanitarian assistance to Lilliputian separatist groups. Among the most useful are those at the. We read the snake as the subject doing the whistling and cycling (though context tells us the girls performing the action). Producing and reading elegant writing is a pleasure, but what really matters in academic writing is precision. Chapter 7 on introductions and conclusions notes the importance of concision, as those framing parts of the paper are often the most egregiously bloated. Did the bill cause this effect in the automobile market, or did they merely occur at the same time? Sometimes, these words are necessary, but in many cases they arent. As a student, you may find it difficult and can face many challenges while completing your work. Good luck with your first revision and have fun with it. A gem! The first version places a particular rhetorical emphasis on the potato chip because it comes last in the sentence after a three-part build-up. Julie Choi is Senior Lecturer of Education at Melbourne Graduate School of Education, Australia. One writing element that makes academic prose wordy and complex is the overuse of nominalizations. Try to do this in only two sentences.What can be cut/condensed without losing much meaning? However, many student writers get hung up on sentence-level expression, thinking that only elegant, erudite sentences will earn top grades. This is important when your goal is to persuade your reader to take a certain action or to defend a point in your writing. Formality. Writing in College by Amy Guptill is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. It doesnt matter whether the paper is two pages or ten; concision is key. ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE: CLARITY What is academic writing style? Developing clarity and focus in academic writing. That clear consistency allows us to devote more of our brain power to recalling technical terms (like immunomodulatory) and comprehending the key ideas. Your email address will not be published. It is not about making flowery statements or indulging in superfluous language. You'll still have to edit for clarity, concision, and mechanics, but if the thinking process behind the writing is well developed, editing shouldn't be a huge chore. Or worse, some students assume that theyll never produce strong papers if they do not already have some kind of inborn gift for wordsmithing. Because nominalizations are nouns and not verbs, they can be present in a sentence without the agent that is performing the action, thereby obscuring who is doing what. ', From the Foreword byDebra Myhill, Professor, University of Exeter, UK. 3. Subjects are underlined and verbs are bolded. Affected how? Because this type of tone is essential, the passive voice is sometimes necessary in academic writing, particularly in the sciences. Even if a sentence using passive voice is clear, it can still be wordy. Well-known authors and linguists David Nunan and Julie Choi argue that becoming an accomplished writer is a career-long endeavor. This common rhetorical trick is to put the part you want to emphasize at the very end of the sentence. It seems the sentence itself is under trial. Make sure you are using effective topic sentences to identify your main points and to give the reader a sense of where you're going next. There is less tolerance for academese than there used to be in scholarly communities; however, a lot of landmark texts were written in a time when there wasnt such a high value placed on clarity and concision. Academic work includes writing assignments, term papers, and dissertations. Each and every student enrolled in our educational institutions deserves and is entitled to competent instruction in all of the key academic areas of study. Namely: Stopping to fuss and fiddle constantly may lead to the opposite of clarity in writing. Product pricing will be adjusted to match the corresponding currency. The second version says the same thing, but the extra words tend to obscure Schiffs point. Were glad youre enjoying it. It's easier to write effective sentences when their purpose is clear. Only Connect 3. This sentence now assigns the concern to an identifiable entity, giving us a more concrete idea of what's going on.