Features-of-academic-writing

FeaturesofacademicwritingComplexityWrittenlanguageisrelativelymorecomplexthanspokenlanguage(Biber,1988;Biber,Johansson,Leech,Conrad&Finegan,1999;Chafe,1982;Cook,1997;Halliday,1989).Writtenlanguageisgrammaticallymorecomplexthanspokenlanguage.Ithasmoresubordinateclauses,morethat/tocomplementclauses,morelongsequencesofprepositionalphrases,moreattributiveadjectivesandmorepassivesthanspokenlanguage.Writtentextsareshorterandhavelonger,morecomplexwordsandphrases.Theyhavemorenominalisations,morenounbasedphrases,andmorelexicalvariation.Writtentextsarelexicallydensecomparedtospokenlanguage-theyhaveproportionatelymorelexicalwordsthangrammaticalwords.Thefollowingfeaturesarecommoninacademicwrittentexts:Subordinateclauses/embedding,Complementclauses,Sequencesofprepositionalphrases,Participles,Passiveverbs,Lexicaldensity,Lexicalcomplexity,Nominalisation,Noun-basedphrases,Modificationofnoun-phrases,AttributiveadjectivesSubordinateclauses/embeddingThereareseveralfactorswhichhelptoprolongthisperiodtoperhapsthreeorfourtimesthatinthemale.Theotherwayinwhichtheeconomicaspectsofmilitaryexpenditurewerepresentedwasintheformofthepublicexpenditurecosts.Thefamilyestablishesavarietyofbasesforrefugeswhichseemtobeusedatdifferenttimesoftheyear.^Complementclausesthat-clauses:ThisconformsconvenientlywithMaslow's(1970)claimthathumanmotivationisrelatedtoahieracrchyofhumanneeds.ItfollowsthatiftheLabourGovernmentistosecureacceptanceofitseconomicpackage,ithastosecurethesupportofMPsfromeithertheLiberalortheConservativeparty.to-clauses:Britain'sapparentabilitytorallyCommonwealthsupportatChicagoseemedtotheAmericanstobeevidenceofBritain'scontinuedworldpower.of+ing-clauses:ThepossibilityofincreasingdollarreceiptswascoupledwithabeliefthatAfricacouldbeastrategiccentreforBritishpower.^SequencesofprepositionalphrasesSequencesofprepositionalphrasesarecommoninacademicEnglish.ThisarticleanalysestheconstitutionalaspectsbehindtheformationofthefirstandsecondNationalGovernments,examininginparticulartheroleofthekingintheformationofthetwogovernments.ParticiplesFormalwrittenEnglishusesverbslessthanspokenEnglish.-edand-ingparticiplesallowverbstobeusednominallyoradjectively.SimilartemptationsovercamephilosophersconcernedwithestablishingasecurebaseforindividualresponsibilityTheEgyptiansregardedtimeasasuccessionofrecurringphases.Doubtsastotheproperdivisionofpropertyatdeath,aswellasrightsbetweenpartnerslivingtogether,wereresolvedbyhavinglegalrulesprescribingaformula.Itwasonlytobetoleratedinacontrolledandformalisedcontext.Afrequentchangefoundinpropernamesissyllableloss.^PassiveverbsInspokenEnglishweoftenuseasubjectsuchaspeople,somebody,they,we,oryouevenwhenwedonotknowwhotheagentis.InformalEnglish,particularlywriting,weoftenprefertouseapassive.Compare:They'reinstallingthenewcomputersystemnextmonth.Thenewcomputersystemisbeinginstallednextmonth.(moreformal)Trytheseexercises:Exercise1,Exercise2,Exercise3^LexicaldensityWrittenEnglishgenerallyhasamuchdenserpatternofwords,itismorelexicallydense.Ifwedefinelexicaldensityasthenumberofcontentwordsinaclause,thenwrittenEnglishhasahigherlexicaldensitythanspokenEnglish(Halliday,1996,p.347).Forexample,thewrittentext:Obviouslythegovernmentisfrightenedofunionreactiontoitsmovetoimposeproperbehaviouronunions.ismorelexicallydensethanthespokenversion:Obviouslythegovernmentisfrightenedhowtheunionswillreactifittriestomakethembehaveproperly.LexicalcomplexityAddingaffixestoexistingwords(thebase)toformnewwordsiscommoninacademicEnglish.Prefixesareaddedtothefrontofthebase(likedislike),whereassuffixesareaddedtotheendofthebase(activeactivate).Prefixesusuallydonotchangetheclassofthebaseword,butsuffixesusuallydochangetheclassoftheword.ThemostcommonprefixesusedtoformnewverbsinacademicEnglishare:re-,dis-,over-,un-,mis-,out-.Themostcommonsuffixesare:-ise,-en,-ate,-(i)fy.ByfarthemostcommonaffixinacademicEnglishis-ise.e.g.verbs+prefixverbPrefixMeaningExamplesre-againorbackrestructure,revisit,reappear,rebuild,refinancedis-reversesthemeaningoftheverbdisappear,disallow,disarm,disconnect,discontinueover-toomuchoverbook,oversleep,overworkun-reversesthemeaningoftheverbunbend,uncouple,unfastenmis-badlyorwronglymislead,misinform,misidentifyout-moreorbetterthanothersoutperform,outbidbe-makeorcausebefriend,belittleco-Togetherco-exist,co-operate,co-ownde-dotheoppositeofdevalue,deselectfore-earlier,beforeforeclose,foreseeinter-Betweeninteract,intermix,interfacepre-Beforepre-expose,prejudge,pretestsub-under/belowsubcontract,subdividetrans-across,overtransform,transcribe,transplantunder-notenoughunderfund,undersell,undervalue,underdevelop^e.g.Suffixusedtoformverbswiththemeaningcausetobe.SuffixExample-isestabilise,characterise,symbolise,visualise,specialise-atedifferentiate,liquidate,duplicate,fabricate-fyclassify,exemplify,simplify,justify-enawaken,fasten,shorten,moisten^ThemostcommonprefixesusedtoformnewnounsinacademicEnglishare:co-andsub-.Themostcommonsuffixesare:-tion,-ity,-er,-ness,-ism,-ment,-ant,-ship,-age,-ery.ByfarthemostcommonnounaffixinacademicEnglishis-tion.e.