Features of academic writing

Features of academic writing

Complexity

Written language is relatively more complex than spoken language

(Biber, 1988; Biber, Johansson, Leech, Conrad & Finegan, 1999;

Chafe, 1982; Cook, 1997; Halliday,1989).

Written language is grammatically more complex than spoken

language. It has more subordinate clauses, more

complement clauses, more long sequences of prepositional phrases,

more attributive adjectives and more passives than spoken language.

Written texts are shorter and have longer, more complex words and

phrases. They have more nominalisations, more noun based phrases,

and more lexical variation. Written texts are lexically dense compared

to spoken language - they have proportionately more lexical words

than grammatical words.

The following features are common in academic written texts:

Subordinate clauses/embedding

,

Complement clauses

,

Sequences

of prepositional phrases

,

Participles

,

Passive verbs,

Lexical

density

,

Lexical complexity

,

Nominalisation

,

Noun-based

phrases

,

Modification of noun- phrases

,

Attributive adjectives

Subordinate clauses/embedding

There are several factors

which help to prolong this period to perhaps three

or four times that in the male

.

The other way

in which the economic aspects of military expenditure were

presented

was in the form of the public expenditure costs.

The family establishes a variety of bases for refuges

which seem to be used

at different times of the year

.

^

Complement clauses

that

-clauses:

This conforms conveniently with Maslow's (1970) claim

that human

motivation is related to a hieracrchy of human needs

.

It follows

that if the Labour Government is to secure acceptance of its

economic package, it has to secure the support of MPs from either the

Liberal or the Conservative party

.

to

-clauses:

Britain's apparent ability

to rally Commonwealth support at Chicago

seemed

to the Americans to be evidence of Britain's continued world power.

of+ing

-clauses:

The possibility

of increasing dollar receipts

was coupled with a belief that

Africa could be a strategic centre for British power.

^

Sequences of prepositional phrases

Sequences of prepositional phrases are common in academic

English.

This article analyses the constitutional aspects

behind

the formation

of

the

first and second National Governments, examining

in

particular the

role

of

the king

in

the formation

of

the two governments.

Participles

Formal written English uses verbs less than spoken

English.

-ed

and

-ing

participles allow verbs to be used nominally or

adjectively.

Similar temptations overcame philosophers concerned

with establishing

a

secure base for individual responsibility

The Egyptians regarded time as a succession of

recurring phases

.

Doubts as to the proper division of property at death, as well as rights

between partners

living together

, were resolved by having legal rules

prescribing a formula.

It was only to be tolerated in a

controlled

and

formalised context

.

A frequent

change found

in proper names is syllable loss.

^

Passive verbs

In spoken English we often use a subject such as

the agent is. In formal English, particularly writing, we often prefer to

use a passive.

Compare:

They're installing the new computer system next month.

The new computer system is being installed next month. (more formal)

Try these exercises:

Exercise 1

,

Exercise 2

,

Exercise 3

^

Lexical density

Written English generally has a much denser pattern of

words, it is

more lexically dense. If we define lexical density as the number

of

content words in a clause, then written English has a higher lexical

density than spoken English (Halliday, 1996, p. 347).

For example, the written text:

Obviously the government is frightened of union reaction to its move

to impose proper behaviour on unions.

is more lexically dense than the spoken version:

Obviously the government is frightened how the unions will react if it

tries to make them behave properly.

Lexical complexity

Adding affixes to existing words (the base) to form new words is

common in academic English. Prefixes are added to the front of the

base (

like

dislike

), whereas suffixes are added to the end of the

base (

active

activate

). Prefixes usually do not change the class of

the base word, but suffixes usually do change the class of the word.

The most common prefixes used to form new verbs in academic

English are:

re-, dis-, over-, un-, mis-, out-

. The most common suffixes

are:

-ise, -en, -ate, -(i)fy

. By far the most common affix in academic

English is

-ise

.

e.g. verbs + prefix

Prefix

re-

dis-

over-

un-

mis-

out-

be-

co-

de-

fore-

inter-

pre-

sub-

verb

Examples

Meaning

again or back

reverses the meaning of

the verb

too much

reverses the meaning of

the verb

badly or wrongly

restructure, revisit, reappear, rebuild,

refinance

disappear, disallow, disarm, disconnect,

discontinue

overbook, oversleep, overwork

unbend, uncouple, unfasten

mislead, misinform, misidentify

more or better than others

outperform, outbid

make or cause

Together

do the opposite of

earlier, before

Between

Before

under/below

befriend, belittle

co-exist, co-operate, co-own

devalue, deselect

foreclose, foresee

interact, intermix, interface

pre-expose, prejudge, pretest

subcontract, subdivide

transform, transcribe, transplant

underfund, undersell, undervalue,

underdevelop

trans-

across, over

under-

not enough

^

e.g. Suffix used to form verbs with the meaning

Suffix

Example

-ise

stabilise, characterise, symbolise, visualise, specialise

-ate

differentiate, liquidate, duplicate, fabricate

-fy

classify, exemplify, simplify, justify

-en

awaken, fasten, shorten, moisten

^

The most common prefixes used to form new nouns in academic

English are:

co-

and

sub-

. The most common suffixes are:

-tion,

-ity

,

-er, -ness, -ism, -ment, -ant, -ship, -age, -ery

. By far the most

common noun affix in academic English is

-tion.

e.g. noun+prefix

Prefix

anti-

auto-

bi-

co-

noun

Examples

Meaning

Against

Self

Two

Joint

anticlimax, antidote, antithesis

autobiography, automobile

bilingualism, biculturalism, bi-metalism

co-founder, co-owner, co- descendant

counter-argument, counter-example,

counter- proposal

counter-

Against

dis-

ex-

hyper-

in-

in-

inter-

kilo-

mal-

mega-

mis-

the converse of

discomfort, dislike

Former

Extreme

ex-chairman, ex-hunter

hyperinflation, hypersurface

the converse of

inattention, incoherence, incompatibility

Inside

Between

Thousand

Bad

Million

Wrong

inpatient,

interaction, inter-change, interference

kilobyte

malfunction, maltreatment, malnutrition

megabyte

misconduct, misdeed, mismanagement

mini-

mono-

neo-

out-

poly-

Small

One

New

Separate

Many

mini-publication, mini- theory

monosyllable, monograph, monogamy

neo- colonialism, neo-impressionism

outbuilding,

polysyllable

pseudo-expert

re- organisation, re-assessment, re- examination

semicircle, semi-darkness

subset, subdivision

superset, superimposition, superpowers

pseudo-

False

re-

semi-

sub-

super-

sur-

tele-

tri-

ultra-

under-

vice-

Again

Half

Below

more than,

above

over and above

surtax

Distant

Three

Beyond

below, too little

Deputy

telecommunications,

tripartism

ultrasound

underpayment, under-development,

undergraduate

vice-president

^

noun

e.g. Suffix added to a verb (V), noun (N) or adjective (A)

Suffix

Meaning

Examples

-tion

action/instance of V-ing

-ity

state or quality of being

A

alteration, demonstration

ability, similarity, responsibility

person who V-s

advertiser, driver

-er

something used for V-ing

computer, silencer

person concerned with N

astronomer, geographer