UNIT 2: ACADEMIC WRITING.

Write efficiently in academic environments.

ACCOMPLISH: to achieve, to perform.
COMPRISE: comprenden.
MITIGATION: to reduce the effect of being rude.
DE-PERSONALISATION: to write with third person subject, to write in passive.
OUTLINE: the main idea.

INTRODUCTION 1: FORMAL FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING.

-Recognize which features differentiate scientific-technical academic writing from other
registers.
1. Register identification.
Journalist, Scientific-technical, Legal.
a) JOURNALIST.
Give the impression, all this is about, bad old over-ordering ways.
b) SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL.
Fuel burners, flame stabilization, whilst combustion.
c) LEGAL.
RAC section, page RAC 247, threshold elevation.
d) JOURNALIST.
Fascinating bodies, they are believed to.
e) JOURNALIST.
We wonder, question mark.
f)

SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL

Linkage(conexin), ballscrew (husillo a bola) , rotary actuator.

g) JOURNALIST
Long-awaited, mysterious, neighbor.
h) SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL

Eyelids(prpados), pneumatic rams, propelling nozzle.

i)

LEGAL.

Community should, in the course of the operation, Council shall, European Parliament.
j)

JOURNALIST.

The problem, as soon as they make money they start buying, because the cost.
k) LEGAL.
Capital letters.
l)

SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL.

Polymer melt,
m) LEGAL
Committee, accepts, organism aboard.
n) LEGAL
Must, shall.
o) LEGAL.
Derogation, paragraph 1, Council, shall.
p) JOURNALIST.
For more than two millennia, like most people.
q) SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL.
Composite fuels are heterogeneous powders.
r) SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL
Because of the formula, M(LAMBDA/2)=L
REGISTER
Scientifictechnical

FEATURES
1.Technical vocabulary.
2. De-personalisation.
3. Including formulas.
4. initials
5.passive forms

Legal

1. Using modal verbs (shall, must,could

2. Talking about paragraphs, something
done before.
3. Using capital letters.
4. command, declare.

Journalistic

1. Colloquial expressions/informal.
2. Too many adjectives.
3. Personal opinions/using adjectives.
4. first person.
5.numerical data.
6.rethorycal questions.
7.phrasal verbs.

POWERPOINT 1.
ACADEMIC WRITING: SOCIAL APPROACH (genre), PROCEDURAL APPROACH (process), TEXTUAL
APPROACH (product).
The writing process, PROCEDURAL APPROACH:
1. PRE-WRITING/STAGE
Audience and purpose analysis
Brainstorming
Outlining
2. WRITING STAGE
Drafting
Paragraph and text structuring
Development of information patterns

Coherence & cohesion work

Incorporation of visual aids
3. POST-WRITING
STAGE
Review of content
Review of organization
Editing for style
Proofreading and peer review

ACADEMIC WRITING
Using the language in a specific social context, with distinctive lexico-grammatical features:
1. High lexical density. 2. Nominalisation. 3. Impersonality . 4. Formality.
1. High lexical density:
High proportion of content words in relation to grammar words.
2. Nominalisation:
With it we achieve economy, impersonality and formality.
Actions and events as nouns rather than verbs.
3. Impersonality:
Passive voice - Infinitives + passives.
Anticipatory it
Pronoun one`.
Abstract rhetors - They are inanimate sentence subjects
Tentativeness- It is the expression of personal conclusions and beliefs in an
uncommitted tone. (seem or appear).

4. Formality:
No verbal contractions
No conversational discourse fillers ( as well, you know)

No slang expressions of the type guy, pretty good, fair enough, etc.
No vague expressions such as sort of, kind of, like.
Use of formal transition markers: however, nevertheless, despite, on account of, etc, and less
frequent use of simpler ones (coordinating conjunctions) such as and, so, or but.
AW with more subordinated clauses, longer sentences and following punctuation rules more
strictly.
Split infinitives: to effectively solve the problem.
Academic abbreviations:
e.g. = exempli gratia (Latin) = for example
i.e. = id est (Latin) = that is, that is to say
et al. = and others (to cite more than two authors)
(sic) = thus, so in Latin = to quote from somebody who has made an obvious
mistake,
Others (some increasingly replaced by their English translation)* are:

cf. = confero = compare*

ibid = the same author, book/article and page, or the same author or book with the
new page
mentioned (ibid., p.44). We use it to refer to a book/article that we have
just referred to.
op.cit. = in the book we have just referred to before. The authors name and a page
reference
must always be given: Whorf, op.cit., p.56.
loc.cit = in the article, chapter or section we have referred to before. The authors
name must
always be given: Whorf, loc.cit.
infra = below* vs. supra = above*
N.B. = Nota bene = important note
passim = here and there throughout. Used when a topic is referred to several times in
a book,
etc., that we are referring to: Whorf (1956), pp.56-64, passim.
et. seq. = and following (for page numbers) = ff.* (English abbreviation, more frequent)

Researchers, scholars, teachers and students may write academically on scientific-technical or

legal topics. (two other registers with their own specific features as well).

Scientific-technical English
It shares the features of AWlexical density, nominalisation, impersonality and formality, but
also has:
- A predominance of simple verbal tenses and a scarcity of progressive tenses: Simple tenses
express statements of fact or general truths.
- Specific vocabularies: Technical, Polysemically Technical
- Tendency to compress the message
- Coinage of new terms by composition and derivation

Legal English (Legalese)

Abundant synonymy and polysemy E.g. abolish = override = annul = set aside (all legal
synonyms)
Redundancy (false and untrue)
Euphemisms (custodial interrogation = interrogation by the police)
Latinisms and French loan words (prima facie, femme sole)
Lexical and morphological archaismsE.g. commit to prison for send to prison ancient verb
endings such as showeth
Specific vocabulary (stipulation, malice, bail)
Compound anaphoric adverbials (herein, whereby, thereof, aforesaid)
Verbs expressing speech acts (illocutionary verbs) (say, state, assure, promise, declare)
Verbs with empirical meaning (show, find)
Abundance of noun post-modifiers
E.g. The instalments remaining unpaid
the rent due in respect of the hiring up to the date
Block format (no paragraphs)
Scarce punctuation
Complex sentences (tendency to syntactic subordination)
Infrequent passives (The property had by the bearer)
Generic reference by omission of articles

E.g. Payments shall be made in the agreed way.

Conditionals with modal verbs + BE + participle
E.g. If X happens, then Y shall be/do Z.
Scantiness of logical connectives
Short and juxtaposed sentences instead, especially in the exposition or reporting of facts.
E.g. Three years ago his partner fled with the money. This caused the company bankruptcy.
Capitalisation of conjunctions, verbs, and nouns of subjects and institutions
The purpose of capitalisation is to bring the term to the readers attention and avoid
misunderstanding and ambiguity (e.g. And, Or, Owner, Bearer)

Journalistic English (Journalese)

It tends to economize language (especially in headlines, such as Victims identified in
connecticut plane crash, vigil held in remembrance). Its distinctive features are :
-

Text division into columns

Variety of typing resources and emphasis on headlines. Use of subtitles
Tendency to syntactic coordination
Atypical punctuation (abundance of quotation marks and dashes, frequent omission of
commas in syntactic coordinations and adjectival sequences)
Original noun compounding (e.g. faster-arriving information)
Rhetorical questions (e.g. Are the processes that produced the Venusian surface still
active?)
Final collocation of adverbials for emphasis

E.g. The mayor opened the conference at the new company building, Madrid,
yesterday.
-

Inversion of the syntactic order subject-verb

In sentences with verbs related to speech acts.
E.g. I think this is a great tribute to a great town, the mayor said.

Improvised metaphors and similes

E.g. Magellans innovative method of radar mapping, called synthetic-aperture radar

(SAR), is key to fulfiling our long-awaited desire to unveil the secrets of out closest and most
mysterious planetary neighbour.

-Differentiate tones in academic texts.

2. Tone identification.
It can be defined as the expression of attitude towards the subject, the text, and the reader:
personal vs. impersonal/distant, ironic, sarcastic, formal vs. casual, polite, assertive vs.
tentative, insulting vs. insistent, condescending (actitud paternalista), business-like,
promotional, etc.
Tentative, Didactic, Personal, Impersonal, Promotional.
Tentative:
As we have seen, this tone is a common feature of the AW and scientific-technical registers. In
them it is always impersonal, but not every impersonal tone is tentative.
-

Its function is to convey lack of certainty and caution. It is the opposite of

assertiveness.
Modal verbs (could, may, might)
Tentative verbs such as appear, seem, suggest, point to, etc.
Expressions of probability (perhaps, likely, apparently, possibly, probably, etc.)
Approximates (roughly, somewhat, approximately, sometimes, a little, occasionally,
etc.)
Subordinate constructions like that-clauses and passive-infinitive structures.

Didactic:
The didactic tone is usually associated with the personal tone, although not every personal
tone is necessarily didactic.
-

we and you and the imperative mood are frequent.

Basic explanations, similes, and metaphors (DNA structure is like a helix)
Glosses (that is to say, that is, in other words, i.e., which means, which implies, etc.)
Clarifying visuals (graphic organisers of contentsdiagrams and graphics)
Personal pronouns (I, we, you)
Directives (with direct or direct imperatives)

Cognitive directives tell the reader how to understand or interpret content; textual directives
guide the reader through different parts of the text, and physical directives tell the reader to
do something in the real worldoutside the text

Personal:
Known as the you approach, it is closely committed to the reader and intends to be direct,
agile, and persuasive.
-

Frequent use of personal pronouns (I, you, we)

Active voice (rather than passive)
Personal contents (anecdotes, short comments on the writers limitations)
Questions to introduce a new topic

Impersonal:
The content tends to be scientific and technical rather than personal. There is no room for
personal comments or anecdotes.

Promotional
The promotional tone is always persuasive. It may be personal or impersonal, tentative or not,
but in AW it will tend to be both impersonal and tentative. Abstracts, research articles,
literature reviews, grant proposals, PhD theses and masters dissertations are examples of
promotional academic genres.
Persuade readers that the work, text, etc., is important because of its novelty/originality,
applicability (its industrial or commercial impact), the benefits it provides (e.g. to patients,
users, etc.), its effect on theory, the urgency of the problem it poses or tries to solve, or the
amount and/or quality of the data it presents.
-

adjectival pre- and post- modification of nouns:

X is a major issue in the field.

The model proposed here is self-testing, compatible with other systems, and applicable to a
variety of contexts.
The design is sufficiently flexible to accommodate to other devices.
The present study is the first empirically-based examination of X. Using unpublished material
in the investigation of this under-researched area, it offers a more diverse conceptualization
of X.

2.
A) Promotional,impersonal.
The intellectual merit, information technologies, under-represented, extended-day,
community-based, well-being, (adjectival pre- and post- modification of nouns).
B) Didactic, impersonal.
Enrgy levels, clouds of electrons.
C) Impersonal/tentative.
Scientific relevance, the most important, this addition can be, this thesis tries to,
consumers can.
D) Personal, promotional.
I am quite familiar with, while I was , I was, I have specific,
E) Mitigation, impersonal.
Suggest, are likely to be, the species most at risk, large climatic change.
F) Promotional.
This unique product makes the difference, it is the most powerful route application
software available for pocket pc.
G) Tentative, mitigation.
May, thus, may be, if such relationship is confirmed.

FINAL CHECKLIST FOR AW FORMAL FEATURES

1) What is the purpose of my writing and who are my readers? Have I chosen the appropriate
genre and followed its conventions?
2) Does my written piece adopt the main features of AW? That is, is it informative and formal?
3) Have I achieved the desired tone? Do I want to be impersonal, tentative, didactic?
4) Do I want to persuade? What aspects do I want to highlightcurrency, beneficial effects,
rigour, applicability?
5) Have I followed the key stages of the AW process (audience analysis, drafting, editing) and
provided my text with coherence and cohesion.

-Learn how to handle two essential features: mitigation and depersonalization.

3. Mitigation/hedging of dogmatic claims or statements.
- Therefore, our result may demonstrate/presents/proves that the alloy percentages we
believe are the most suitable for this study could be/are more profitable and they get more
accurate results.
- The analysis seems/attends to prove/ is a base to prove that this new method is an
improvement.
- We believe that Smiths study points to prove a failure in this regard, while the method we
propose fits in a more accurate way.

4.Depersonalisation (SE PUEDE USAR LA PASIVA).

-

In this paper its possible to find an overview of the major security measures at
Spanish airports in the last five years.
For a full-stop landing, landing gear with green lights must be put down and flaps
must be extended to full.
At airports controls, jokes must never be made about security issues.
One must never joke about security issues.
Its not a joke talking about security issues at airports controls.

4.2 Passive voice.

Instructions were given to them.
The mechanism was carefully assembled.
Extra work is done.
Is the report being revised?
The report needs to be revised by you.
Be to = should / they were to have informed.
I was to have been informed, but the message was never sent.
I needed to have been informed, but the message was never sent.
No one says/Its not said that this hangar holds 25 aircraft.
Its not said 25 aircraft are held in this hangar.
It is believed he was working abroad.
He is believed to have been working abroad.
This proposal will be laughed at.
People know/its known the old airport may have to be closed owning to low air
traffic by the local authority.
The engineer assured/it was assured by the engineer that the closure of the plant
was to leave many workers redundant.
It was assured by the engineer that many workers were left redundant by the
closure of the plant.

People hope/its hoped that a good project will be presented by the Board to the
committee at the next meeting.

INTRODUCTION 2: STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF ACADEMIC WRITING.

POWERPOINT 2.
-The pilot was able to control the plane, eventually, however, it stalled.
In spite of the pilot being able to control the plane, eventually, it stalled.
In spite of the fact that the pilot was able to control the plane, it stalled.
-The weather was clear; even so, the accident happened.
In spite of the weather being clear, the accident happened.
Despite the engine failure.
Coherence and cohesion are the principles of every good structure.
-

Coherence = A text is coherent if its contents follow a logical sequence or progression;

when its parts or ideas fit well so that they form a united thematic whole. Therefore,
coherence relates to thought, content, or meaning.
Cohesion = A text is cohesive if its units of expression (paragraphs and sentences
within paragraphs) show some kind of link or interconnection. Therefore, cohesion
relates to language; that is, to lexis and grammar.

Three important structural units in Academic Writing:

-

The paragraph = The most basic one. With it we build texts.

The text = It may be descriptive, narrative, expository, or argumentative.
The genre = It is a type of text with a specific social purpose. Its structure is formed by
a series of stages, called moves, which may in turn comprise sub-stages, called
steps.

A genre may include several types of texts and these texts may constitute stages. For
example, the methods section in a research article is a narrative of the procedures employed.
Or there may be genres embedded in other genres. For instance, a grant application usually
includes an abstract of the research project to be evaluated.

or even be implicit or missing

It tends to go at the beginning of the paragraph, although it may appear at the end too
It has two parts: topic + topic development.
effect, listing).
chronological sequence, problem -solution, general-specific or vice versa, cause and
It advances the pattern of organisation of the paragraph (comparison or contrast,
It must not be too specific.
It must be a complete sentence (with a subject, a verb, and complements)

The features of the topic sentence are:

ideas) that will be developed in the following sentences.
appears at the beginning or the end of the paragraph and contains keywords (or controlling
As stated before, the topic sentence introduces the main idea of the paragraph. It normally
Topic sentence

c)
b)
a)

The advantages of nuclear power plants over coal-fired power plants are indeed many.
First generation computers had distinctive features.
Digital systems have substituted analog systems.

Topic sentence: the main idea of a paragraph.

-

Identify the topic sentence of a paragraph.

concluding sentence.
Paragraphs consist of three essential components: topic sentence, supporting sentences, and
STRUCTURE
variety units: Paragraphs provide refreshing pauses.
new point in the exposition of the central idea of the text has begun.Paragraphs are pause and
sentence.Paragraphs are units of attention: Each paragraph visually signals the reader that a
important topic sentence is the key idea of the whole text and is called thesis
The most

Paragraphs
FUNCTION
Paragraphs are thematic units: They develop a single main idea related to the central point of
the entire text. This controlling idea in the paragraph is called the topic sentence.

Supporting sentences
There are two ways of arranging the supporting sentences in a paragraph:
(1) One is that all supporting sentences are directly related to the topic sentence.
(2) The other is that not all supporting sentences are related to the topic sentence but
derived from the previous supporting sentence. This is the case of those sentences
that need examples, details, and specifications.

Concluding sentence
It is commonly found in isolated paragraphs to indicate that the paragraph has reached
the end. They are also used to restate the main idea or to emphasize an important point.
They act more as a transition between paragraphs than as a real conclusion to the topic. They
are optional because they are not necessary when the paragraph is not isolated but within a
text.

EFFECTIVE PARAGRAPH WRITING

Length
Paragraphs should average about 100 words. Too many short paragraphs disrupt the flow of
the text and may indicate poverty of thought or generate an overemphatic style that should be
reserved for recording dialogue, for difficult transitions, or for making an unusually strong
point, such as the thesis sentence. On the contrary, too dense or overloaded paragraphs are
tiring and hinder comprehension. Variety in length is advisable in any text.
Internal coherence
Useful cohesive devices are:
1. Shared knowledge
2. Keywords, pronouns and synonyms
3. Parallelism
4. Connectives: Coordinating conjunctions, Subordinating conjunctions, Sentence
connectors, Phrase linkers.
1.Shared knowledge: It may provide unity without any markers. Assuming more or less
shared knowledge.
2.Keywords,pronouns and synonyms: Repeating keywords and placing them in a
dominant position enables readers to go back to the same idea and process the information
better and faster.

3.Parallelism:Parallel structures reflect similar kinds of information (items of equal

importance) at paragraph and sentence level. The rudder is attached to the fin or vertical
stabilizer and changes yaw (direction side-to-side). The elevators are attached to the
horizontal stabilizer and change pitch (direction up and down). The flaps, ailerons, spoilers and
slats are attached to the wings and change lift and drag (flaps), roll (ailerons), lift, drag and roll
(spoilers), and lift (slats). Flaps not only change lift but also drag.
-

Spoilers change both lift and drag.

Neither the vertical stabilizer nor the rudder do affect lift.
Yaw can be changed by either the rudder or the vertical stabilizer.
Whether lift, drag and roll are changed by the pilot or depends on the spoilers.

4.Connectives
4.1 Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, so, for, yet, or, nor)
4.2 Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, provided, etc.)
4.3 Sentence connectors (however, moreover, therefore, etc.)
4.4 Phrase linkers (in spite of, in addition to, together with, because of, etc.)
10. Connectives to link sentences and paragraphs.
FEASIBILITY: viabilidad.
URGE: desire
Furthermore, overall, despite, consequently, first and foremost, as a result, although,
therefore.

- Recognize paragraph connections and their resulting textual progression.

5. identification of paragraph connection.

-

BIND: join.
FLAMBOYANT: showy(ostentoso).
PUBLICITY-MINDED: having the kind of mind indicated for publicity, conscious of
the value or importance of it.
TO MAKE A HOP: to make a flight.
SWEPT-BACK: attached aircraft wings, so that they are at an acute angle to the axis
of the aircraft.
PUNY: small and weak
Rag-bag: varied collection, confused mass.
PROCUREMENT: supply (ing).

RECONNAISSANCE: survey of an enemys position or whereabouts.

FILM PLATES: sheets of glass coated with sensitive film for photography.
TO DISCOURAGE: make them seem not worthwhile.
AIRPOWER: airforce.

One was, five month later, the other, finally, almost all of its, then, at that time, in those days,
in parallel with these first steps
Type of progression: chronology
Even, by comparison with, besides, so that no, however, in order to, an even more, again.

Paragraph reconstruction.
Satellites are essential in weather forecast. Weather forecast satellites use a rich variety of
observations from which to analyze the current weather patterns. The launch of the first
weather satellite in 1960 made possible global observations, even in the remotes areas.
Nowadays, it is possible to make a short-term weather forecast and even a long-term forecast.
These forecast are extremely useful to predict cyclones, big storms and other catastrophes.

Texts
Texts are formed by interconnected paragraphs.
-

In Academic Writing and Technical Communication, there are essentially 12 types

of progressions, based on:

chronology/sequence, spatial order, comparison/contrast, problem-solution, cause-andeffect, analogy, general-specific (deductive), specific-general (inductive), known-unknown,
unknown
known, relevance, and analogy.
-

Climactic progressions build a climax of suspense by postponing the key point,

whereas anticlimactic progressions anticipate the most relevant information
and then proceed to comment on it.
Progressions are marked by the cohesive devices we have just seen, mostly by
connectives

There are 4 major types of texts, although there may be blends: narrative, descriptive,
expositive, and argumentative.

progression markers:
Chronological signals

Sentence connectors: first(ly), second(ly), third(ly), last(ly), next, then, finally,

eventually, after that, afterwards, subsequently, in the meantime, meanwhile,
simultaneously, at the same time
Subordinators: before, after, when, whenever, until/till, since, once, as, while, as soon
as
Phrase linkers: before, after, when/on/in, previous to, prior to, following
Time adverbials: soon, in brief, last year, two hours ago, in 2013, from 2000 to 2005,
etc

6.Recognition of textual progression.

1. leads to global, by contrast, as a result of global warming, this will lead, means, as a
cause of, lead to, an example of, for instance, another way. ARGUMENTATIVE,
PROBLEM-SOLUTION.
2. at the front of the camera, at the top of the camera.SPACIAL.
3. however, otherwise. CONTRASTIVE,DEDUCTIVE.
4. 4.another difference, whereas, CONTRASTIVE.
5. DEDUCTIVE.
6. SECONDLY THIRDLY NO ES CHRONOLOGICAL. The reasons why, and thus.
ARGUMENTATIVE.
7. but at the same time, without it, for example, instead, in any case. CONTRASTIVE,
RELEVANCE, ARGUMENTATIVE.
8. the first person who, appeared for the first, at that time, then, during, at present,.
CHRONOLOGYCAL.

Cause-and-effect signals

Sentence connectors: therefore, thus, as a result, as a consequence, consequently, that

is why, for this reason, hence
Coordinating conjunctions: so, for
Subordinators: since, as, because, for, the reason why, given that
Phrase linkers: because of, due to, owing to, as a result of, as a consequence of, on
account of, the reason for
Causative verbs: cause, produce, generate, give rise to, bring about, produce, affect,
have an effect on, result in, result from, etc.

9.1Cause-and-effect markers to link sentences.

SHROUD: envolver.

Because, the effect of the, causes, therefore, results in, because of,

Turbofan engines are quieter than jet engines because the cooler fan air shrouds the
hot exhaust.
The effect of the passing of hot section gases through the turbine blade is the creation
of thrust.
The flow of hot exhaust gases through turbine blades causes them to turn.
Cumulonimbus clouds produce severe turbulences, therefore they must be avoided.
The reduction of the volume of air made by the compressor results in pressure
production.
Piston engines may prove more expensive than jet engines in the long run because of
their need for more maintenance and their poor performance.

9.2 Caused, since, caused by, as, because of, due to, as a result of.
MINIMUMS: weather condition requirements established for a particular operation.
GROUND FOG: condensed moisture particles that form an obscuring cloud on or near the
ground.
SQUALL LINE: line of thunderstorms that usually precedes a cold front.
WARM FRONT: an advancing edge of a warm air mass.

Comparison/contrast signals

Sentence connectors: however, yet, still, nevertheless, nonetheless, on the other hand,
on the contrary, by/in contrast, conversely, similarly, likewise
Coordinating conjunctions: but, yet
Subordinators: although, even though, though, while, whereas
Phrase linkers: in spite of, despite, (un)like, in contrast with, as opposed to, different
from, compared with, in comparison with, alike, similar to
Correlatives: bothand, not onlybut also, neithernor
Comparatives and superlatives: -er than, more than, the est, the most, less/fewer
than, more than, the same as, asas, not soas
Parallel constructions: the higher X, the higher Y; not onlybut also, etc.

Genres
Genres are specialised texts designed for social action.
The structure of genres, as we will see, consists of stages or moves and substages or steps.
In this module on Academic Writing we will study two major genres: the abstract and
the process description.

FINAL CHECKLIST FOR PARAGRAPH WRITING

1)
2)
1.
3)
4)
5)
2.
6)
7)

What is the purpose of the paragraph? Is it clear?

Does the paragraph help clarify the main points of the
text?
Does it provide the right amount of shared knowledge?
Is there a topic sentence within? In the right position?
Is the topic sentence coherently related to the support
sentences?
Is there a clear transition between paragraphs?
Is the length of the paragraphs sufficiently varied?

GENRE 1: THE ABSTRACT.

-

An abstract is not a summary, all summaries are not abstracts. Abstracts are for
academic text. Represented in a particular way. De- personalization.
The ABSTRACT is a specialised summary, a genre widely used in the academic and
professional fields. A genre is a goal-oriented type of text.

Where can we find abstracts in the academia?

Grant applications, University patents, Research articles, Conference papers, Projects reports,
Master dissertations and PhD theses.
The function of abstracts has an enormous importance in the academic community. They work
as:
Agents of knowledge dissemination, Screening devices, Promotional tools.

Become familiarized with the abstract moves.

Abstract sections or moves

-

Introduction - What you did and why.

Method - How you did it.
Results - What you found or created.
Discussion/conclusion - What those results mean (your interpretation).

Introduction
-

Motivation/purpose (problem or need to be gapped)

Context of the research (problem or situation and research antecedents)
Relevance of the research

Methods
-

Designs, procedures, assumptions, approaches, data

Results/product
Discussion/Conclusion
-

Interpretation of results / outcome and their extension beyond the scope of the
paper, considering broader implications and applications

Remember: abstracts are summaries but not every summary is an abstract

New trends in abstract writing.

-

(Especially in biomedical sciences and engineering)

Structured abstracts (with sections labelled by headings)
Graphical abstracts (diagrams, tables, graphs and photographs minimally
verbalised)

FINAL CHECKLIST
-

Does my abstracthave the expected number of moves?

_ state its purpose clearly?
_ describe enough the method used?
_ highlight its findings sufficiently?
have the steps habitual in my discipline?
_ justify the relevance of the study?
end powerfully?
fall within the required word limit?
have an informative and not-too-long title?
explain the acronyms and abbreviations it contains?
have an appropriate number of sentences?

15 Sequence of abstract moves.

-

The economic and productivity potential of ultrahigh

Two different scenarios are envisaged
The payload-range
The benefits of the four cases are

16 Indentification of abstract moves.

A. MOVES:
- Introduction: It has been developed a comprehensive tool to simulate the Gas
Exchange process in two and four stroke engines.
- Method: By using jointly unidimensional and tridimensional models, it can be
possible to use the adequate tool in every part of the whole control volume.
- Results: Using empirical coefficients, matched with both models, the same results
are obtained in a test case, using in the first place the unidimensional model and in
the second place the tridimensional model.

Conclusion/discussion: In this way, the complete process can be calculated in a

reasonable short time and without experimental results to know empirical
constants.

Note: using is very duplicate.

B. MOVES:
- Introduction: Most combustion experiments on microgravity conditions require
extensive testing time, thus making necessary the use of sounding rockets,
satellites and spatial laboratories.
- Methods: In combustion experiments, the gas velocities inside test modules must
be smaller than the characteristic velocity of the process. The initial spin
stabilization of sounding rockets has been identified as a possible origin of residual
velocities inside the aforementioned modules. The object of the present work is to
study the gas residual velocity in the module designed by SENER for carrying out
combustion experiments in microgravity conditions in sounding rockets. Particle
image velocimetry was used to measure these velocities.
- Restults: The study shows that, after the spin stabilization, a rapid slowing down of
such velocities is produced, decreasing by 5mm/s after 10s and down to 0.1 mm/s
after 40s.
Note: different paragraphs shows better all the moves.

Be able to turn a diagram summary into an abstract.

GENRE 2: THE PROCESS DESCRIPTION.

There are three types of descriptions:
-

Physical descriptions :They transmit information about size, colour, material,

texture, location, purpose, number of parts and their position, advantages and
disadvantages, performance, comparisons.
Functional descriptions :They provide information to understand how a device or
machine works. Usually this information is presented from the general to the
detail.
Process descriptions :They give the specifics of how something is done, explaining
the steps of a procedure or how a process takes place. In this type of descriptions
the usual progression is also from the general to the specific. Process descriptions
are similar to giving instructions. The difference is that: they expect the reader or
hearer to act. They emphasize the
sequence of events, the procedure
for an operation. Processes may be carried out by
o _ people (e.g. how steel is made from iron)
o _ machines (e.g. how an aeroplane works)
o _ nature (e.g. how sound waves are transmitted)

CONTENT FEATURES
Process descriptions should be divided into 2 or 3 parts:
. Brief identification of the process :
o Definition of the process to be explained
o Purpose and significance of the process
o Brief list of the main stages (preferably in one sentence)
o
- Development of stages:
Description of each step in turn, developing it fully with sufficient detail and
subdividing the major stages into steps, if needed. Headings should be inserted for
at least the main stages and visuals should be used whenever they may clarify,
explain, or emphasize.
- Closing:
If the purpose is simply to inform
- It may be the completion of the last stage, a summary, a comment on the
significance of the process, or a mention to other methods to perform it.
If the purpose is a specific task (e.g. evaluation of economy or practicability)
- It may be a recommendation.
-

SAMPLE TEXT: Pressure welding

1Identification of the process:
There are a number of methods of joining metal articles together, depending on the type of
metal and the strength of the joint which is required.
(i) Significance
Soldering gives a satisfactory joint for light articles of steel, copper, or brass, but the strength of
a soldered joint is rather less than a joint which is welded.
(ii) Definition
Welding is the joining of metals by the application of heat and/or pressure, with or without the
addition of a similar metal (i.e filler metal). The simplest welding method is called pressure
welding.
(iii) List of stages
The process of pressure welding consists of four stages: heating, pressing, flux application, and
final pressing and squeezing.
2Stage development :
Heating
The ends of metal are heated to a white heatfor iron, the welding temperature should be
about 1300Cin a flame. At this temperature the metal becomes plastic.
Pressing
The ends are then pressed or hammered together, and the joint is smoothed off. Care must be
taken to ensure that the surfaces are thoroughly clean first, for dirt will weaken the weld.
Flux application
To avoid oxidation on the surfaces due to the heating to a high temperature, a flux is applied to
the heated metal. At welding heat, the flux melts, and the oxide particles are dissolved in it
together with any other impurities which may be present.
Final pressing and squeezing
The metal surfaces are pressed together and the flux is squeezed out from the centre of the
weld.
3. Closing
Comment on significance
Welding is a method normally adopted for strong permanent joints, such as those in pipes and
railroad rails.

LANGUAGE FEATURES

INSTRUCTIONS

PROCESS
DESCRIPTIONS

Imperative mood

Indicative mood

(orders/commands)

(statements of fact)

Active voice

Passive voice
(predominant)

2nd person (you)

as subject

3rd person
as subject

The usual way to explain what happens during a process is to use the 3rd person, the present
tense, and the active or passive voice.
An alternative is to use verb forms in ing : (e.g. Smelting consists of heating the ore in a blast
furnace,The final stage is melting down the metal in a furnace with cole and limestone.

MEANING

TENSE

General process
descriptions

Present simple

Descriptions
of past actions

Past simple
Present perfect

Predictive descriptions

Future simple
Conditionals

Consistency is desirable: do not needlessly shift tense in the same description.

Complex processes require that the stages and steps are listed and numbered, each one being
developed in one or more sentences.
For lay audiences the description must be simple and clear:
With simplified language
With definitions of specialised terms
With frequent examples
With diagrams, drawings and photographs

Some useful structures and expressions:

First(ly), second(ly), third(ly) then, next, finally, follow, precede, the previous/former
stage/step, the next/following stage/step, before, after, now, at this
point/stage/phase
Once this has been done,
After/Having done this,
Before doing this,

RECAPITULATION
Principles of process descriptions
The purpose of a process description is for audience understanding, not audience
action.
The intended audience (lay, expert) influences the kind and extent of details included
and the manner in which they are presented.
This implies using an appropriate level of assumed knowledge and visuals when
necessary.
Accuracy and completeness are essential.
The description should provide accurate information and cover all the stages and
necessary aspects.
Visuals can enhance and clarify a process explanation.

FINAL CHECKLIST FOR EXPLAINING A PROCESS

What is the process that I want to explain?

Is my description complete and accurate?

Does it have a clear title, consisting of a summary

sentence?
E.g. How to land an aircraft, How an aircraft is landed

Who is my intended audience?

Lay or expert?
How will they use my description? For what purpose?

Will my description be written or oral?

Both may include visuals, and oral descriptions may also use real
objects and include demonstrations (demos).