Sometimes, it is easier to understand complex things by what they are not, rather than what they are.
What academic language is not:
  • Persuasive
    • Persuasive language is language that manipulates and convinces others.  Your writing represents all sides of the issue.
    • Persuasive language technique include:  anecdotes, statistics that manipulate data, appeal to the collective (e.g. everyone knows), rhetorical questions, appeals to emotion and cliches.
  • Creative
    • There is no need for poetic language such as imagery, similes, metaphors, alliteration and exaggeration.
    • If you’re including something because it just sounds good, but doesn’t clearly and concisely contribute to your paper, delete it.
  • Biased
    • Bias is seen when you focus on proving your point without acknowledging the other.
    • Please don’t use first person, because it will always sound biased.
    • Don’t ignore evidence so that you can prove your point.
  • Informal
    • It doesn’t use abbreviations or contractions e.g. numbers under 20 are written in full, as are & and words like can’t.
    • It doesn’t use colloquial language, mate.
    • There is no humour (puns, sarcasm) in academic writing.
  • Obfuscatory
    • It doesn’t use big words just to impress.
    • Please don’t confuse people by using words they don’t know.
    • Try not to take forever to say a simple thing.
  • Incorrect
    • It doesn’t contain language errors!
    • Smarthinking is a great resource to help you out here, as it will proofread your assignments for you.  Each student receives 3 free, hours of online tutoring each semester.

The best way to understand what academic writing is, is to read broadly in your field.  Look at the way your course readings are written and emulate these.

What academic writing is:
  • Clear, concise and well-structured
  • Formal
  • Reasoned and supported (logically developed)
  • Authoritative (Third person)
  • Uses the language of the industry/subject

Steps to ensure you are writing academically.  Ask yourself:

  1. Who am I writing for?

  2. What is the shared language of our subject?

  3. What am I trying to communicate?

  4. How can I structure my work so it communicates clearly?

  5. What can I remove?


This video highlights the difference between Academic English and standard English.  It looks at 12 common errors and explains how to fix them.



Last modified: Friday, 2 July 2021, 3:39 PM