Punctuation plays a crucial role in academic writing. You should pay attention to it for important reasons such as:
If you are interested in knowing more about effective punctuation select this excellent resource on how to use the full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, quotation marks, parentheses.
Spelling is one of the most common aspects of academic writing that students in higher education tend not to care about.
Spelling accuracy is essential in academic writing to uphold clarity, credibility, precision, and respect for the reader, ultimately contributing to the effectiveness and professionalism of the scholarly communication process. Look at the following reasons why spelling is so important.
We recommend using appropriate verb forms, so you make clear that the intended meaning is conveyed as clearly and precisely as possible.
Different verb forms (such as past tense, present tense, and present continuous) convey different nuances and temporal relationships, allowing you to express your ideas with accuracy. Have a look at the following tips:
Using the appropriate verb form in academic English writing is essential for clarity, consistency, adherence to academic conventions, professionalism, and effective expression of your stance and ideas.
Select the following link to learn why verb forms are so important in academic writing.
One of the most common mistakes in academic writing is related to word order. Did you know that using the correct word order in academic writing is essential for clarity, coherence, flow, emphasis, consistency, and avoiding misinterpretation? You should pay careful attention to word order to ensure your ideas are communicated effectively and persuasively. Some of the benefits of writing using accurate word order are:
If you are interested in knowing more about rules, explanations and examples select this link.
Sentence length is another important aspect of academic writing. Certain languages contain long sentences as part of their grammatical rules. However, in English sentences should be shorter as it is more difficult for you to control the sentence structure and flow of ideas.
Some benefits of avoiding writing long sentences are:
If you like to see annotated examples, select this link.
A very common issue students make in academic writing is related to fragmented phrases. Fragment phrases lack completeness and can leave readers confused about the intended meaning. This is why writing complete sentences provides clear communication of ideas that facilitate understanding. Always aim to present arguments and ideas logically and coherently. Fragments often lack essential components such as subjects or verbs, leading to incomplete or unclear statements. View a video, that’ll help you clarify basic sentence structure in English.
If you are interested in knowing more about fragmented phrases, and simple explanations of how sentences should be written select this link. If you are interested in learning about clauses watch a 3-minute video about dependant and independent clauses in English sentences.
You’ll see that by having a clear understanding on these important aspects of academic writing the message you are trying to convey in your assignments will be clearer.You can actually get better grades!
Using the appropriate articles in academic writing is essential to aim for clarity, professionalism, grammatical correctness, and acknowledging previous research. It contributes to effective communication and strengthens the overall quality of your writing.Look at the following reasons why writing appropriate articles can affect your academic writing:
Select this link to find clear examples and specific explanations about articles.
Make sure when you use subjects these agree with their verbs. Singular and plural word forms determine the agreement between subjects and verbs in sentences. Using the correct form ensures grammatical accuracy and clarity. For example, ‘The data are’ (plural) versus ‘The datum is’ (singular). Similarly, nouns and verbs within a sentence must agree in number. Understanding singular and plural word forms helps writers maintain consistency and coherence in their sentences. For instance, ‘The results suggest’ (plural) versus ‘The result suggests’ (singular). Select this link to find out more about rules and examples.
Modality is used to express degrees of certainty, tentativeness, or probability in your academic writing. We can use cautious language to indicate the level of confidence in your conclusions. Here's a breakdown of when to use modals:
Have a look at the following table developed by Lingard in 2020, here you can notice how verbs and adverbs change according to low, moderate, and high certainty.
Keep in mind that these adverbs and verbs may change according to the context.The use of hedging and modals helps maintain an objective and cautious tone, acknowledging the complexities and uncertainties inherent in research and academic assessments. However, it's essential to manage a balance between expressing appropriate levels of certainty and avoiding excessive hedging, which can weaken the clarity and impact of your arguments.Monash University provides 6 excellent tips for expressing uncertainty in writing. Have a look at them!
The following resources from the University of Bristol include detailed explanations and some activities for you to practice when and how to use modality and hedging: University of Bristol - Hedging· University of Bristol - Modals Monash University lso has plenty of resources and activities available on how to use hedging to make nuanced claims, how to avoid overgeneralisations, or how to express levels of certainty.
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