Are you an ESL/EFL teacher wanting to help your students polish their academic writing? Or are you a high school or college student needing to perfect your writing? No matter which you are, I have narrowed down 4 things that will improve your academic writing in English.
4 Tips for Better Academic Writing in English
Students of English have many difficult steps to master when it comes to writing. Among these include a (1) limited of vocabulary; (2) incorrect word choice; (3) confusing ‘will’ and ‘would’; (4) incoherent and jumbled paragraphs. Download my “Living in English: 365” podcast to learn more, or continue below to read more.
Vocabulary
A limited vocabulary can greatly hinder your writing. On top of that, academic writing calls for the use of more latinate words. Latinate words are words with latin origins. These, as well as words borrowed from French, each account for nearly 29% of the vocabulary in English. With almost 60% of words derived from latinate origins, it is no wonder these words are so important to academic writing. Do you want to rapidly grow your vocabulary—i.e. improve your academic writing in English? Contact me today! Want to see how one writer diversifies her writing about beards without repeating said word? Read about the history of facial hair on men and the Catholic Church here. How many different ways does she refer to beards?
Coherence & Cohesion
As I mentioned in my podcast titled “4 Tips for Better Academic Writing in English,” writing your sentences so that each one is connected to the previous one is a must. What this means all parts of your sentence and paragraph must link together to make one, unified body of work. In other words, once you have given previously stated information, or old information, then you may introduce new information. This is called given and new. By structuring your writing in this manner, you will not only add coherence and cohesion to your work, but more easily help the reader follow what you are saying.
Nominalization
What is nominalization? Nominalization is when we create a noun phrase from another word class, such as a verb. So, in other words, it is when we turn verbs into nouns. Native speakers of English do this without hesitation. In fact, not using nominalization makes your writing sound uneducated and awkward. There is no one thing that will improve your academic writing in English more than by utilizing nominalization. Check this website out for some example.
Will vs. Would
It is impossible to stress how important it is to not confuse the meaning of ‘will’ and ‘would’ especially when writing argumentative essays. I see so many students do this and think that it is impossible to improve their academic writing in English. By concretely understanding the difference between these two words, and when to use them, ESL/EFL writing students will have greater success in their writing. What is the difference, you may ask? For starters, ‘would’ is used to soften your statement and remain more objective. ‘Will’, on the other hand, is used when the writer wants to convey a more definite and concrete statement, and carries a level of certainty that ‘would’ just does not
*Bonus*
Citing your work is so important that I could NOT leave it off the list. Being charged with plagiarism is something nobody wants. If you are writing something and use someone else thoughts, you must give them due credit by properly citing their words and/or works. For that reason, this is mandatory. Why is this so important? Because it is considered stealing if you do not. Thankfully, though, most campuses in North America fully educate incoming students on the dangers of plagiarism, so no need to worry.
These are just 4 short tips (and a bonus!) on how to improve your academic writing in English. If you would like more specialized or individualized advice, contact me, Director Rhone, to schedule your lessons.
