Communication for

Academic Purposes
 Academic Purposes

1. To write using academic writing style and appropriate

structure
2. To quote, summarize and paraphrase texts to avoid
plagiarism
3. To cite sources using APA
(https://library.mtroyal.ca/researchsupport/citesource
s/citationguidesandresources)
QUOTING, PARAPHRASING AND
SUMMARIZING
 Taking Notes

• Despite the volume of sources to read, it is essential to take down

notes from the materials you think will be useful in the crafting of
your academic paper. Like a carpenter, you design the house
according to the materials you have gathered, so is academic writing,
getting the appropriate information and supporting ideas will
eventually shape the voice and tone of your article. By writing down
enough details, you can review and decide if such information will be
added or deleted during the final writing. Henceforth, you have a
precise record of your notes (Bullock, 2006).
 Steps
• Write your notes can be in an index card, a notebook or through your
computer. Every entry must be labelled with information such as
author, title, and the URL pages so that tracking the source (s) will be
easy and handy.
• Use your own words through quoting (enclose in quotation marks).
• Paraphrasing or summarizing the source text. This will enable the
readers to identify if it is your own words or borrowed words.
• Put a subject title in each note for quick identification of the topic.
 The importance of citing sources
• To acknowledge the author(s) of the books, magazines, journals,
interviews, and other sources of information
• To allow the readers to verify your information
• To allow the readers to replicate and expand your research
• Indicate any omissions with ellipses. When deleting some words
from a direct quotation, insert ellipses represented with three dots to
represent the deletion (Bullock, 2006).
• Periods and commas. “With brief quotation, put periods or commas
inside quotation marks, except when you have a parenthetical
citation at the end, in which case you put the period after the
parentheses” (Bullock, 2006).
• Question marks and exclamation points. Place the question mark
and exclamation points in the quotation marks when succeeded by a
parenthetical citation then followed by a period.
• Colons and semicolons. Colon and semicolon are placed outside the
quotation marks (Bullock, 2016).
 Writing a paraphrase
• When you borrow words from a statement, a passage, or a larger and
longer text, you need to paraphrase these words. Paraphrase is a way
of rewriting these sentences so that it will look like the original,
although it shares the same thought. Informative paraphrases are
those that take the source’s tone, facts and opinions as if they were
the writer’s own while descriptive paraphrases are statements that
describe the source text than showing its perspectives or information
in a direct manner (Veit, et al, 1997).
 Summarizing
• When summarizing, use your own words and immediately write the
main ideas from the source. Compared to a paraphrase, a summary
only talks the general aspect and does not go into details (Bullock,
2016)
 References
• You must arrange your references in alphabetical order using the APA
format.
 Writing the Academic Paper
(Suarez, et.al., 2018)
• Purpose, audience and context are important aspects of
communication.
• These will determine the content, language, mode, medium, and
genre of what you will write or deliver.
• For example, you want to raise public awareness on the criminal
liability of trafficking cultural property. This purpose has a clear
audience and context in mind – the general public at a time when
smuggling of cultural artifacts is rampant. Given this, a public service
announcement (PSA) that uses simple, vivid language is the most
appropriate genre that will be limited to general information about
the topic (e.g., why the taking of cultural artifacts is wrong) and a
clear call to action (e.g., report traffickers).
 Now, consider the same topic, but identify a different purpose – to
convince lawmakers to increase the punishment for those caught
trafficking cultural property.

• The audience and context have changed, and so the genre will have
to change as well.
• You might want to write a position paper that uses academic, formal
language.
• The content will also change; you will focus on the importance of
protecting a country’s cultural heritage and identity and present facts
and figures to support your argument.
 Context
• Knowing your purpose and audience will help you determine the
context of the writing task.
• The clearer the context, the more you can respond appropriately.
• The literary analysis paper may be written as part of an essay writing
contest in honor of a National Artist, for example. How will that be
different from writing the paper as a course requirement? You would
need to consider the criteria the judges will use in the former and
your teacher’s grading rubric in the latter.
• An informative essay explaining caffeine addiction may be written as
part of a special issue on stress of a magazine for teenagers, or may
be part of a report of an international investigative journalist on the
most addictive substances in the world.
• Note how the difference in the context of writing on the same topic
changes the type of information you will include (caffeine addiction
and stress in the former, and caffeine addiction as part of a bigger
problem in addiction in the latter); the language and style you will use
(language accessible to teenagers in conversational style versus
formal, objective language); and the mode through which you will
convey your message (written in a magazine in the former, and
oral/visual as a documentary report or film in the latter).
 Genres
• Texts that have a clear communication purpose meant for a specific
type of audience and context are called genres.
• What this means is that both readers and writers expect certain texts
to follow a particular form or pattern, and so will write or read these
texts accordingly.
• For example, an information report is genre whose purpose is to
provide information. It can take the form of a business presentation
or a technical report. Writers and readers of this genre will expect to
read or view a text that will give them information on a business
trend or a new development in the field of education, rather than
give a position about it, which is typical of another genre – one that
argues a position.
• A literary analysis is also a genre that argues for a position but is
meant for a different purpose (to present your analysis of a literary
text) and audience (critics and readers of literature). As such, the
structure and language of a literary analysis essay is different from
the structure and language of another sub-genre of argumentative
writing, like a political analysis essay, which is clearly meant for a
different purpose (to explain an issue) and audience (policy makers,
lawmakers).
 Mode and medium
• They are closely lined to genre.
• Kress (2000) differentiates between mode and medium. Mode is the
way meaning is represented through words, symbols, pictures, and so
on, while medium is the way in which words, symbols or pictures are
transmitted through print, audio or digital means. In this age of digital
technology, you will need to consider both the mode and medium of
your analysis or technical paper.
 Stance
• You need to take a stance when you write an academic paper.
• Your stance is your attitude toward the topic you will write about.
Your attitude should be clear to you at the outset since this will also
shape how you will write your paper, particularly your tone.
• Your stance is often determined by the kind of writing or
communication material you will work on, as well as your purpose in
writing. For example, in writing a technical report, you are expected
to take an objective, analytical stance in presenting your facts and
data, so you will adopt a neutral tone.
• A political analysis paper and a policy proposal are expected to
support or critique a policy or cause. Your stance may depend on the
relationship you want to establish with your audience.
• Once you have determined your stance, you have to decide whether
you want to explicitly state it or not.
• In writing your academic paper, you have the option of stating your
main idea or argument in your thesis statement. However, if you think
that you can persuade your audience more convincingly or convey
your point more effectively if you do not reveal your stance openly,
you may do so.
• Your stance would be conveyed through the language that you use
and the way you present your topic to your audience.
 The Personal Reflective Essay
• The personal reflective essay presents your insights on a particular
aspect of life as you have observed and experienced it.
• It can include a vivid description of what you have witnessed and gone
through.
• When you write this type of essay, it is like inviting your audience to
enter your mind as you narrate significant turning points and share
your views with them.
 Guide questions
• Why do I consider this instance important?
• How did I feel while it was happening?
• Why did I react that way?
• What lessons have I gained from it?
• What have I learned about myself, about other people, and about the
world?
• The subject may range from daily incidents to special episodes in your
life. It may be as simple as bumping into an old friend from high
school on your way to your college class or as noble as helping out a
family in their time of crisis. What is important is that you consider it
as a striking incident or a turning point that made you pause and
think about what it signifies.
 The Literary Analysis
• Literary analysis is written to show your understanding, evaluation, or
appreciation of a literary work or an aspect of it.
• Remember that writing a literary analysis paper is about writing your
interpretation of the literary work; your interpretation, in turn, has to
have basis in the text that you will provide as evidence.
 Features of a Literary Analysis
• In literary analysis, you are arguing that your interpretation of a
literary work is valid. As such, it is important that you have a clear,
arguable thesis statement.
• Close reading means examining the words used, understanding the
references either to culture, history, or other texts, identifying the
structure of the texts, and additional features deemed relevant in
contributing to the meaning of the literary work. You will use these
later as your evidence in supporting your thesis statement.
 The informative essay
• The informative essay is written to provide information on topics that
are not known to a vast majority of readers.
• In this kind of writing, you are expected to do some research since
you need to give facts and evidence on your chosen topic.
• You are considered the expert, and your end goal is to make sure your
reader will understand your topic better.
• Your readers will expect up-to-date information, as well as
explanations of complex terms.
• When you write your informative essay, you will use different
rhetorical patterns. You will need to define complex terms and ideas.
You may explain a process, analyze cases and effects, define unique
terminologies, or compare and contrast certain subjects. All these
patterns for organizing an essay will help your reader gain a more
informed understanding of your topic.
 The Problem-Solution Paper
• A problem-solution paper analyzes a problem and then offers a
solution to this problem.
• Your analysis provides a way of looking at a challenging problem and a
basis for proposing a feasible solution to the problem.
• Your analysis and proposed solution should be supported by facts,
details, or examples to convince your reader that the problem needs
to be solved and that your proposed solution is a reasonable and
viable option.
Thank you.
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4217 Philippines

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