Academic writing and speaking

INDEX

1. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL FEATURES
2
1.1 DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC WRITING
1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
1.3 ACADEMIC WRITING STRUCTURE


2. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WRITING AND SPEAKING
4
3. SPEAKING: GENERAL FEATURES 6
3.1. PROCESSING AND RECIPROCITY CONDITIONS
3.2 PRODUCTION AND INTERACTION SKILLS


4. CLASSROOMCONSIDERATIONS
9
5. BIBLIOGRAPHY
9

1. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL FEATURES
Written communication involves both writing and reading. When we write, we encode a message into graphic symbols in order to form a text that will be later decoded by a reader. With written communicative processes, there is a distance in what concerns to time and space, and because of that it is important for the message tobe encoded in such a way that the potential reader can decode it without any help from the writer. The writer must therefore take care over how the message is composed. In written texts, the purely linguistic elements are much more important than in spoken texts. We cannot use extralinguistic elements (gesture, intonation,…) so it is the language itself which carries the weight of transmittingthe message.
It is clear that writing is a complex activity, and needs to be learned even in the native language.
We learn to speak naturally, but writing needs to be taught.

1.1 DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Writing is a skill that is required in many contexts throughout life. However, academic writing does many of the things that personal writing does not: it has its own set of rules andpractices.
• These rules and practices may be organised around a formal order or structure in which to present ideas, in addition to ensuring that ideas are supported by author citations in the literature.
• In contrast to personal writing contexts, academic writing is different because it deals with the underlying theories and causes governing processes and practices in everyday life, as wellas exploring alternative explanations for these events.
• Academic writing follows a particular ‘tone’ and adheres to traditional conventions of punctuation, grammar, and spelling.

1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF ACADEMIC WRITING
Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions orrepetitions. Its objective is to inform rather than entertain. As well as this it is in the standard written form of the language. There are eight main features of academic writing that are often discussed. Academic writing is to some extent: complex, formal, objective, explicit, hedged, and responsible. It uses language precisely and accurately.
1. Complexity: Written language is relatively morecomplex than spoken language. Written language has longer words, it is lexically more dense and it has a more varied vocabulary. It uses more noun-based phrases than verb-based phrases. Written texts are shorter and the language has more grammatical complexity, including more subordinate clauses and more passives.
2. Formality: Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this means that in anessay you should avoid colloquial words and expressions.
3. Precision: In academic writing, facts and figures are given precisely.
4. Objectivity: Written language is in general objective rather than personal. It therefore has fewer words that refer to the writer or the reader. This means that the main emphasis should be on the information that you want to give and the arguments you want to make,rather than you. For that reason, academic writing tends to use nouns (and adjectives), rather than verbs (and adverbs).
5. Explicitness: Academic writing is explicit about the relationships in the text. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use...