Purposive Communication: COMMUNICATION FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSIVE

Academic writing
Is a particular style used in formal essays and other assessments for your
course. It requires formal language, a logical structure and should be supported by
evidence.
THREE COMMOM MISCONCEPTIONS.
1. “highfaluting” or jargon-filled language
2. A stiff style and the absence of the writer’s voice or opinion
3. Boring and rehashed topic.
ACADEMIC refers to a student’s informed, scholarly, and insightful contribution to
ongoing discussions of relevant topics or issues.
SPECIFIC AND CLEAR LANGUAGE
Academic writing should not be pompous. Pompous language obscures
meaning.
Example:
Scintillate. Scintillate, globule ourific
Fair would i fathom thy nature specific
Loftily perched in the ether capacious
Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous.
(Rocco & Hatcher, 2011)
Academic writing should NOT be difficult to read because academic knowledge is
meant to be shared with others. Besides, obscure and pompous phrase is irritating.
Instead of using unnecessarily difficult words – or falling prey for a word—students
should aim to precise and appropriate language.
Table 1: Informal/Non-standard versus Formal/Standard Usages

Informal/Non-Standard Usages More Formal/Precise Equivalents

Alright, alot, result to, All right, a lot, result in, discuss, cope
discuss about, cope up with [non- with (acceptable usages in Standard
standard, informal, or unique to certain written English)
varieties of English]
Good – as in a “good” book Entertaining, insightful, interesting,
(imprecise) instructive (precise)

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Can’t, won’t, I’ll, she’s, didn’t, Cannot, will not, i will, she is, did not,
(conversational, speech-based (spelled out as two words)
contractions)
Gonna, gotta (conversational/speech- Going to, have to (spelled out)
based shortcuts)
Anyways, boring as hell, bored to death, Anyway, boring or uninteresting ,
major downer (conversational/informal) extremely bored, depressing (more
formal/precise/uncluttered)
I got here late, she got out of the office, I arrived here late, she left the office ,he
he got a call, they got gas (overused, received a call, they loaded gas or they
imprecise verb) refuelled (more specific alternative)
ASAP, BTW, SOP, (acronyms that may As soon as possible, by the way,
not universally known) standard operating procedure (spelled
out)
University of the Philippines, Ateneo de
UP, ADMU, DLSU (acronyms for Manila University, De La Salle University
institution) (spelled out the first time they are used,
but later may be substituted with
acronyms)
Hit the sock, loo, and comfort room Sleep, toilet or bathroom, and toilet or
(expressions from American English, bathroom (more widely understood
and Philippine English) usages)
Lol, afk, nrn, it feels (informal internet or Laugh out loud, away from keyboard, no
text messaging language) reply necessary, a wave of emotion
(spelled out or explained)

Quite importantly, academic writing is also characterized by bias free

language. A student scholar or academic should be careful to use words and
phrases that do not discriminate against particular groups.
A balanced and Credible Voice
The writer’s voice need not disappear entirely, but this voice should sound
credible and therefore, balanced, objective and not overly emotional. (e.g. “this
researcher believes that”)
Two sets of examples:
Cluttered writing
I found the Dulaang UP play Haring Lear (King Lear) to be not just entertaining
but also insightful because i feel that the Tagalog translation effective and humorously
conveyed the spirit of Shakespeare’s original dysfunctional family. To a contemporary
Filipino audience.

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Tighter writing
The Dulaang UP play Haring Lear (King Lear) was not just enterianing but
insightful because the Tagolog translations effectively and humorously conveyed the
spirit of Shakespeare’s original dysfunctional family to a contemporary Filipino
audience.
Writer focused
Our group conducted a survey on 100 University of the Philippines freshmen to
find out their opinions on the new academic calendar.
Focus on the subject
A survey was conducted on 100 University of the Philippines to find out their
opinions on the new academic calendar.

Socially and Culturally Relevant Topics

Academic paper deal with topics that are likely to bore both the writer and the
reader interest.

Documented Essays
Is another term for "academic paper": here, the term “documented“ emphasizes
that any kind of scholarly or academic writing requires the writer to
(1) Read and gather information from a variety of relevant sources on a chosen
topic.
(2) Clearly acknowledge these supporting sources
(3) Add to scholarship by selecting, arranging, commenting on, or even
debunking the information from these sources.
Documented Essays vs. Standard Essays.
Standard essay and Documented essay consist of an introduction with an
explicitly stated central argument or thesis, three or or more supporting paragraphs
and a conclusion.
STANDARD ESSAY

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Is generally known facts and personal experiences of the writer are sufficient to
support the thesis.
DOCUMENTED ESSAY
This requires concrete supporting information from relevant sources.
PLAGIARISM
Is when you borrow someone else's words and make these appear as your
own.
"What is Plagiarism?" by Teresita Gimenez-Maceda, a professor of Philippine
Studies and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippine. (see in the group
page- Purposive Communication BEED1C)

The Principles of Documentation

Different disciplines require different documentation styles.
American Psychological Association or APA
Emphasize the author and the date of a piece of work.
Chicago
Are widely uses in history and economics?
Vancouver
Is used in medical and scientific paper?
Modern Language Association
Is most often applied by the arts and humanities.
Here are some useful sites with documentation guides:
The Purdue University online Writing Lab (OWL)
Provides guides for APA, MLA and Chicago style.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/.
The Monash University Website
Provides guides for Vancouver, Harvard, CSIRO, and other
styles of referencing.

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https://guides.lib.monash.edu/citing-referencing/home.

Writing a Documented Essay and Avoiding Plagiarism

 Students need to be aware of the purpose and style of the documented essay.
 Students need to keep in mind that all borrowed materials have to be
documented.
 Student should next know how to acknowledge their sources properly. This
involves three essential elements:
1. Attribution
2. In-text or parenthetic citations
3. A list of works cited

Avoiding Plagiarism
Quoting
Is copying the words of the author and intertwining these words to
your own. Quoted statements, which are incorporated at the beginning, middle, or end
part of your paragraph are enclosed in quotation marks and are identified with the
author’s family name, year and publication, and page number of the journal or book
where the quoted statement was lifted from.
Following the American Psychological Association (APA), 6th edition
format, quoted statements fewer than 40 words are incorporated in the text and are
enclosed in quotation marks while statements’ composed of more than 40 words are
set off as block quotations and are not enclosed in quotation marks.
Less than 40 words
Plagiarism is defined as “the practice of claiming credits for the words, ideas, and
concepts of others” (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010, p170).
Paraphrase
Entails using your own words and own style another author’s idea.
You may use grammatical structure different from that of the original text.
Paraphrasing requires understanding the original text, setting it inside for you to write
your own text, then going back to the original text to check if what you have written
brought out the meaning intended by the author.
Original text

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The activities scheduled on March 19, 2018 for the Strawberry

Festival celebration were called of because of the stormy weather.

Acceptable Paraphrase
Due to the inclement weather, the March 19, 2018 for the Strawberry
Festival were cancelled.
Summarizing
On the other hand, warrants the articulation of the important ideas of
the original text in a compendious form. Hence, a research article can simply be
summarized in less than ten sentences.
Using APA, 6TH edition format, paraphrases and summaries are
presented through in text citation.
Examples:
Siagto-Wakat (2017) surfaced that students undergo shimming and
shaming experiences.
OR
IN 2017, Siagto-Wakat surfaced that students undergo shimming
and shaming experiences
OR
Students undergo shimming and shaming experiences (Siagto-Wakat, 2018).
For citations with two or more authors, the word and is spelled out if
the names of the authors are not enclosed in parenthesis while ampersand is used if
the names of the authors are enclosed in parenthesis.
Examples:
Heckler, Forde, and Bryan (2013) found that plagiarism depends on
the kind of assignment given to the students.
In 2013, Heckler, Forde, and Bryan found that plagiarism depends
on the kind of assignment given to the students.
Plagiarism depends on the kind of assignment given to the students
(Heckler, Forde, & Bryan, 2013).

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