Insight into Academic Writing

МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И НАУКИ РФ 

ФЕДЕРАЛЬНОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ АВТОНОМНОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ  
ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ  
«НАЦИОНАЛЬНЫЙ ИССЛЕДОВАТЕЛЬСКИЙ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ «МИСиС» 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 

 

№ 2211 

Кафедра русского и иностранных языков и литературы

Е.В. Вардашкина 
П.В. Ермакова 
 

INSIGHT INTO ACADEMIC WRITING

 

Учебное пособие 

Рекомендовано редакционно-издательским советом 
Ассоциации преподавателей иностранных языков 
нелингвистических вузов в качестве учебного пособия 
для студентов всех специальностей и направлений 
подготовки высших технических учебных заведений 
по дисциплине «Практика иностранного языка» 

Москва  2013 

УДК 811.111 
 
В18 

Р е ц е н з е н т ы :  
д-р филол. наук, проф. В.В. Ощепкова (МГОУ); 
канд. филол. наук И.Э. Коротаева (МАИ) 

Вардашкина, Е.В. 
В18  
Insight into Academic Writing : учеб. пособие / Е.В. Вардашкина, 
П.В. Ермакова. – М. : Изд. Дом МИСиС, 2013. – 119 с. – Текст англ. 
ISBN 978-5-87623-728-6 

Целью пособия является формирование иноязычной коммуникативной 
компетенции через развитие навыков и умений в области академического 
письма на английском языке. 
Данное пособие предназначено для студентов-бакалавров технических 
специальностей и соответствует учебной программе по дисциплине 
«Практика иностранного языка» на среднем этапе обучения (уровень В1–В2 
по шкале Общеевропейских компетенций). 
УДК 811.111 

The main objective of the course book is to develop a foreign language 
communicative competence through the development of Academic Writing Skills 
in English. 
The course book is for technical bachelor students and corresponds to the study 
programme of “The Practice of the English Language” at the intermediate and upper-inter 
mediate level (B1–B2 level by the scale of Common European Framework). 
 

ISBN 978-5-87623-728-6 
© Е.В. Вардашкина, 
П.В. Ермакова, 2013 

CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................4 
WHAT IS ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES?................................5 
What is Academic Writing?....................................................................5 
Genres in Academic Writing ..................................................................6 
The Stages of the Writing Process..........................................................6 
THE STRUCTURE OF A PARAGRAPH...............................................10 
What is a Sentence?..............................................................................10 
What is a Paragraph? ............................................................................10 
Paragraph Unity....................................................................................16 
Paragraph Organization ........................................................................17 
Paragraph Coherence............................................................................18 
THE STRUCTURE OF AN ESSAY........................................................26 
Introductions and Conclusions .............................................................26 
Types of Essay Organization in General and Academic Writing.........33 
TYPES OF ACADEMIC ESSAYS FOR THE IELTS EXAM................45 
STANDARD TYPES OF ACADEMIC WRITING.................................61 
Comparison and Contrast .....................................................................61 
Cause and Effect...................................................................................70 
Description: Process .............................................................................76 
Interpretation of Data............................................................................81 
REFERENCE LIST..................................................................................97 
APPENDIX I. GRAMMAR REFERENCE .............................................98 
APPENDIX II. PUNCTUATION ..........................................................104 
APPENDIX III. LINKING WORDS AND PHRASES .........................109 
APPENDIX IV. ACADEMIC WORD LIST .........................................116 
 

INTRODUCTION 

The key concept of the course is to raise awareness of a foreign language 
communicative competence in the field of academic writing skills. 
The course book contains four sections, four appendixes and 
the reference list. 
The first section familiarizes students with such notions as “English for 
Academic Purposes”, “Academic Writing” in the English language. 
The second and the third sections examine in detail the structure 
of a paragraph and the structure of an essay. The forth section develops 
writing  skills in different types of essays (discursive essay, problem–
solution essay, comparison and contrast essay) and writing reports based 
on the description of graphs and charts. 
Each section includes a wide number of exercises supported 
by theoretical material. 
The Appendixes contain materials on grammar, punctuation, common 
linking words and phrases in Academic Writing and Academic Word List. 
This book can be used with a teacher in the classroom, or it can be 
used for self-study. 

The authors are grateful to the Head of the Department of Russian 
and Foreign Languages and Literature, NUST “MISiS”, L.V. Bondareva 
and their colleagues for useful advice and considerable assistance while 
working with the course book. 
Special thanks to the reviewers – V.V. Oschepkova, I.E. Korotaeva, the 
Assosiation of ESP teachers on behalf of A.K. Krupchenko, editor Tony Hull, 
an expert in EAP, for detailed recommendations and valuable guidance. 

WHAT IS ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES? 

English for Academic Purposes or EAP refers to the language that 
people need in order to undertake study or work in English–medium and 
higher education. The objective of an EAP course is mainly to help 
students raise awareness of different genres of essay writing, develop 
students’ critical thinking skills, and enlarge their academic vocabulary in 
order to make academic writing practice integral to their literacy 
development.  

What is Academic Writing? 

Writing is an important form of communication in life, but it is 
significantly more important in university*. Academic writing is 
particularly difficult to master in any language. There are academic genres 
such as essays, reports, reviews, abstracts, and research papers. However, 
it is important to distinguish classroom assignments done to master the art 
of academic writing (e.g. essays of various kinds, thesis statements, 
conclusions, data descriptions) from professional academic writing, such 
as case studies, research proposals and results for publication. 
Good writing in English is quite different from good writing in other 
languages. The difference is the way writers organize and express their 
ideas. Academic writing is direct: writers state their thoughts in a 
straightforward and forceful manner. The ideas are not presented 
delicately or subtly. English writing is linear: ideas flow in a straight line. 
For example, it is rather typical for essay writing to stay on one topic from 
beginning to end without making any “detours” or adding new ideas, even 
if they are interesting and somehow related to the main topic. However, 
if the subject is complex there may be possibilities for variations 
especially in the social sciences and humanities. 
In English academic writing, introductory paragraphs are expected 
to include a clear thesis statement and subsequent paragraphs should begin 
with topic sentences where each paragraph discusses a single idea. 
Information is typically given in chronological order or other explicitly 
defined sequential order. This particular feature makes English academic 
writing transparent in terms of generating and developing ideas. Academic 
writing should be presented in the appropriate style. The main features of 
academic writing are as follows: 

––––––––– 
* For further reading about EAP see Bailey, 2006; Chin, Reid, Wray, & Yamazaki, 2012; 
Hogue, 2003; Jordan, 2012; Pallant, 2012. 

• 
formal, impersonal or objective style (the use of impersonal 
pronouns, passive verb forms); 
• 
cautious language in reporting research and making claims; 
• 
precise vocabulary for particular academic topic areas; 
• 
complex sentences showing considerable variety in construction;  
• 
clear, well–planned organization (the use of connectors 
or transition al signals); 
• 
full forms. 

Genres in Academic Writing 

The table below shows how writing genres for Bachelor’s and Master’s 
degree differ. 

Bachelor’s Degree 
Master’s Degree 
– note taking 
– annotation  
– literature reviews  
– essays 
– reports 
– research proposals/abstracts 
– research discussions 
– brief research reports 

– research works 
– research reports 
– articles 
– thesis 
– dissertation 
– and all genres under Bachelor’s 
Degree 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Stages of the Writing Process 

The degree of preparation before doing a writing assignment 
influences how effective the final writing product will be. There are three 
stages in the writing process: pre–writing, writing and rewriting.  
Pre–writing can be thought of as the stage during which students plan 
and organize what will be written.  
Writing is the stage when students create and compose their ideas.  
Rewriting involves reshaping, editing and revising the ideas and 
grammar in the text. 

This course book is aimed at 
studying most common genres for 
Bachelor’s degree: different types 
of essays and reports summarizing 
statistics and explaining visuals. 

Writing is supposed to be a connected circle: each stage during the 
writing process is connected to the others.  
The writing process includes the following steps: 
1) creating (choosing a topic, generating ideas, free writing, listing, 
mapping, brainstorming); 
2) planning (answering the question: “What does the reader want (or 
need) to know? Who is the audience?); 
3) organizing and outlining (grouping all related ideas together; 
paragraph outline, essay outline); 
4) ordering (arranging material from general to specific or from 
abstract to concrete); 
5) writing (first draft, second draft, final draft); 
6) polishing (revising content, organization, coherence, format and 
editing sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice); 
7) peer interviewing (exchanging ideas with fellow students about the 
writing assignment). 

Practice time 
Ex. 1. Select the five most important points from the list below that 
you think will help to improve your academic writing. Discuss with 
your group. 
1. Think carefully about the topic. 
2. Write an outline using appropriate headings and sub–headings. 
3. Organize the writing carefully: introduction, main body, and conclusion. 
4. Ensure that you use relevant material and ideas. 
5. Write precisely: clearly, accurately and explicitly. 
6. Use correct language: grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. 
7. Write legibly: handwriting should be easy to read. 
8. Write in an academic style: impersonally, without using colloquial 
and emotive language. 
9. Adopt appropriate attitudes: be rational, critical, honest and objective. 
10. Carefully paragraph the writing. 
11. Include variety in the writing: avoid too much repetition. 
12. Ensure that the opening paragraph is not too long and that it creates 
a good impression. 
13. Pay as much attention to the conclusion as to the introduction. 
14. Check details carefully, both of content and of language. 
15. Ensure that ideas are arranged and connected logically. 

Ex. 2. It is very important to understand the meaning of key words 
in tasks of academic writing. Key words include ‘instruction’ verbs 
which indicate how the task should be done. Match the following 
verbs to their definitions. 

1. account for/of 
____ a) give an explanation of something 
in detail, e.g., how it works 

2. analyze 
____ b) give an explanation of the meaning 
of a term 

3. apply to 
____ c) sum up something clearly 

4. comment on 
____ d) provide the main ideas 

5. compare 
____ e) detail all the different aspects of an 
issue, including reasons and evidence 

6. contrast 
____ f) examine to find out what something 
consists of 

7. define 
____ g) describe how two or more things are 
similar 

8. describe 
____ h) detail strengths and weaknesses, 
advantages and disadvantages 

9. discuss 
____ i) give reasons for something 

10. explain 
____ j) demonstrate that something is true 

11. evaluate 
____ k) give your views on something 

12. identify 
____ l) describe how two or more things are 
different 

13. illustrate 
____ m) use examples to back up a statement 
or an argument 

14. outline 
____ n) name and discuss in detail  

15. prove 
____ o) describe a process clearly 

16. summarize 
____ p) use examples for clarification 

17. support 
____ q) put something to use, show how it can 
be used in a particular situation 

Ex. 3. Read the sentences given below and distinguish between 
General and Academic contexts. Decide which of the words in italics 
would be more suitable for an academic paper. 
1. The government has made considerable/good progress in solving 
environmental problems. 
2. We got/obtained encouraging results. 
3. The results of numerous/a lot of different projects have been pretty 
good/encouraging. 
4. The issue was raised/brought up during the investigation. 

5. A loss of jobs is one of the things /consequences that will happen if 
the process is automated. 
6. Expert Systems can assist/ help out the user in the diagnosis of problems. 
7. Building a nuclear power plant will not get rid of/eliminate the 
energy problem completely. 
8. Researchers have been investigating/looking into this problem 
for 15 years now. 
9. The emission levels have been going up and down/fluctuating. 
10. The reaction of the officials was slightly/sort of negative. 
11. Germany’s major automakers are planning to get together/meet 
on the research needed for more fuel efficient cars. 
12. Plans are being made to invent/come up with a database containing 
detailed environmental information for the region. 
13. Subtle changes in the Earth’s crust were picked up/produced 
by these new devices. 
14. The scientists need to conduct/carry out more research in this field. 

Ex. 4. Make the following sentences formal and impersonal using 
passive constructions. 
1. Everybody knows that the Internet is the information channel of the 
future. (It is ...). 
2. They proved that direct mailing gets a less than 1 % response rate. (It ...). 
3. They are suggesting that so–called smart drugs can increase 
intelligence. (It ...). 
4. Almost everyone agrees that the number of new cases of AIDS 
is falling. (It ...). 
5. A lot of us believe that Thailand and Malaysia will continue 
to outgrow Taiwan. (It is widely ...). 

Ex. 5. Classify the adjectives in the box by writing them into 
the correct column. Add four more words to each column. Then 
discuss with a partner which words can be used to describe people, 
objects, ideas or plans. 

impractical 
visionary 
obsolete 
challenging 

efficient 
impervious 
overwhelming 
vulnerable 

clever 
faulty 
ambitious 
stubborn 

innovative 
misguided 
unpopular 
remarkable 

 
Positive meaning 
Negative meaning 

THE STRUCTURE OF A PARAGRAPH 

What is a Sentence? 

A sentence in English needs two elements: a subject and a predicate. 
The subject is a person, a thing or an idea. It is generally expressed by a noun, 
noun phrase or a pronoun. In a statement, it usually comes before the verb. 
The predicate tells what the subject does. It is expressed by the verb. 

What is a Paragraph? 

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that develops one main 
idea. Every sentence in a strong paragraph is about one topic. 
A paragraph can give information, tell an opinion, explain something, 
or even tell a short story. The sentences are arranged logically, so the 
reader can easily understand the writer’s idea. The structure of 
a paragraph is as follows: 
1) introduction (the subject or topic, a statement of the problem, 
comments on the way it is to be treated); 
2) development (presentation, analysis and discussion, including 
comments on advantages and disadvantages (main idea(s) + 
examples, details); 
3) conclusion (a summary of the main points, author’s own views, 
opinions and decisions). 
A paragraph is made up of three components:  
the topic sentence; 
the supporting sentences (body); 
the concluding sentence (not all paragraphs have a concluding sentence). 
The topic sentence, which is usually presented in the first 
sentence, directly tells the reader the main or central idea of a 
paragraph. It is the most general sentence of the paragraph. The other 
sentences (the main part) of the paragraph, called supporting 
sentences, give more information about the topic, and provide 
examples, statistics, and quotations as specific supporting details. 
Supporting sentences explain or prove the topic sentence.  
 
 
 

The concluding sentence closes the paragraph, and does not state 
a completely new idea. It can restate the topic sentence with the help 
of paraphrasing, summarize the main idea of the paragraph, make a prediction 
or a suggestion about the topic, or give advice or a final comment about the topic.  

                   
 
All of the sentences in one paragraph explain the writer’s main idea (most 
important idea) about the topic. When writing a paragraph the writer should 
keep the topic in mind and not include sentences that are irrelevant (not directly 
related), which could confuse the reader. When the writer wants to write about 
a new idea, he should begin a new paragraph. 

The rules of proper paragraph formatting. 
• 
Indent the first word of each paragraph. 
• 
Leave margins (space on both sides of the text). 
• 
Begin each sentence with a capital letter. 
• 
End each sentence with a full stop/period (.), question mark (?), 
or exclamation point (!). 
• 
Do not start each new sentence on a new line. 

(!) Be aware of the difference between facts 

and opinions used for support.

Facts are objective statements of truth. 

Opinions are subjective statements based on a 

person’s beliefs or feelings. 

(!) Keep in mind that supporting sentences are 
the “meat” of a paragraph. Make your 
supporting sentences as specific and detailed 
as possible; they make the paragraph rich and 
interesting. Make sure that your support is 
appropriate and relevant.

(!) Paragraphs that are part of longer 
pieces of writing don’t always need 

concluding sentences. 
(!) If an assignment is to write a long 
essay, a thesis statement appearing in 
the introductory paragraph or 
paragraphs should state the central 
idea of the essay.