Writing: Academic Integrity & Research Skills (C2) - Lesson 3: Using Appropriate Academic Vocabulary and Objective Tone
Tip: Click on many text parts to hear them read aloud! (Requires browser support for speech).
Salutations, C2 Scholars! 👋
Beyond correct grammar and structure, academic writing at the C2 level demands a sophisticated command of academic style. This primarily involves using appropriate academic vocabulary with precision and maintaining an objective tone when presenting factual information and arguments.
Mastering these elements is crucial for producing credible, professional, and impactful academic texts.
In this lesson, you will:
- Define academic style and its key characteristics.
- Learn strategies for selecting precise and formal academic vocabulary, including the use of nominalization and cautious language (hedging).
- Understand techniques for maintaining an objective tone, such as using third-person perspective, avoiding emotive language, and strategically employing passive voice.
- Practice identifying and applying these features of academic style.
What is Academic Style?
Academic style refers to the specific conventions of language, tone, and structure expected in scholarly and research-based writing. It aims to communicate complex ideas and findings with clarity, precision, objectivity, and credibility.
Key Characteristics of Academic Style (C2 Level):
- Formality: Avoids colloquialisms, slang, contractions (usually), and overly casual phrasing.
- Objectivity: Focuses on facts, evidence, and logical reasoning rather than personal emotions or unsupported opinions. Often uses an impersonal perspective.
- Precision: Employs exact and specific vocabulary; avoids vague or ambiguous language.
- Clarity: Ideas are presented in a clear, logical, and easy-to-follow manner, despite potential complexity.
- Conciseness: Expresses ideas efficiently without unnecessary wordiness or redundancy.
- Caution/Hedging: Claims are often qualified or presented with a degree of caution, reflecting the nuanced nature of academic knowledge (e.g., "it may suggest," "it appears that," "this could indicate").
- Evidence-Based: Arguments and assertions are supported by credible evidence and proper citation.
- Analytical & Critical: Goes beyond mere description to analyze, interpret, evaluate, and synthesize information.
Using Appropriate Academic Vocabulary
Choosing the right words is crucial for an academic style.
1. Precision & Specificity:
Select words that convey your exact meaning. Avoid general terms when a more specific one is available.
Instead of: "The experiment had good results."
Consider: "The experiment yielded significant/promising/conclusive results."
2. Formality:
Opt for more formal vocabulary over informal equivalents.
- Look into → Examine / Investigate
- Find out → Ascertain / Determine
- A lot of → Numerous / A considerable amount of
- Get better → Improve / Enhance
3. Objectivity in Word Choice:
Avoid words that are overly emotional, biased, or express strong personal opinions unless you are specifically analyzing such language or in certain humanities disciplines where personal reflection is valued.
Instead of: "The terrible consequences of this policy are obvious."
Consider: "The policy has several adverse consequences, including..."
4. Technical Terminology:
Use field-specific jargon accurately and appropriately for your intended academic audience. If the audience is broader, define key technical terms upon first use.
5. Nominalization:
Academic writing often uses nominalization – changing verbs or adjectives into nouns. This can create a more abstract, formal, and concise style.
Verb: "They analyzed the data." → Nominalized: "Their analysis of the data showed..."
Adjective: "The process is complex." → Nominalized: "The complexity of the process..."
However, overuse of nominalization can make writing dense and difficult, so use it judiciously.
6. Cautious Language (Hedging):
Academic claims are often presented with caution, reflecting the provisional nature of knowledge. Hedging language softens claims and acknowledges limitations.
Examples of Hedges: may, might, could, appears to, seems to, suggests, indicates, it is possible that, arguably, to some extent, tends to, often, generally.
Strong claim: "Social media causes anxiety in teenagers."
Hedged claim: "Excessive use of social media may contribute to increased anxiety levels in some teenagers."
Maintaining an Objective Tone
Objectivity is a key characteristic of much academic writing, especially in sciences and social sciences. It means presenting information and arguments in a neutral, unbiased, and impartial way.
Techniques for an Objective Tone:
-
Focus on the Information, Not the Writer:
- Generally use the third-person perspective (he, she, it, they, the researchers, this study).
- Avoid extensive use of "I," "we," "my," "our" (unless conventional in your specific discipline or for reflective pieces). Phrases like "I think," "I believe," "I feel" are usually avoided when presenting factual findings or established theories.
- Avoid Emotive or Biased Language: Steer clear of words that express strong personal feelings, judgments, or that could be seen as overly positive or negative without justification.
-
Use Passive Voice Strategically: The passive voice can create a more impersonal and objective tone by focusing on the action or result rather than the agent (the doer).
Active: "We conducted the experiment in a controlled environment."
Passive (more objective): "The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment."
Caution: Overuse of passive voice can make writing wordy and indirect. Use it purposefully. -
Use Impersonal Constructions:
Examples: "It can be argued that...", "It is evident from the data that...", "There is evidence to suggest...", "The findings indicate..." - Attribute Opinions and Findings Clearly: When presenting ideas or data from other sources, always make it clear who the original author or source is using signal phrases and citations. This separates their findings/opinions from generally accepted facts or your own analysis.
Practice Academic Style!
Activity 1: Formal/Academic Vocabulary Choice
For each sentence, choose the more formal/academic word or phrase from the options to replace the underlined informal one.
Activity 2: Rewrite for Objectivity and Formality
The following sentence is too informal and subjective. Rewrite it to adopt a more objective tone and formal academic style. You may need to slightly rephrase the core idea to focus on observable aspects.
✨ Mastering Academic Style: Key Reminders ✨
- Audience & Purpose Drive Style: Always consider who you are writing for and what you aim to achieve.
- Precision is Paramount: Choose words that convey your exact meaning. Avoid ambiguity.
- Objectivity Builds Credibility: Focus on evidence and logical reasoning; minimize personal bias in factual presentations.
- Formality Reflects Seriousness: Adhere to the conventions of academic discourse, including avoiding overly casual language and contractions.
- Hedging Shows Nuance: Use cautious language to qualify claims appropriately, reflecting the complexities of academic knowledge.
- Read Academic Texts Critically: Pay attention to the vocabulary, sentence structures, and tone used by published scholars in your field.
Communicating with Scholarly Precision! 🎉
Developing a strong command of academic vocabulary and an objective tone is essential for producing high-quality, credible, and impactful writing at the C2 level and beyond. It allows you to participate effectively in academic and professional conversations.