Introduction · Web viewSection B: Correct use of language14 Section C: Structure and development of text17 Section D: Use of relevant source material19 Introduction The longer my

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The Student’s Academic Literacy Tool

Developed by: Sue Becker; Holly Shahverdi; Nadine Spence & Luke Kennedy (October, 2014)

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Table of Contents

Introduction.......................................................................................3

The Sections......................................................................................4Section A: Grammatical accuracy.........................................................................5

Section B: Correct use of language.......................................................................6

Section C: Structure and development of text.......................................................7

Section D: Use of relevant source material...........................................................8

The Glossary.....................................................................................9Section A: Grammatical accuracy.......................................................................10

Section B: Correct use of language.....................................................................14

Section C: Structure and development of text.....................................................17

Section D: Use of relevant source material.........................................................19

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Introduction

The longer my piece of writing, the better it will look!

You can only get high grades if you are a genius.

Maybe if I use fancy words in my essay I will get a higher mark?

These are but a few common misconceptions among students going on to study

at University. A high standard of academic writing is not based on any of the

above statements, so you don’t need to worry! In fact, everything you need to

know to improve your writing and raise your grades can be found right here in

this booklet!

The SALT has been constructed to help you to attain the standard of writing

expected of you at University. We have outlined the key stylistic features that you

need to be aware of to improve your writing. To make it even easier, we have

organised these features into four sections:

Section A: Grammatical accuracy

Section B: Correct use of language

Section C: Structure and development of text

Section D: Use of relevant source material

If you are unsure of any term in a section, we have also provided a glossary

section (the blue bit) which includes further explanations and examples for you to

help you understand and learn each of the criteria. Once you feel like you

understand them, you can tick them off the checklist.

We hope you find this tool useful!#TeamSALT

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The Sections

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What is grammatical accuracy anyway? Well, it is actually more important than you may think. Let’s take the following statements as an example: “Let’s eat Grandpa!’ and “Let’s eat, Grandpa!” It’s fair to say that without that added comma, it would not have ended very well for poor Grandpa!

What you need to know Do you know it?

1.Correctly formed clause structureThere are a variety of different sentence types which comprise of different clause structures. It is important that you understand these.

2. Correctly formed tense choicesThere are a variety of tenses you must be aware of and it is important that you are using the most appropriate tense for your assignment.

3. Understanding of passive and active languageYour work must demonstrate an understanding that the focus of a sentence is interchangeable. The focus may be on the action or the object.

4. Correct use of articlesThe word before the noun must be used correctly (a, and or the).

5. Correct use of conjuncts, adjuncts and disjunctsPlease refer to the glossary.

6. Correct use of punctuationFull stops, commas, semi-colons etc. must be used in the correct place in your writing.

7. Avoidance of spelling errorsAll of your work must be spell checked. A word that you are unsure how to spell should be looked up in a dictionary for the correct spelling. It is also useful to set your spell checker to your country (e.g. English rather than American).

8. Appropriate use of capital lettersCapital letters must be used at the beginning of sentences and for the names of places or people.

(See glossary for further examples)

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You will always get more points for writing in the correct language, but that’s not

quite what we are getting at here! This section is all about using words correctly

to ensure that your writing makes sense.


1. Use of field specific vocabularyFamiliarise yourself with the terminology that is specific to your field of study and use it throughout your writing.

2. Appropriate level of formality and objectivityIt is important that a neutral and unbiased perspective is adopted.

3. Use of evaluative languageIt is vital to demonstrate that you are able to consider all sides of an argument in your writing. You can do this by discussing the pros and cons of the points you make throughout your writing.

4. Understanding of grammatical metaphorsGrammatical metaphors involve eliminating the action and making a sentence ‘noun heavy’.

5. Control of cohesive devicesIn order to make sure your writing is concise, repetition of similar phrases within a sentence or paragraph should be avoided and reference chains should be used.

6. Correct subject-verb agreement Whilst it is important that you use a wide range of vocabulary in your writing, you must understand the meaning of the words you are using so that your sentences make logical sense.


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This section is about the way you present your ideas and arguments in your

writing. You would never start an argument with something that goes against the

point you are trying to make, but equally, it is important to show that you are

unbiased and that you can appreciate both sides of an argument.


1. Introduction orientates to how the argument will be presentedYour opening paragraph must show awareness of how to compose a structured answer that addresses the question or title of your assignment.

2. Claims build up the argument presented in the introductionThe points you make should work together to present your argument in the most logical way.

3. Text structure is appropriate to the titleYou should be aware of which structure is appropriate for you work and adjust your writing style accordingly (e.g. essay or report).

4. Beginnings of paragraphs relate to the argumentThe first sentence of each paragraph you write should relate to the last sentence of the preceding paragraph.

5. Conflicting arguments are presented, addressed and effectively managedCounter arguments must be incorporated and critically evaluated in your writing.

6. Information flow in the argument progresses in a logical orderYou must plan the presentation of your main points so that they make the most sense to the reader.

7. Conclusion follows from argument and relates to the titleThe conclusion should be directly related to both the title and the rest of the text.


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So imagine that you have learned everything in the handbook so far, produced a

glowing essay and then referenced ‘Wikipedia’. You can wave goodbye to those

high grades. Did you know that websites like Wikipedia can be modified by

anyone? That’s right; you could be quoting absolute nonsense!


1. Most relevant and up to date sources are usedIn order for your work to be credible, you must use the most recent source material in the area you are writing about to build your main points.

2. Non-academic source material is avoidedAll the information you reference should be taken from credible sources that have been peer-reviewed.

3. Information is interpreted correctlyYou should reference only the most relevant information from source material and use it appropriately within your writing to support your claims.

4. Text is free from plagiarismYou must demonstrate originality within your writing rather than using direct quotes. Try to interpret source material in your own way.

5. Accurate referencing in text, bibliography or reference listYou must produce correct references for all of your source material and these should be presented in accordance with your course’s guidelines and referencing style.


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The Glossary

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Extract 1:

It has been argued that many psychics use cold reading to make their claims.1 Cold reading is a method employed by psychics whereby they are able to convince the sitter they can read their mind when in reality they are making their claims based on the sitter’s body language2, (Hyman, 2007). Psychics can make a vague and highly general claim and sitters will ask ‘are you sure’ or ‘I can take everything but this’, (Hyman, 2007).3 For this reason, more people should consider whether the psychic should have room for mistakes if they are claiming that the spirit is on the stage talking to them.4 Equally, it may be useful to consider that as noted in the introduction, if these interactions are televised they may appear even more credible as the psychic’s mistakes can be cut out. Fortunately5, this kind of research can help people to approach these situations with less of an open mind.6

1. Correctly formed clause structures

A clause is a group of words that form either full sentences or part of a sentence. All sentences contain a main clause.

A simple sentence is one that consists of a single clause Refer to extract 1.1

Compound sentences are made up of two or more main clauses joined together using conjunctions, (joining words). Refer to extract 1.2

Complex sentences are made up of a main clause and a subordinate clause. A subordinate clause adds extra information to the main clause but will not make sense alone. Refer to extract 1.5

Your work should consist of a variety of sentence structures.

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2. Correctly formed tense choice

There are three main tenses, past present and future. Tenses portray the sequence of events; they give the text chronological order and aid narrative progression. An awareness of which tense to use at the correct time is essential to a good academic writing style.

- The present tense: This is when the action is taking place. The present tense is usually appropriate in an essay.e.g. ‘Ruqaiya argues.’‘

- The past tense: This is when the action has taken place in the past. This tense is most appropriate when discussing previous research.e.g. ‘Ruqaiya argued.’

- The future tense: This is when the action will take place in the future. e.g. ‘Ruqaiya will conduct research’

- The conditional tense: This is when the action is not definite but may take place. It is most often used in introduction and conclusion sections. e.g. ‘Ruqaiya may argue.’

3. Correctly formed passives

Passive language places focus upon the receiver of action. In academic writing as in the example below, the focus is the object (the research) rather than the agent of the action (Bandura). e.g: ‘Research conducted by Bandura.’

Active language is also important in improving academic writing style. This is where the focus is placed upon the person carrying out the action, this construction may be more appropriate when evaluating the contribution of a particular psychologiste.g. ‘Bandura conducted research.’

4. Correct use of articles

In order to improve academic writing style, it is important to understand how to use articles correctly. There are three articles that can be used, these are; the, an, and a. These are divided into two types of articles; the definite (the) and the indefinite (a, and an.)

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The definite article is used to indicate something specific whilst the indefinite articles are used to indicate non-specific things. The following examples show how articles can be used to convey different meanings. Refer to extract 1.3

This sentence indicates that you can sit at any table However, if it is necessary to make the sentence more specific, it may be useful to use a different article. Refer to extract 1.4

When using ‘an’ and ‘a’ it is important to determine the first sound of the next word. If the sound the word will create is a vowel then ‘an’ is used. Refer to extract 1.6

5. Correct use of conjuncts, adjuncts and disjuncts

In order to make academic writing flow it is essential that an understanding of the following three criterions are understood. Below are examples and explanations of each:

Conjunct: A conjunct is a word used in a sentence that is not related to the proposition (the meaning of the sentence) but still adds to the sentence; usually by relating what is said in one sentence to another, i.e. Moreover, Furthermore etc. Refer to extract 1.3

Adjunct: An adjunct modifies the verb to display factors such as time, manner, place frequency and/or degree of that particular verb in the sentence i.e. highly, rarely etc. Refer to extract 1.3

Disjunct: Disjuncts relate to expressing the writers’ attitude or position on the subject in that particular sentence i.e. unfortunately, etc. Refer to extract 1.6

6. Punctuation is generally correct

In order to achieve a high standard of academic writing, it is essential that punctuation is used correctly throughout a piece of work.

Some key punctuation marks to remember are:- Colons (:). Colons are to be used before doing a bullet pointed lists. - Semi colons (;). Semi colons are to be used when doing lists within the text. - Ellipsis (…). Ellipses are used in academic writing when missing out part of a quote.

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- Quotation marks (‘) Quotation marks need to be used correctly within their placement of the text. It is essential to remember how they affect the placement of other punctuation. A full stop would always be placed before the end of the quotation mark. Refer to extract 1.

7. Spelling is generally correct

Make sure that all work is spelt correctly, if using word processing then a spell check will be available to help with this. For instances when you do not have access to a spell check facility then certain spelling rules can be learnt in order to improve your spelling.

Spelling is important as it can sometimes affect the meaning of the word e.g. there, their and they’re.

You must ensure that your spell checker is set to your language e.g. English (UK)

8. Capitals are used appropriately

It is important in academic writing to have the correct use of capitals letters. A full stop must always be followed by a capital letter. Capital letters must also be used within sentences when naming a person or place. Refer to extract 1.

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Extract 2:

There are three main psychological theories that examine humour, its comic nature and its quantifiable elements, insofar to say each theory proposes a different hypothesis to why we laugh. Most prevalent amongst these is the incongruity theory (Berger, 1994; Clark, 1970; Curco, 1996; Meyer, 2000 & Rutter, 1997).1

Schopenhauer’s interpretation of incongruity (2010) furthers Kant (2007) and is the most widely accepted theoretical basis for contemporary research on humour.2 Perhaps most important to denote in this theory is how recognition and understanding multiple sets of scripts and roles contribute to the presentation of the joke and the falseness of the narrative congruence3, thus leading to the difference in expectation and the surprise effect (Shurcliff, 1968). This highlights a link that shows how a cognitive understanding of semantics (Giora, 1991; Grice 1975) can, in this sense lead to a better understanding of humour as a concept. Moreover, it could be suggested that the form of incongruence theory shares commonalities with the form of a joke, wherein there is a setup, expectation and twist; advocating evidence for why incongruence is the most popular humour theory.4

1. Field specific vocabulary

Using the correct vocabulary is essential in academic writing. When writing persuasive pieces it is important to use persuasive language. Yet in research reports more scientific and academic language will be needed. Is the vocabulary used the correct choice for the task at hand? It will need to include abstract wording and wording specific for the field of study.

Doing academic reading around the topic area will help to highlight some specific technical terms within the field. Refer to extract 2.1e.g. In biology when talking about the structure of the body, you would not call it the structure of the body but would refer to it as the anatomy of the body.

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2. Appropriate level of formality and objectivity

In academic writing it is important to get the correct balance of how formal and objective the work needs to be. To try to improve the level of academic writing in this area, make sure the piece is written in the third person. e.g. The study found.. the author found… etc. It is important to give a balanced view, do not build the argument up in favour of a personal opinion but show all opinions that could be had of the topic.Refer to extract 2.4 ‘Moreover, it could be suggested that…’

3. Appropriate use of modality, metaphors and other evaluative language

Metaphor is the practice of using one concept which is familiar to explain another process or concept which may be new or less familiar. For example, ‘mental health’ or ‘intellectual level’.

Modality indicates the degree of certainty in any claim i.e. research suggests that mood may be affected by cortisol level’ as opposed to ‘according to research, mood is affected by cortisol level, Refer to extract 2.2

4. Appropriate use of grammatical metaphor

Grammatical metaphor is a key feature of scientific and technical writing. Using grammatical metaphors ‘processes or actions’ become ‘things or concepts’ and human actions are made invisible to the reader i.e. ‘the process of designing research’ becomes ‘research design’The writing also becomes more ‘noun heavy’ which is a typical feature of academic style writing

Refer to extract 2 3 ‘the falseness of the narrative congruence’

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5. Control of cohesive devices

Reference chains allow for easier reading. They follow through your text so you know what is being discussed.For example, if the person in question is named ‘Becker’, once they have been named then the reader is already aware of who is being talked about so this can follow through the text in the upcoming sentences.

e.g. ‘Becker proposed a theory of humour in 1949. Kilinc et al further developed this theory.

Due to the reference chain it was not necessary to state ‘Becker proposed a theory of humour in 1949. Becker’s theory of humour was further developed by Kilinc et al.’

6. Correct subject-verb agreement

Subject-verb agreement is using the correct verb in a sentence. You might use tools such as a thesaurus or the synonym checker in an attempt to improve your vocabulary. These tools are not always effective if you do not understand the correct meaning of the suggested verbs. Using the incorrect verb leads to a lack of subject-verb agreement.

With reference to extract 1.5, the phrase ‘cut out’ makes sense, whereas ‘ripped out’ would not have been appropriate in this text though the words have a similar meaning.

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1. Introduction engages with the title and orientates to how the argument will be presented

Introductions are necessary to grab the reader’s attention and are vital for letting them know what is going to come in the essay. They should give the context and background of the topic, showing a clear purpose for the essay. They need to include an outline of the main things that you are going to cover.

2. Claims build up the argument presented in the introduction

The argument needs to be correctly structured with relevant claims as this will help to strengthen the piece of writing. Normally, an argument will begin with general claims surrounding the topic area. This allows the reader to see the background and more general research and how it has been refined into the point being made. Once the general claims have provided a holistic background the writer can then begin to further develop the claims to produce a more complex argument. Academic writing generally becomes more refined as it develops and this is done through the correct use of claims.

3. Text structure is appropriate to the title

The text structure is dependent upon the task given. It is important that the nature of the task is fully understood so that the appropriate structure can be used. For example, the structure of an essay is very different to that of a research report.

4. Beginnings of paragraphs and sentences orientate to the argument and title

One way of ensuring that the beginnings of paragraphs and sentences orientate to the argument is to read through the first and last sentence of each paragraph and ensure that each paragraph links together to produce a well-structured argument. This is known as signposting.

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5. Conflicting arguments are presented, addressed and effectively managed

It is important to show both sides of the argument as opposing arguments are used to create discussion within the text. If studies have shown opposite findings to the original argument, these need to be included and addressed. They can be effectively managed by explaining why the results may have been different. For example, some studies may only use participants from a particular area and this may be the reason the study didn’t have the expected results. It can be stated that although this study had different findings to the other research quoted, this could be due to the sample and not because of the phenomena being researched.

6. Information flow in the argument progresses in a logical order

Essay which flow logically are much easier to read than essays that jump from topic to topic. Ordering paragraphs with ideas that link to each other can counteract this from happening. If there are 4 main points to write about then order them in a way that will allow them to be linked. Use the opening and closing sentences of paragraphs to link previous points to the points that are about to be made. Write more generally in these sentences and this will allow them to be linked to previous and following paragraphs.

7. Statement of conclusion follows from argument and relates to title

A conclusion is needed in order to remind the reader of all the main points that have been covered. This is an important summary of all that has been included in the writing. It is important for this not just to relate to what has been discussed in the work but also to relate this previous content back to the title. This allows the reader to know what conclusion or answer has been reached to address the title. Conclusions are also important for stating what can be considered for future research.

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1. Most relevant and up to date research is included

To ensure the literature is relevant, it must easily relate to the topic area. It is advisable when reading research papers and books to check that the literature is up to date. This can be done by looking at when the literature was published. The published date can usually be found on the inside cover of a book or on the first page of a journal. If you are still unsure you can find the literature online.

2. Non peer-reviewed and non-academic source material is avoided

It is imperative that the work you submit contains only peer-reviewed articles. If work has been peer-reviewed it is generally a much more reliable and trustworthy source. To ensure your source material is peer-reviewed, when using search engines make sure the ‘peer reviewed’ box is ticked.

Non-academic information can be written by anyone meaning it is not always accurate. A commonly used non-academic source is ‘Wikipedia’. This website allows anyone with internet access to manipulate the information. Following the importance of using peer-reviewed information, it is essential that source material is also academic as this increases its accuracy and improves the quality of academic writing.

3. Information from course material and any other research is interpreted correctly

In order to attain the highest standard of academic writing, it is essential that you are able to identify and correctly transfer only the most relevant pieces of information from a source into their writing. An example of this would be the ability to use metaphor correctly.

4. Text is free from plagiarism

When constructing a piece of writing it is important that your work is original and any other information used is credited. This is ensured through correct referencing.

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5. Accurate referencing in text, bibliography or reference list

Different schools of study require different referencing styles so it is important to see what style of referencing is appropriate for the assignment that you have been given. Referencing guides are available that will show in detail how to reference in text and in the reference list. It is important to get these correct as well as the format of the text etc.

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Documents

Introduction · Web viewSection B: Correct use of language14 Section C: Structure and development of text17 Section D: Use of relevant source material19 Introduction The longer my