Making Writing More Academic

The language we speak with friends and the language we use in academic/formal writing may be quite different. Being aware of these two different types of language ("register") is a key to strong and sophisticated college writing.

 How do we learn how to make our writing more academic? 

A few easy tips are:

1) Avoid contractions (can't--- cannot)
2) Avoid the informal "YOU" pronoun (use a specific noun to indicate whom you are referring to)
3) Avoid informal expressions, such as "guy," "kid," "really," and "stuff."
4) Avoid starting sentences with FANBOYS such as BUT, AND, SO. Instead, use clear transition words to link ideas (however, thus, therefore, in addition)

For more suggestions, visit these helpful sites:

English Grammar page
University of Surrey (a helpful printable reference page!)
UNC Writing Center (information on word choices)


For practice with this skill, you might try these online activities:

Practice 1
Practice 2 (word choice)
Practice 3 (word choice)
Practice 4 (word choice)


Looking for more? Check out these more advanced articles on how to become a better writer!

Article 1 (Oxford Royale Academy: 13 Ways to Make Your Writing More Interesting to Read)
Article 2 (Austin, K.: 5 Reliable Ways to Make Academic Writing More Interesting)
Article 3 (Mackay, J.: 10 Tips for ESL/EFL Academic Writers)

Word Forms

Some of the most common mistakes for ESOL students are related to word forms.

These can include verb form mistakes, subject-verb agreement errors, or singular-plural form errors.
They also often include errors related to parts of speech.

How can we improve our skills in this area?

First, we can study what nouns, verbs and adjectives often look like (and what they do in a sentence).
For more information on this, and tips about common endings, visit this helpful page.
 
These activities ask you to identify which type of word would fit in each sentence (noun, verb adjective, etc.), or what part of speech a specific word is:

Practice 1 (Quia)
Practice 2 (a4esl)
Practice 3 (McGraw Hill)
Practice 4 (challenging but fun...and involves cartoon gorillas)
Practice 5 (Grammar Bytes)


We can also try these activities, which ask us to figure out which word form (Illustrate? Illustration? Illustrative?) fit best in each sentence:

• Practice 6 (a4esl) (* requires Adobe Flash player)
• Practice 7 (a4esl)
• Practice 8 (ESL Café)
• Practice 9 (about.com)
• A challenge! Practice 10