01/10/2015
The Student’s Academic
Literacy Tool
Developed by: Sue Becker; Holly Shahverdi; Nadine Spence & Luke Kennedy (October, 2014)
Table of Contents
Introduction
The 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
The Glossary
Section A: Grammatical accuracy
Section B: Correct use of language
Section C: Structure and development of text
Section D: Use of relevant source material
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
The Sections
Section A: Grammatical accuracy
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!
1.Correctly formed clause structure
There are a variety of different sentence types which comprise of different clause structures. It is important that you understand these.
2. Correctly formed tense choices
There 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 language
Your 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 articles
The word before the noun must be used correctly (a, and or the).
5. Correct use of conjuncts, adjuncts and disjuncts
Please refer to the glossary.
6. Correct use of punctuation
Full stops, commas, semi-colons etc. must be used in the correct place in your writing.
7. Avoidance of spelling errors
All 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 letters
Capital letters must be used at the beginning of sentences and for the names of places or people.
(See glossary for further examples)
Section B: Correct use of language
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.
What you need to know / Do you know it?1. Use of field specific vocabulary
Familiarise yourself with the terminology that is specific to your field of study and use it throughout your writing.
2. Appropriate level of formality and objectivity
It is important that a neutral and unbiased perspective is adopted.
3. Use of evaluative language
It 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 metaphors
Grammatical metaphors involve eliminating the action and making a sentence ‘noun heavy’.
5. Control of cohesive devices
In 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.
(See glossary for further examples)
Section C: Structure and development of text
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.
What you need to know / Do you know it?1. Introduction orientates to how the argument will be presented
Your 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 introduction
The points you make should work together to present your argument in the most logical way.
3. Text structure is appropriate to the title
You 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 argument
The 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 managed
Counter arguments must be incorporated and critically evaluated in your writing.
6. Information flow in the argument progresses in a logical order
You 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 title
The conclusion should be directly related to both the title and the rest of the text.
(See glossary for further examples)
Section D: Use of relevant source material
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!
What you need to know / Do you know it?1. Most relevant and up to date sources are used
In 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 avoided
All the information you reference should be taken from credible sources that have been peer-reviewed.
3. Information is interpreted correctly
You 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 plagiarism
You 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 list
You 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.
(See glossary for further examples)
The Glossary
Section A: Grammatical accuracy
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).3For 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
- 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.
- 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.’
- 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 psychologist
e.g. ‘Bandura conducted research.’
- 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.)
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
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
Section B: Correct use of language
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
- 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 2.1
e.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.
- 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…’
- 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
- 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’
- 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.