Academic English Essay Writing Examples

8/2/2019 Academic English Essay Writing Examples

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Academic English

Style Of Language orRegister

Continuity & Signposting

Referencing & Bibliographies

Characteristics Of Academic EnglishFormal - avoids slang or colloquial terms

Avoids short terms/ contractions

Objective - written in third person, not firstForegrounds the ideas/ arguments, not the writer

Arguments built on evidence, not unsupported assertions

Writing Academic EnglishIts obvious that theres loads of evidence to back up what McKinley

has said.

This is not how we write academically - thelanguage is informal, opinionated & lacksobjectivity. A better formulation would be.

It seems clear that the evidence supportingMcKinleys claims is both significant andsubstantial. See for example; Brown, 2002: 34;Davis & Holt 2000:27; Appleton 1999:104.

I agree with Roberts & Saunders, its not

good enough to rehash old (and very dodgy)arguments we need a fresh look at this.


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As stated by Roberts & Saunders(1999: 345) new research isneeded in this area: our currentknowledge is based on outdated& unsatisfactory hypotheses.

The company will need to spend loads of

money on a more happening image. The

stuff it sells at present only appeals to nerdy

anorak types and old people.

A major marketing makeover isnecessary if the company is toachieve a more dynamic andmodern image. Sales of the

current product range are toodependent on conservative

single males and the elderly.I think that the way Stevens & Moore did

their experiment was not very good. A lot of

people were freaked by the lab set up which,

in my opinion, must have affected the way

they answered the questions.

One criticism of Stevens &Moores experiment relates totheir methodology. The


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laboratory conditions created atense, possibly frighteningatmosphere, which may haveinfluenced their subjectsresponses to questions.

The Enron scandal is an example of how quickly acompany once held to be a beacon of corporate

America can become a financial basket case sinking

into a quagmire of corruption and lies. The resulting

chaos cries out for tighter financial regulation andraises questions about the over-cosy relationship

between the company and the Bush administration.The Enron scandal illustrates the transitory

nature of corporate respectability: thecompanys reputation, once one of the USAsbiggest and most respected corporations,was destroyed by the corrupt and criminal

activities of its top executives. The outcomestrengthens the case for tighter regulation:not just in terms of accountancy/ auditingprocedures, but also checks on therelationship between corporate America andthe government.

In my opinion the Hutton report was a complete

whitewash. I think Lord Huttons conclusions were

outrageously biased in favour of the government heseems to have gone out of his way to ignore the

evidence collected by the inquiry. A stitch up like this

always happens when the establishment investigates

itself.


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Many commentators have foundHuttons conclusions difficult toreconcile with the evidence before him.

He appears to have given thegovernment the benefit of the doubt onall of the key issues. There are severalprecedents for governmentcommissioned enquiries resulting insimilar outcomes.

Continuity & SignpostingYou write for a reader - youmust make clear when you;

are introducing new ideas

are reviewing ideas previously considered

are previewing material to be covered later in the text

are concluding or summarising

For example when introducing..

The essay will now consider/ evaluate etc

orThe discussion will now turn to.

or

There are two important concepts to be discussed here, namely

reliability, & validity.

Introductions: Give An idea of sequence

Firstly the essay will examine.secondly it will consider....&

finally it will evaluate.The essay is written in three sections, each of which considers a

different theoretical perspective. Namely these are..

Concluding

A review of the available evidence strongly suggests that.


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In conclusion, both models can contribute positively to research in

this domain. However Cobbs approach is more suited to small

scale studies, Bruner is more concerned with the wider

perspective.

References & BibliographiesThe reader can identify if the sources relied upon are being used correctly. It

also allows the reader to easily access your sources for their own follow-

up research

It allows the reader to evaluate your use of critical analysis and your writing

skills.

It avoids the possibility of plagiarism this occurs when you fail toacknowledge a source thus presenting someone elses ideas as your own.

References & BibliographiesThere are two main systems for referencing

Harvard method

Footnote or Cambridge method

Whichever method is adopted you need togive author(s) name(s)when you are using other peoples ideas/ data in

the text of your essay report (short ref.)

give full details of all references used at the end of the textHarvard Method: In The Essay

Cottrell (1999:35) states that Self-belief and the right conditions for

learning are both vital in developing as a learner.

This shows how to use a direct quote - note the speech marks. In

brackets we state the year the text was published & the page the

quote can be found on.

Harvard Method: In The Essay

An indirect quote (citation) is displayed as shown below.

Cottrell (1999:4) argues that the learning process can be hampered if

the student is stressed or bored.


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If the text we are referencing has more than two authors we dont

need to give all their names in the short ref, as shown below.

Currently, the most common theme of adult learning theory is thatto be effective, teaching must be learner centred and self directed

(French et al 1999:97).

Harvard Method: In The EssaySecondary citation

This occurs when the author of your main source refers to another

writers work. For example:

It is important that universities help students to adapt to the newlearning environment (Bett 1994, cited by French et al 1999:47).


It is generally better to go to the primary source, in this instance

Bett. however this may not always be possible.

You must always cite the source you have actually read. In this casetherefore, the reference would be French et al.


Internet Sources

Give the author & short web address in the essay.

Recent research by David Barnes, (bbc.co.uk) indicatesthat...

Footnote or Cambridge Method: In the Essay

Cottrell states that Self-belief and the right conditions for learning

are both vital in developing as a learner1.


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Currently, the most common theme of adult learning theory is that

to be effective, teaching must be learner centred and self directed

(French et al 1999:97)2.

Full References

Format for Harvard & Footnote/ Endnote conventions are the sameEXCEPT

Harvard references are listed alphabetically by author

Endnote references run in ascending numerical sequence

Full References

For A Book

Braverman, H. (1974) Labor and Monopoly Capital: thedegradation of work in the twentieth century, London,Monthly Review Press

Full References

If a book has more than one edition, make clear in thereferences which edition you have used

Handy, C. (1981, 2nd edn) Understanding Organizations,Harmondsworth, Penguin Books

Full References

For A Single Author's Chapter In An Edited Collection

Reeder, D. (1979) 'A recurring debate: education andindustry' in Bernbaum, G. (ed.) Schooling in Decline',London, Macmillan


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Full References

For Articles in Journals

Pollert, A. (1998) 'The flexible firm: fixation or fact', Work,

Employment and Society, 2(3) pp. 281-316

Full References

Online Journals/ Periodicals

Cohen, P. (1999) News: against the odds, it worked. New

Scientist, (12/07/99),http://www.newscientist .com/ ns /970712/ nmars .html (accessed01/08/00)

Full References

Government Publications

DES (1985) Better Schools, London, HMSO

Note that Official Publications are almost always publishedby government departments & authorship attributed to thatdepartment.

Full References

General Internet Sources

Muir, J (2006) Iraq Heading Towards Precipicehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4786660.stm

(Accessed 09/03/06)
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Academic English Essay Writing Examples