conventions of academic writing

conventions of academic writing

The Importance of Conventions in Academic Writing

1. Introduction

The essay shows that the conventions and the grammar get more complex the higher the education level the student is, and furthermore, there are different conventions for different subjects. This is where students can become confused. The essay has proven that conventions are difficult for even native English speakers, and it is therefore a disadvantage for ESL students. This is backed up with the studies mentioned in the essay. It has also shown that there are disadvantages for dyslexic students, with grammar and spelling being a common challenge for them. It has then gone on to show how the teaching of conventions needs to improve and resources need to be made available for these students.

The main purpose of academic writing is to inform and not entertain. This is an important concept for students to understand. An essay is not written for the person reading it but for the person who has written it. This is why essays need to be concise and to the point. It also needs to inform the tutor that the student has understood the question at hand. Academic writing answers a question or task. It has a thesis. So through the establishment of conventions, students are able to self-criticize their work and improve on the understanding of what they are required to do to achieve the best results in their writing.

As is evident through this essay, convention in academic writing is essential. Academic writing is structured, formal, and objective. It is accomplished by informed and intelligent analysis. Students are required to use their reading and investigative skills and their insight into the subject to construct an effective piece of work. The use of convention is what makes academic writing different from other styles of writing. It is more structured, with a serious purpose, and it is backed up with evidence and critical thinking.

2. The Role of Conventions in Academic Writing

Software has now been developed to check your use of conventions and suggest a more appropriate use of tools, for instance, the grammar check function in Microsoft Word. However, there is a danger that such tools may impede the learning process of the writer. The best way to improve your use of conventions is to be an avid reader, to pay close attention to the conventions being used in the writing of others, and to practice extensively with guidance from a knowledgeable source. With enough exposure and practice, the use of conventions will become second nature and enable the writer to focus more on their message and less on how to convey it.

A non-native speaker of English might not have the wide array of tools needed to convey exactly what they are thinking in writing and therefore may not be able to communicate their message. At the opposite end, a native speaker of English may speak and write very fluently but may have failed to learn a second set of tools to transfer more complex or abstract ideas into writing, e.g., a poet using the language of science to write a poem about scientific theory.

Unfortunately, the use of conventions is not as straightforward as clipping a particular tool from a tool belt and using it. Different situations require different tools. If you were setting out to build a house, you wouldn’t just use the same tool for everything you did. The carpenter uses the hammer for framing, the saw for cutting, and the drill for putting holes in things. Similarly, the writer must decide what conventions are best to use for what they are trying to achieve. The key to success is having a wide array of tools and knowing how to use them. If you try to make do with limited tools, you may find that your end product is substandard.

Conventions are the explicit or unspoken rules that govern the way we combine words, phrases, and clauses to create well-formed sentences. The appropriate use of conventions enables your readers to interpret your writing easily. It is important to think of conventions as a set of tools, not rules. You can use the tools in any way that best helps the communication of your message. How the reader interprets your writing largely depends on the conventions you choose to use. Choose the right convention, and your message gets through clearly. Use the wrong conventions, and your message becomes obscured.

3. Common Conventions in Academic Writing

Although there is no standard way of writing academic essays, there are certain traditional conventions that have been practiced. Avoid contractions, colloquialisms, and personal pronouns. Do not use 1st or 2nd person – use only 3rd person. Avoid using ‘he, he or he/she’ to refer to a person. Use ‘they’ in the singular. Do not use slang expressions. There is no need to use short forms such as ‘don’t’ or ‘isn’t’ in academic writing as they are essentially speech forms. Only use a short form if the full form is very long and you feel that it would detract from what you are saying. For example, it is better to write ‘Should not have been more than this’ rather than ‘Shouldn’t have been more than this’. Avoid clichés and over-use of quotation. Avoid making sweeping generalizations – qualify what you say. Use square brackets [ ] with three dots … inside the brackets to indicate that you have removed some of the text for the sake of succinctness. Your essay should be written with an impersonal style. This means avoiding language that implies things only you can know or have seen. Avoid use of rhetorical questions. Unless you are instructed otherwise, it is usually best to keep the use of brackets and slashes to a minimum. Although some of these options may have their grammatical downsides, in academic writing it is better not to split your infinitives or end a sentence with a preposition. Always spell out numbers less than thirteen or greater than twelve. Never begin a sentence with a conjunction such as ‘and’ or ‘but’. Formal writing seeks to avoid fragmented sentences and if seen must be used in moderation. It is usually best to avoid using pure emotive language.

4. Benefits of Following Conventions in Academic Writing

There are some who may see not following the style as a way to be different and make their writing stand out, but in the end, the negative effects will outweigh the positive. Given this, many will find that following a specified writing style will make their writing much easier and take less time. This is due to the fact that there are general guidelines when writing, and following a specific writing style will narrow the focus. This will be helpful to the writer because there will be less time spent on thinking about the sentence structure and grammar, and more time spent on the content.

Academic writing in any format is usually very technical and should be clear and concise. Due to this, writers find it necessary to follow a writing style closely. If the style is not followed, there are generally repercussions, and in some cases, there can be punishments for the writer. Most of the repercussions involve the writer being poorly graded for what they have written because they did not follow the style that was required. Other times, if the paper is being submitted to a journal, the paper will just simply not be published. This is why it is very important for any writer to make sure that they follow the specified writing style when writing a paper.

5. Conclusion

This moves to the complexity of conventions, with a wide range of conventions from discipline to discipline and also slight changes within each discipline. It can be an overwhelming effort to try and master academic conventions. This, however, should not be a deterrent from trying, as by earlier examples, it is clear that the benefits of creating easily identifiable and influential work are highly valuable. Dismantling conventions and the reasons behind them may take time, but a basic assumption that writing should be clear and make sense is a good platform. It is probably fields such as literature or anthropology which have the most ambiguity in what is an acceptable writing style. Comparing familiarisation with these disciplines to a holiday in a foreign country, it is easier to understand the culture if one speaks the language and lives among the people. Academic conventions are the language, and the written work is life, with the culture being what is being studied.

It has been argued in this essay that the conventions of academic writing are both very important and also highly complex. This is important as, by this, could be the second most important. These conventions allow the writer to establish credibility, which is vital in the growth of a person’s writing. Without it, the work could not be taken seriously. People bandy the phrase ‘it is only my opinion’ far too readily. This phrase is a shield from criticism, and behind this shield, many bizarre and wacky notions can be found. It’s these people who are keen to reflect and help society develop in a positive manner who will benefit from adherence to academic convention. By presenting work in an easily identifiable and certain manner, they increase the chance of their opinions being taken seriously and therefore influential. Consider the last piece of opinion writing you saw. Was it a potentially influential piece but presented in an ambiguous manner? Can you remember what the writer was trying to argue? If the answer is no, it’s due to lack of establishment of what was being discussed, and an academic convention is a very good tool for this establishment. This can be seen in scientific fields where often a theory in one of the hard sciences is proposed. Without academic writing styles, there would be no way to distinguish between different ideas and theories.