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Module three of the writing course: academic style, how to make writing formal and impersonal, with four practice questions, a ranking task, a final self-check with model answers, and tap-for-Japanese help, for Japanese researchers at B1 and B2 levels

Words with a dotted line have help in Japanese. Tap them. 点線のある単語は日本語の説明があります。

Stage 1 · Foundations · Module 3

Academic style: formal, not casual

Academic writing is more formal than speech. Words copied from everyday conversation can sound too casual in a paper. The same idea can be said in a casual way or an academic way:

We got rid of a lot of errors and the method worked pretty well. (too casual)
We eliminated numerous errors and the method worked effectively.
Four moves that make writing academic
1
Choose the precise word, not the everyday one. a lot of → considerable · get rid of → eliminate · big → significant
2
Stay impersonal — avoid "you" and often "I". "You can see" → "It can be seen"
3
No contractions. don't → do not · it's → it is · can't → cannot
4
No rhetorical questions — use a statement. "Is the system fair?" → "It is important to consider whether the system is fair."
Choose the precise word

"The study found ______ differences between the two groups."

significant big a lot of loads of
Make it impersonal

"______ that the temperature affects the result." (report it without "you")

It can be seen You can see You'll notice I think you can see
Remove the contraction

"The results ______ support the first hypothesis."

do not don't didn't won't
Replace the rhetorical question

Instead of writing "Why does this matter?", a paper should say:

This section explains why this matters. But why does this really matter? You might ask why this matters. Isn't this important?
Put these in order — drag the best to the top

All three say the same thing. Drag them so the most academic version is at the top.

Best — most academic
1 You'll see we got rid of a lot of errors, but it didn't fix everything.
2 We got rid of a lot of errors, but this did not fix everything.
3 Numerous errors were eliminated, although this did not resolve every problem.
Worst — casual, contractions, "you"
Final self-check — choose the academic version

Three sentences, each written three ways. For each, tap the most academic version. You will see at once if it is right.

Sentence 1 — precise word

A lot of data was collected over six months.
Considerable data was collected over six months.
Tons of data was collected over six months.

Sentence 2 — impersonal, no contraction

It is clear that the method does not work in every case.
You can see it doesn't work in every case.
It's clear the method doesn't work in every case.

Sentence 3 — statement, not a question

So what does this tell us about the cause?
Let's ask what this tells us about the cause.
These results indicate a possible cause.
Bonus worksheet

Keep practising away from the screen — download this module’s worksheet as a printable PDF.

Bonus Worksheet for this module

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