Chapter 1 - What is Academic English?

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1
What is Academic English?

CHAPTER 2
Academic Vocabulary

CHAPTER 3
Useful Sentence Structures and Language for Academic Writing

CHAPTER 4
Paraphrasing, Summarising and Quoting

CHAPTER 5
Paragraph Structure

CHAPTER 6
Common Academic Text Structures

Home > Chapter 1: What is Academic English?

Chapter 1: What is Academic English?

1b: General Features of Academic English

Academic texts are characterised by a specific style with the following four features:
i) formality
ii) objectivity
iii) precision
iv) technicality

iv) Technicality

Subject-specific or technical vocabulary is essential to understanding and writing academic texts. To understand and retain the subject-specific vocabulary better, it is crucial to understand how these words are formed. For example, the prefix “photo-” means “light”, so the words “photosynthesis” and “photoconduction”, which can be found in science texts, are both related to “light”. Likewise, the suffix “-ism” means “a belief, theory or practice”. Words like “feudalism” and “Marxism”, which can be found in history texts, carry this meaning. The meanings of some subject-specific words may vary in different subjects or contexts. For example, the common word “mean” has a special meaning in mathematical contexts (i.e. average).

Answers

Notes
The multiple meanings of the words provided below help to explain the suggested answers in Activity 6.
current (n):

[Geography/Science] a movement of water, air, or electricity

legend (n):

[History] an old story from the ancient time
[Geography] the words written on or next to a map that explain what it is about or what the symbols on it mean

scale (n):

[Maths/Science] a set of numbers, amounts, etc., used to measure or compare the level of something
[Geography] the relation between the real size of something and its size on a map or diagram
[P.E./Maths/Science] a device for weighing things or people
[Music] a set of notes played or sung in order, going up or down
[Science] a small, flat piece that covers the skin of fish, snakes, etc.
[Economics] the size or level of business

class (n):

[Science] a group of things, animals, or people with similar features or qualities
[History/Economics] a group of people in a society who have the same social and/or economic position
[Maths] a group of objects with some common properties

note (n):

[Music] a single sound at a particular level in music
[Economics] a banknote

slope (n):

[Geography] a rising or falling surface/ground
[Maths] the steepness of a line in a graph
[Science] the steepness of an inclined plane
[Economics] a concept which measures the relationship between two variables

axis (n):

[Geography/Science] an imaginary line about which a body rotates
[Maths] a fixed line for showing measurements or finding the position of points on a graph
[History] an agreement between governments or politicians to work together for a common aim

1a 1b - i 1b - ii 1b - iii 1b - iv

Activity 6

The words in the left column below are words with multiple meanings in different subject contexts. Match them to the appropriate subject(s) by putting a tick ( ) in the appropriate box(es). Consult a dictionary if needed. One of them has been done as an example.

Words with multiple meanings	Subjects
Words with multiple meanings	Geography	Science	History	Maths	P.E.	Music	Economics
e.g. current
legend
scale
class
note
slope
axis