English speakers around the world know that this language comes in many flavors. Whether you’re learning with private English tutors near me or exploring its various forms on your own, you’ll quickly discover how diverse it is. People often give the various types of English geographic markers: American English, British (or Oxford) English, Australian English, and so on. However, the world’s lingua franca makes further distinctions: Business English, slang – or street English, and social media English, laden with abbreviations, for example.
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At slang’s other end of the scale, we find academic English. Its tone is formal, and its vocabulary is advanced and precise. As its name suggests, this type of English echoes throughout academic halls. If you talked with your friends using academic English, they would likely think you’re being snobby. Unless they, too, are academics.
What’s the point of this complex language, and where will using it serve you? We need to understand what Academic English is, and why it’s important to know it. Finally, we outline how you can master reading and writing Academic English.
What is Academic English?
This type of English reflects the community that ‘speaks’ it. Scientists and great thinkers explore complex ideas, and work to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. These are not concepts one can express with a handful of emojis. They need a language that represents their full scale and significance.
The precision that marks Academic English aims to avoid confusion. For instance, consider this sentence: “She told her she better not eat all the candy”. A casual reader might understand it, as long as they had enough context to make the meaning clear. In academic terms, that sentence would read “Female 1 told Female 2 she’d better not eat all the candy”. Now, we can understand what it means, without added context.
Academic English demands organization. It is a crisp language, generally free of adjectives, adverbs, and flowery descriptions. These texts must follow a logical, linear sequence: this is the problem, this is why it’s a problem, this is how we might solve the problem. The line continues: this is the solution we tried, these are the results we found, these are the trials’ conclusions. Every academic paper – theses, dissertations, and research documents, follow this formula.
Where Does Academic English Apply?
You might guess that this type of English is best for writing academic papers. That’s true, but this language has much wider applications. If you’ve ever watched a Ted Talk or followed a discussion panel, you’ve seen Academic English in action. This language underpins diplomatic and economic endeavors, too.
You don’t need to plan on a career in politics or finance to need Academic English. Engineers speak it fluently. They use technical jargon to describe their tools and equipment, and to describe the systems they plan to build.
Scientists of all types have subject-specific vocabulary to describe their work, and the ideas that drive it. Related fields, such as chemistry and biology, might share some terminology. However, Academic English is domain-specific. A theoretical physicist uses a different lexicon than a medical professional, though both use Academic English.
Is Academic English Worth Mastering?
Let’s say you have no plans to become a diplomat, economist, engineer, doctor, or scientist of any type. You might plan on higher education, so you’ll have to write papers. But, how will this language serve you, beyond that?
Maybe the vocabulary won’t, but the skills you build as you master Academic English will benefit you. The mechanical act of writing academically trains your brain to think objectively. You’ll develop the techniques to inspect, analyze, and conclude using logic. This pattern of thinking zeros in on what’s relevant to an issue, bypassing factors that don’t matter.
Here’s how such might play out, in an ordinary setting. A water pipe bursts in an office building. Workers run away from the gushing, worried about getting wet. The manager frets over electronic equipment and the furniture being ruined, and about lost productivity. You, the objective thinker, bypass those concerns to get to the heart of the matter: how and why the pipe burst, and what can be done to prevent such a thing from happening again.
Critical thinking and problem-solving are sorely lacking in today’s world. They are two cognitive skills you develop as you master the academic writing process. No matter which career field you set your sights on, or where in the world you plan to live, this methodical way of thinking and acting will benefit you personally, academically, and professionally.
How to Excel Using Academic English
The easiest way to grasp Academic English concepts is to expose yourself to it. Search for Ted Talks that discuss subjects you’re interested in. Listen carefully, and make note of how the presenters lay out their thesis, explains the issue, and propose solutions.
Once you’ve mastered the pattern in spoken Academic English, reading academic papers is the next logical step. You can access such works through your school library, or online, via platforms like Research Gate and Science Direct. Beware that academic writing typically contains vocabulary that’s far beyond casual English. So, keep a dictionary handy, to look up words you don’t know.
Incidentally, an expanded vocabulary is another benefit of being fluent in this type of English. So is intellectual curiosity, another quality our world sorely lacks.
Tutors normally use research papers to help their pupils build their English skills. They present their students with one section – the methodology chapter, or the abstract. Together, student and teacher dissect the language, the grammar structures, and the content. They may even discuss the purpose of that research, and what its possible outcomes may be.
Working through a paper in this manner is an excellent way to develop your vocabulary and reading comprehension skills, as well as expanding your critical thinking abilities. Thinking at the academic level, using the words and phrases academics use, delivers such a boost, both to your intellect and your confidence. Those are the true keys to global opportunities, for yourself and the rest of the world.
