Academic Style Exercises

Lesson Source: TeachThis.com 

The language used in essay writing has a particular style, which is academic and differs in many ways from spoken language. This worksheet will help you become more familiar with the correct style or register required in academic contexts, which is more formal and objective.

A. Match the sentence halves together to reveal six common rules of academic style.

1. For numbers one to ten, write the actual words .......  2. Use complex sentences .......  3. Avoid phrasal verbs .......  4. Do not use contracted word forms .......  5. Use precise language and avoid vagueness by .......  6. Avoid informal and idiomatic language

a. such as 'go up' or 'talk about'.  b. and use formal academic words.  c. such as don't, can't, or won't. d. rather than the figures e.g. five and not 5. e. and avoid the overuse of simple sentences. f. using numbers and statistics where possible.

The table below shows a number of academic style errors commonly made by students and how they can be fixed.

B. The sentence below has four types of academic style errors. List those error types shown in the table above in the space provided.

At the end of the day, we believe this technology definitely represents an amazing opportunity. Error types: ................................................................................................................. ..................................................................................................................................

C. The table below contains a number of informal words and phrases. Replace them with appropriate formal words.

D. The essay below has a number of problems with academic style. Identify and underline the errors. Then, compare the issues you underlined with a partner.

The world is currently facing a terrible and growing problem with wealth inequality. Over the past 40 years, the gap between the earnings for the bottom twenty per cent of the American population and the top one per cent jumped up by more than 10 times. This has in, recent years, contributed to social and political instability, and one frequently talked about fix is to bring in a basic universal income. In my opinion, there are two convincing arguments for launching basic universal income programs.

Universal basic income will certainly mitigate the disruption that's predicted to result from increased automation in the economy. How will this be so? By some estimates, the number of job losses caused by artificial intelligence could be in the hundreds of millions globally. Although we also expect that artificial intelligence will create demand for new jobs, many workers don't have the required skills that'll be needed. Universal basic income will not only support people financially in the wake of mass firings, but it'll also allow them to invest time in retraining to get the skills that will be valued in the new economy.

In addition to softening the move toward more automation, universal basic income can be good for the economy. A significant increase in unemployment has a bad effect on the demand for goods and services, which would put many current businesses at risk and lead to further job losses. Universal basic income could help keep enough demand in the economy to protect businesses and jobs. Moreover, with no income, people are often forced to borrow money to make ends meet, which results in an increase in private debt. As we all know, rising private debt has been an important factor in many financial crises of the past century.

At the end of the day, introducing universal basic income will be great. It may help us minimise or avoid some of the consequences of future technological disruption and protect the economy. Universal basic income may also change the way countries deal with social welfare.