Discuss any five characteristic features of academic writing.

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Academic writing in English is linear, which means it has one central point or theme with every part
contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or repetitions. As well as this it is in
the standard written form of the language. Academic writing is to some extent complex, formal,
objective, explicitand hedged which are some of the characteristic fetaures of academic [Link]
uses language precisely and accurately

Complexity

zheng [1] implies that “written language is relatively more complex than
spoken language” therefore complexity is a key feature in academic writing

It has more subordinate clauses, more "that/to" complement clauses, more

long sequences of prepositional phrases, more attributive adjectives and
more passives than spoken language.

Written texts are shorter and have longer, more complex words and
phrases. They have more nominalisations, more noun based phrases, and
more lexical variation. Written texts are lexically dense compared to spoken
language  this eample can elaborate the feature of complexity by
comparing use of Spoken language and written lanugaue with same meaning.
Example of spken language says “Whenever I'd visited there before, I'd ended up feeling that
it would be futile if I tried to do anything more.” Whereas written lanugae is precise and
briefed with the following example “Every previous visit had left me with a sense of the futility
of further action on my part”.this shows the vitality of complexity in academic writing

Accuracy
An important part of academic writing is exactness and correctness which
implies the degree of accuracy. Correct referencing is vital for reasons of clarity
as well as for reasons of academic integrity. Misrepresentation of identifying
features, such as the journal title, volume or page number of an article, will
obviously make the source difficult to find for readers, whereas incorrect in-
text citations may lead to actual misrepresentation of the source text.
When you are writing, you need to rewrite and edit your work carefully. "Composition" is deciding what
you want to say, and "transcription" is what you have to do to say it. His advice is "The rule is simple:
Composition and transcription must be separated, and transcription must come last. It is asking too
much of anyone, and especially of students trying to improve all aspects of their writing ability, to
expect that they can concern themselves with polished transcription at the same time that they are
trying to compose. The effort to concentrate on spelling, handwriting, and punctuation at the same
time that one is struggling with ideas and their expression not only interferes with composition but
creates the least favorable situation in which to develop transcription skills as well" (Smith, 1982, p.
24).
, formality
Academic writing is very explicit and provides the reader with all the
information they need to understand your meaning. This is in contrast to
written or spoken English in less formal contexts, which often relies on
readers or listeners to supply extra information that completes the
message.
Academic writing is relatively formal. In general this meansthat in an essay you should avoid: -
colloquial words and expressions; “stuff", "a lot of", "thing", "sort of“ - abbreviated forms: "can't",
"doesn't", "shouldn't“ - two word verbs: "put off", "bring up“

It is often the case that formal words are longer than informal words, formal words are single words
not multi-words and formal words are of French/Latin origin rather than their informal equivalents
which are of Anglo-Saxon origin. i.e.: "depart" is from French/Latin but "go" is Anglo-Saxon.

, precision,
Objectivity
 Academic writing presents and evaluates issues and arrives at an objective position; a
position that focuses on and is informed by research and reasoning rather than personal
feelings and opinions.

Academic writing presents and evaluates issues and arrives at an objective

position; a position that focuses on and is informed by research and reasoning
rather than personal feelings and opinions.
Personal pronouns, especially ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘we’ are usually avoided, as these are
often associated with subjective views that are influenced by personal preferences
or biases.

Objectivity is a characteristic of academic discourse. Although we

can sometimes make an emotional connection with our audience by
referring to our personal, subjective experience, it’s not considered
the ordinary way of developing an academic topic.

When you present an opinion on a topic, consider it your job to

convince your reader that yours is the best opinion, or the only
correct opinion, on the subject. Accordingly, eliminate subjective,
first-person, words like I, me, and my.
Examples:
Weak: In my personal opinion, I believe that money
and similar material rewards are limited in their effect.
Better: In this paper, I will argue that money and
similar material rewards are limited in their effect.
Best: Clearly, money and similar material rewards are
limited in their effect.
As such, academic writing is supposed to be objective. Any claims made in academic writing should
be supported with empirical evidence and logic.  Academic essays should never contain contentious
statements about the nature of reality/morality/the human condition that are not presented with
significant evidence and supported with logic and reason.

, explicitness
Academic writing is explicit about the relationships int he text. Furthermore, it is the
responsibility of the writer in English to make it clear to the reader how the various parts of
the text are related. These connections can be made explicit by the use of different signalling
words.
Explicit writing is important because it helps to convey information and elicit a response.
When properly included, it can inform the reader and gain valuable insight and feedback on
what is being stated and presented.

, , hedging
Hedging language refers to how a writer expresses certainty or uncertainty. Often in
academic writing, a writer may not be sure of the claims that are being made in their subject
area, or perhaps the ideas are good but the evidence is not very strong.

Hedging language in academic writing is used to express caution and

avoid strong, unqualified statements that may be easily disproven.

 Hedging is the use of linguistic devices to express hesitation or

uncertainty as well as to demonstrate politeness and indirectness.

People use hedged language for several different purposes but

perhaps the most fundamental are the following:

1. to minimize the possibility of another academic opposing the

claims that are being made
2. to conform to the currently accepted style of academic writing
3. to enable the author to devise a politeness strategy where they
are able to acknowledge that there may be flaws in their claims
Hedging language can make a big difference to the way you express your
ideas and opinions in academic writing.

What are hedging words examples?

The language of hedging includes:

 Adverbs of frequency (sometimes or often but not ALWAYS)

 Quantifiers (some or many but not ALL)
 Modals (may or might, but not WILL)