EFAPP hand out #2

• Academic text


  Content associated with formal learning or gaining knowledge
• Non-academic text


  Content of extra-curricular and leisurely activities
• Both texts may be written with the goal to persuade, to entertain, or to inform
• Differences in approaches

  • Academic texts rely on research-based, factual and verifiable materials
  • Non-academic texts are less likely to include references to any source material
• Target audience

  • Non-academic texts are intended for mass, public consumption
  • Academic texts are targeted towards scholarly or academic audiences
• Both texts may be found in print, periodical, and digital forms
• Six Main Text Types of Academic Texts

  • Textbook
  • Essays
  • Theses
  • Research Articles
  • Case studies
  • Reports
• Textbook


  Designed to help learners for specific subjects or disciplines
• Essays


  Help show how deep you have learned a topic or lesson, containing Introduction, Main Body, Conclusion
• Theses


  Longer texts required for postgraduate courses, typically 60,000 to 80,000 words for Master's and 10,000 to 20,000 words for Ph.D.
• Research Articles


  Written mainly for a specialist audience, containing specific parts
• Case studies


  In-depth studies into the lives of particular individuals/subjects, common in humanities
• Reports


  Describe what happened and discuss and evaluate its importance, found in various disciplines
• Academic language


  Used for textbooks, tests, and classrooms, formal way to present words and terms typical for the field
• Specific ideas in academic texts

  • Humanities texts discuss human expressions
  • Sciences contain the scientific method and objective results
• Non-Academic Texts


  • Email messages
  • Personal opinions
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Blog articles or social media posts
• Email messages

  Simple and informal, sent over a computer network
• Personal opinions


  Expressed through writing, may be non-factual or baseless
• Newspapers

  Content not intended for academic use, may contain unverifiable information
• Magazine


  Used for leisure time, often placed in noticeable areas for browsing
• Blog articles or social media posts

  Non-academic reading or writing, not reliable sources for research
• Point of View of Non-Academic Texts

  • Subjective and personal
  • Asking rhetorical questions
  • Rule breaker in spelling and grammar
• Subjective and personal


  Based on personal opinions and feelings rather than facts
• Asking rhetorical questions


  May not necessarily answer questions, leaving answers for the reader to discover
• Rule Breaker


  Rules in spelling, grammar, and writing mechanics need not be followed