Academic English: Theoretical and Practical Training of Graduate Students

МИНИСТЕРСТВО НАУКИ И ВЫСШЕГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ 

РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ 

Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное  

учреждение высшего образования 

«ЮЖНЫЙ ФЕДЕРАЛЬНЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ» 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Т. Ю. Мкртчян 

 

Academic English:  

Theoretical and Practical Training  

of Graduate Students 

 

Учебное пособие  

по практикуму английского языка для студентов 4 курса  

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

Ростов-на-Дону – Таганрог 

Издательство Южного федерального университета 

2019 

УДК 811.11 
ББК 81.2 Англ. - 922 
     М57 

Печатается по решению кафедры лингвистики и профессиональной 

коммуникации Института филологии, журналистики  

и межкультурной коммуникации Южного федерального университета 

(протокол № 5 от 07.03.2019 г.) 

 

Рецензенты: 

доцент кафедры «Мировые языки и культуры» ДГТУ 

канд. фил. наук, доцент Т. М. Багдасарян; 

 

доцент кафедры межкультурной коммуникации и методики преподавания 

иностранных языков ИФЖиМКК ЮФУ 

канд. фил. наук, доцент М. В. Самофалова 

 
 

Мкртчян, Т. Ю. 

М57     Academic English: Theoretical and Practical Training of Graduate 

Students : учебное пособие по практикуму английского языка для 
студентов 4 курса / Т. Ю. Мкртчян ; Южный федеральный 
университет. – Ростов-на-Дону ; Таганрог : Издательство Южного 
федерального университета, 2019. – 138 с. 

ISBN 978-5-9275-3258-2 

 

Данное учебное пособие предназначено для аудиторной и самостоятельной 

работы студентов 4 курса прикладного бакалавриата Института филологии, 
журналистики и межкультурной коммуникации, обучающихся по направлению 
«45.03.02 Лингвистика», направленность «Перевод и переводоведение». 
Пособие направлено на развитие навыков устной и письменной речи. Особое 
внимание уделяется развитию навыков академического чтения и письма. 
Пособие разработано на компетентностно-модульной основе с интеграцией 
существующих программ подготовки бакалавра на основе действующего 
Государственного образовательного стандарта высшего образования и 
документа «Общеевропейские компетенции владения иностранным языком». 

 

УДК 811.11 

ББК 81.2 Англ. -922 

 
ISBN 978-5-9275-3258-2 

© Южный федеральный университет, 2019 

 Мкртчян Т. Ю., 2019 

 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ

Данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов-бакалавров 4 

курса ИФЖиМКК, обучающихся по направлениям «Лингвистика» и 

«Филология». Пособие написано с опорой на ФГОС ВПО, документ 

«Общеевропейские компетенции владения иностранным языком: изучение, 

обучение и оценка», аутентичные учебники и словари зарубежных 

издательств «Pearson», «Oxford University Press», «Cambridge University 

Press». Учебный материал, представленный в пособии, является актуальным 

и ориентирован на современные языковые явления. Пособие рассчитано на 

применение 
современных 
образовательных 
технологий 
обучения: 

технологии модульного обучения, мультимедийного обучения, сетевые 

компьютерные 
технологии, 
балльно-рейтинговой 
системы 
оценки 

результатов и т.д. 

Пособие состоит из двух частей: теоретической части (Theoretical 

Training) и практической (Practical Training). Теоретическая часть пособия 

знакомит студентов со всеми необходимыми им правилами и приемами, 

моделями и особенностями академического чтения, письма и говорения, 

такими, например, как сочинения, эссе, интерпретация художественного 

текста, реферирование и аннотирование газетных и научных статей и т.д., а 

также с требованиями к основным видам письменных и устных работ. 

Практическая часть пособия представлена 3 модулями: Module 1 –

Challenges, Module 2 – Communities, Module 3 – Jokes and Hoaxes.

Модули построены по единой схеме, оснащены тестами рубежного 

контроля и заданиями для самостоятельной работы студентов и заданиями 

на добор баллов. Корпусная структура каждого модуля пособия 

представлена рядом разнообразных упражнений, направленных на развитие 

и совершенствование языковых компетенций по всем видам речевой 

деятельности 
–
чтения, 
говорения, 
аудирования 
и 
письма. Весь 

мультимедийный материал, представленный в пособии размещен на сайте 

www.tmsfedu.ru и на электронной платформе издательства «Pearson».

УЧЕБНАЯ КАРТА 
Критерии оценки

оценка
Критерии оценки
Баллы (от вида 
работы)

«отлично»
85-100 %

«хорошо»
71-84 %

«удовлетворительно»
60-70%

«неудовлетворительно»
менее 60 %

Виды контрольных мероприятий
Текущий 
контроль

Рубежный 
контроль

Модуль 1 Challenges
20
15

1.
Работа на практических занятиях
10

2.
Выполнение упражнений
10

3.
Сочинения, тесты 
15

Модуль 2 Communities
20
15

1.
Работа на практических занятиях
10

2.
Выполнение упражнений
10

3.
Сочинения, тесты 
15

Модуль 3 Jokes and Hoaxes
20
10

1.
Работа на практических занятиях
10

2.
Выполнение упражнений
10

3.
Сочинения, тесты 
10

ВСЕГО
60
40

Бонусные 
баллы

5
Участие с докладом в неделе 
академической активности

5
Выступление с презентацией 

ВСЕГО
10

SECTION 1. THEORETICAL TRAINING 

WHAT IS ACADEMIC ENGLISH?

You may be confident in using English in everyday situations, but the kind 

of English you need for study is rather different. It is what is known as 'Academic 

English', the type of English you need for reading and understanding your study 

materials, writing on academic subjects and for scientific purposes. Academic 

English is used to describe an object or situation, a process or how something 

works, explain something, express the relationship between ideas, etc. (4, c. 13). 

In everyday life the English language may be more complex, but good 

academic writers aim to be as clear, precise and simple as possible. They think 

about what their readers know already, and aim to guide them towards less familiar 

areas and topics.

Peculiarities of Academic Style

The University expects you to express your findings, opinions and 

arguments in ‘academic style’. The ability to write in an academic style is 

something you develop as part of your university study. It is difficult to give 

overall 'rules' on the way to write for a university course, as academic subjects 

vary in their vocabulary and expressions, the types of text used (for instance 

essays, reports, research articles or summaries) and how these texts are structured 

and organised. ‘Academic style’ is not only a matter of particular words or 

particular grammatical features. It involves how you think, how you reason, and 

how you interact with what has already been discovered or argued. It is central to 

your studies. Aim to deepen your understanding of what it is, how it works – and 

how you can apply it.

But English in written and oral academic tasks has distinctive features, the 

more important of which include three peculiarities: objectivity, formality and 

precision. 

1. Objectivity. The goal of academic writing is to present and evaluate 

academic issues and to arrive at a position informed by research, not to present 

one’s own personal biases or preferences. 

- For this reason, personal pronouns, especially ‘I’, ‘You’ and ‘We’ are often 

avoided. However, avoiding ‘I’ does not mean you should merely report 

information. Your own evaluation of the material is extremely important, and can 

be made objective by the use of evidence or logical argumentation. 

- Structures that help to establish an objective ‘distance’ from the topic under 

discussion include the use of passive verbs, topic as subject and ‘it’ as an “empty 

subject”. Compare the following:

You can demonstrate that global warming is a real phenomenon by studying 

changes in Antarctic ice layers. (Informal / subjective)

Changes in Antarctic ice layers demonstrate that global warming is a real 

phenomenon (topic as subject)

The reality of Global warming can be demonstrated by studying changes in 

Antarctic ice layers (use of passive verb)

It can be argued / demonstrated / that...

It is evident / logical / plausible / conceivable that... (the use of ‘it’ as an ‘empty 

subject’)

2. Formality. Informal, everyday spoken English relies a lot on the situation 

and speakers to supply extra information that completes the message. For 

example:

For this experiment, twenty subjects will do.

Using formal, academic English we might write:

For the experiment to be viable, twenty subjects are sufficient.

In the first example, the meaning of ‘do’ is unclear. The meaning of the second 

example does not require interpretation or context to be understood, but has only 

one meaning.

Intensity or emphasis is created through choice of words, and does not rely on 

intonation. 

Watch out for emphasis that can only be conveyed through tone of voice by 

reading your writing aloud, such of the use of ‘do’ for emphasis. Look at the 

following sentences. Which one relies on spoken features?

This treatment does appear to work.

This treatment in fact / indeed / definitely appears effective.

3. Precision: The words you choose need to demonstrate sufficient 

analysis of the issues involved. Compare the following two sentences.

Imprecise: Most people didn’t trust the government to do the right thing about 

climate change, but it still changed their vote.

Precise: While the majority of survey respondents professed low levels of trust in 

government, the link between voting intention, climate change belief, and 

climate-related behaviours is strong.

What is wrong about the first example? Informal language in the first example 

makes it sound like a personal opinion. Whereas, in the second example, the writer 

has specified exactly which group of people he or she is referring to, what their 

actions were, and the degree of strength of those actions or their outcomes.

However, you do not need to supply exhaustive detail on every matter you write 

about. You convey your scholarly judgement by deciding exactly how much detail 

is required for your purposes. In the example ‘changed their vote’ might be 

sufficient for an essay on the subject of environmental management, where details 

of voter behaviour are not central. A politics essay on voter beliefs about climate 

change, on the other hand, might require much more detail (7, c.10).

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Academic Style

Avoid the following:

♦ Colloquial terms (such as ‘heaps of ...’) which are only understood locally; 

slang (e.g. ‘knock off’), and idioms (e.g. ‘nest egg’ - заначка, ‘snowed under’ –

завален работой) because meanings are often interpreted differently by different 

readers.

♦ Some everyday words in English are clearly associated with an informal or 

‘chatty’ spoken style. Compare:

Informal word 

big

little

tiny

like (adverb) 

kind of 

kind, sort 

thing 

good 

bad 

Possible alternatives 

large, great 

small, lesser 

extremely small

such as e.g. ‘fruit, such as apple and 

pears’ 

somewhat, to an extent, e.g. it was 

successful to an extent. 

type

object, concept, idea, issue

high 
quality, 
suitable, 
effective 

inadequate, unsuitable, ineffective

♦ Intensifiers, or expressions that indicate degree (really, so, absolutely; use 

extremely, highly, entirely, fully), are also very informal:

Informal intensifiers
Possible alternatives

hardly, barely any, not much, not many                few

Pretty                            ’                                       quite, rather

really                                                    
very, extremely, highly, especially

lots of, heaps of, plenty of                          several, considerable, plentiful

a lot of                                                         frequently, often, extensively

♦ Informal discourse markers and link words such as besides or by the way

and use incidentally instead.

♦ Vague Verbs. Certain verbs commonly used in spoken language are too vague 

for academic writing. Note the many possible meanings of the verb ‘to have’: 

‘have a car’ – to possess, to own; ‘have a shower’ to take; ‘have a review’ –

undergo, ‘have a baby’ - bear. Some other vague verbs are: get, keep, do, make, 

put. Possible Alternatives: obtain, receive, retrieve, become continue, retain, 

maintain, store complete, undertake, act construct, create, complete insert, place, 

position, propose.

♦ Unspecified categories: Expressions such as ‘etcetera’, ‘and so on’, ‘and so 

forth’, ‘and that kind of thing’ again place too much responsibility on your reader. 

Help your reader; name a category into which all your examples fit. For example:

Tariffs, embargoes, and other protectionist laws... 

Similes, metaphors, personification and such literary devices...

♦ Phrasal verbs: verbs which require a preposition for meaning such as look out, 

get on, live down, are similarly imprecise. A single verb with the same meaning 

should be used.

♦ Contractions or shortened forms of verbs (e.g. don’t, won’t, can’t) are only 

used in spoken contexts. Use full forms of the words.

♦ Abbreviations such as info for information or ads for advertisements.

♦ Set phrases and idioms. For example, ‘I am not going to pay you a penny’ 

instead of ‘Your fee will not be paid.’

♦ Ellipsis

♦ Rhetorical questions: Asking a question in a research report or essay evades 

your responsibility to provide specific information to your reader. Use indirect 

questions to specify more exactly the issue under study. Compare the following.

The intervention has been underway for four years now. How successful has it 

been? VS Given that the intervention has been underway for four years, it should 

be possible to measure its success.

♦ Linking word such as 'and' or 'but' at the beginning of a sentence

♦ The active voice and the first person singular; in a formal letter you should 

write: ‘A copy of the receipt will be forwarded to you as soon as possible’ instead 

of ‘I will send you a copy of the receipt asap.’

In addition, you should do the following:

1) Employ more tentative rather than assertive language by:

- using possibly and probably in front of verbs and noun phrases: ‘This is possibly 

caused by…’ or ‘This is probably the most important factor.’

- using the modal verbs may and might: ‘This may be the most important factor.’

- using appears to and seems to: ‘This appears to be the most important factor.’

- using often and many/much.

2) Use formal vocabulary, for example, discuss rather than talk about

3) Use more formal grammar, for example by:

- using ‘there’ as a subject: ‘There is a serious risk of…’

- using ‘it’ as a subject: ‘It is very difficult to…’