by Rebecca – Engvid.com; Published on Youtube on Mar 27, 2015 What’s “academic writing”? If you’re in school or university, you must know the difference between general English and academic English. Watch this important lesson to avoid the most common mistakes students make in academic writing. In your own language, the difference between these two modes of writing might not be that great, but in … Continue reading 27. 12 Common Errors in Academic English – and how to fix them!

Source: SBS, 10 JUL 2015 Think you know the difference between affect and effect and how to use them correctly? We’re all tempted to use words that we’re not too familiar with. If this were the only problem, I wouldn’t have much to write about. That’s because we’re cautious with words we’re unsure of and, thus, they don’t create much of an issue for us. It’s … Continue reading 23. 20 misused English words that make smart people look silly

By Shanna Mallon Source: PR Daily| Posted: October 11, 2013 As Mark Twain famously wrote, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” His point? Strong writing is lean writing. When you want to make your writing more powerful, cut out words you don’t need—such as the 10 included in this post: 1. Just: The word “just” is a filler … Continue reading 22. 10 words to cut from your writing

by Adrian Wallwork Source: English for Writing Research Papers, Springer, 2011, pp. 273-293 Link for freely downloading: http://www.focusoptekst.nl/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/English-for-writing-research-papers.pdf Index of Useful Phrases Establishing why your topic (X) is important Outlining the past-present history of the study of X (no direct references to the literature) Outlining the possible future of X Indicating the gap in knowledge and possible limitations Stating the aim of your paper and its … Continue reading 21. Useful Phrases

by Marc A. Grinker Source: http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaThat_Versus_Which.htm The traditional approach to this question is to use “that” with restrictive clauses and “which” with nonrestrictive clauses. While some writers seem to have abandoned the distinction entirely, no better rule has come along to replace the traditional rule. Moreover, the rule is easy to master. 1.  Use “that” with restrictive clauses. A restrictive clause is one that limits — or … Continue reading 20. That vs. Which

NOTE: The ‘Academic Phrasebank’ was taken from the website of The University of Manchester: http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/sources.htm. But the link no longer exists. In fact, the document has been updated and now the new version has been available at http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk.   TABLE OF CONTENTS  Introduction 1. Writing Introductions Establishing the importance of the topic Establishing the importance of the topic (time frame given) Highlighting a problem in the field of study Highlighting a … Continue reading 6. Academic Phrasebank