Improving Sentence Structures for Academic Writing

1. Improving Sentence Structuresfor Academic Writing UAB University Writing Center

2. Basic Features of Strong Sentence Structures • Clarity – the meaning of the sentence is clear, not ambiguous • Concise – each word in the sentence has purpose and power; no unnecessary words • Coherent – each sentence is clearly connected within its phrase, sentence, and paragraph • Emphasis – each word is situated within the sentence in a way that clearly indicates its degree of emphasis in the sentence

3. Academic Sentence Structures • Use few prepositional phrases • Use few relative pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that) • Focus on Action; use of passive voice is selective • Use positive structures, instead of negative ones • Employ parallel structures for related ideas • Often employ very straightforward Subject/Verb syntax • Rarely, if ever, use fragments

4. Reduce prepositional phrases • Due to the subject matter of the lengthy report on biofuels by James Randolph written in 2009 in a journal about environmental issues, the study on the local attempts to improve the industry of agriculture was delayed even more. (9 prepositional phrases) • James Randolph’s groundbreaking biofuel report (2009) prompted us to delay our local agricultural study. (0 prepositional phrases!)

5. Reduce the number of relative pronouns • Studies that are focused on individuals who often use the internet for recreation have revealed an increase in the use of social networking sites which has reduced productivity at work. • Studies on recreational internet use reveal a corresponding increase in social networking and a decrease in work-related productivity.

6. Active vs. Passive Voice • Passive voice is appropriate… • When the focus is intentionally on the object of the action, not the agent of the action • For surveys, experiments, studies, and other objective scientific writing • Active voice is preferred because… • Active voice verbs are stronger than weak, linking/being verbs • Puts the agent of the action in the strong subject position of the sentence • Active verbs are usually more powerful and engaging that passive verbs

7. Using Positive Sentence Structures • Positive sentence structures are usually clearer and less wordy than those written with negative structures. • Ex. (negative) The studies were not lacking in relevancy; rather, they were not recent enough to sustain my biofuels proposal.(18 wds) • Ex. (positive) Although the studies had some relevancy, they were conducted five years before biofuels were developed. (15 wds)

8. Employ Parallel Structures • Parallelism: Related ideas or ideas joined in a list should be presented in the same grammatical structure (i.e. nouns, phrases, clauses) • Not parallel: The study participants were asked about how much weight they had gained recently, exercising habits, current health status and history, and if they had seen a medical doctor recently. • Parallel: The study participants were questioned about current weight fluctuations, exercise habits, health status, health history, and recent doctor visits.

9. Discipline-specific Syntax • Read and observe the common syntax (word order) style of discipline-specific writing: journal articles, abstracts, reports, etc. • Scientific writing is often very straightforward: • subject – verb – object. • Ex. We tested the participants for…. • Or passive: Object – passive voice – description • Ex. The study was conducted in order to determine….

10. Learn the discourse of your writing community • Each community of writers/scholars has a unique discourse or way of communicating. • Like learning a new language, one must “immerse” one’s self in that discourse to become “fluent” in it. • Start by reading articles in the peer-reviewed journals of that discipline/community • Beyond the discipline-specific terminology , note the length and style of sentences, the frequency of phrasing, and the common forms of expressing concepts important to that community.