Writing with “Academic Style”: theoretical considerations and preliminary findings on the new frontiers of EAP

Abstract

Research in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has increased in in terms of teaching and learning forms, methods and materials over the past decades. The globalisation of knowledge sharing and communication within the academic community, and the inclusion of marginalised higher education and research institutions, has resulted in an ongoing evolution of many terms related to EAP. Nevertheless, underexplored areas of EAP research and practice remain, including that of “academic style”, a necessary integration of EAP and academic writing teaching and practice. The study then presents a pilot study consisting in the detailed qualitative analysis of a collection of abstracts from a PhD seminar on academic style (self)proofreading. By employing a methodological framework uniting stylistics, error analysis, and the categorisation of specific areas of interest, the pilot study highlights relevant stylistic errors in academic writing and draws conclusions on the requirements and implications of introducing academic style to EAP.

Keywords

• academic style proofreading
• eap
• stylistics
• error analysis
• academic writing