What does “academic English writing” mean?
A thesis is an important and formal document. Therefore, you should write your thesis in academic English. Part of this is that you use a neat and formal writing style, unlike if you were to send an email to a friend. In addition, there are more guidelines to keep in mind when writing in academic English.
Academic English is a formal style of writing that you use for English scientific articles, theses and papers. It means that you do not use colloquialisms, abbreviations such as 'can't' or 'I'm' or slang (such as 'naturally'[1] [2] [3] ). You should also be as objective as possible in your wording (except in the reflection, where you should share your personal experiences). Furthermore, be specific. Avoid vague phrases such as 'a little bit' or 'a few', which can be interpreted in several ways.
Finally, it is important to keep your language use as impersonal as possible. Therefore, do not use personal pronouns like 'I' or 'you' (except in the preface, the epilogue and the reflection). For example, the first sentence below is not academic English. It is better to rewrite this into sentence 2, which is worded more impersonally.
Sentence 1 (personal): I split the participants into two groups.
Sentence 2 (impersonal, academic English): The participants were split into two groups.
Common mistakes in academic English writing
Our editors regularly come across the same mistakes in English theses. Read our article on common mistakes in academic English writing for an overview.
We would like to explain specifically how you can avoid 3 common mistakes in English:
- Write out numbers the English way. This means that when you write thousands, you use a comma instead of a full stop. For example, it is not '20.000', but '20,000'.
- Please note that you must use a comma after many English signal words. This usually applies to signal words at the beginning of a sentence. This comma is often forgotten. Correct is: “To conclude, this research shows that there is an important difference between the two groups...", with a comma after "to conclude".
- Write out personal forms. In informal texts, you will often see abbreviations such as 'it isn't' or 'she's'. If you are going to write in academic English, you should always write these abbreviations out in full. Thus, using 'it is' and 'she is'.
Use signal words in academic English writing
In a thesis, you create cohesion by using paragraphs and sub-sections, but also by linking paragraphs and sentences with signal words. These are words such as "though", "furthermore", "thus" or "because". They indicate, for example, a contrast, an enumeration or a causal connection.
Our list of English signal words will help you choose the right words and alternate with using them.
Have your thesis checked for errors
You may have read through your thesis ten times, but sometimes you become blind to your own mistakes. We are happy to help you remove errors from your thesis and reformulate poorly-written sentences. From spelling to structure in your thesis - we take care of everything. Have your English thesis proofread by our native English-speaking editors so that you can be sure that no language error will remain in your thesis.