Main features of academic English
is usually formal in tone and impersonal in style
avoids contractions or shortened forms of verbs, such as won't, doesn't or it's
avoids using a linking word such as 'and' or 'but' at the beginning of a sentence
avoids personal pronouns such as I, me, you, your
may use the passive form of verbs
avoids verbs that are composed of multiple words, such as 'give up', 'put up with'
tends to employ a cautious way of explaining findings, using expressions such as 'may', 'it is possible that...', 'could'
may use specialised vocabulary.
Develop your reading
When you read for academic purposes, you need different strategies from those used when reading for pleasure; you need to know why you are reading something and how to actively extract information. So you will need to:
understand new vocabulary and the style in which your study materials are written
identify the main points in a piece of text
select the key information relevant to your task or assignment
read actively and critically, thinking about the sources of your information and whether there is evidence to back up any arguments that are made
Use an efficient approach
Having an effective reading and notetaking strategy is important. When you are reading:
make sure you know why you are reading - what are you going to get out of this text?
quickly scan the material for an overview of what it contains
then settle down to read it thoroughly.
Know why you are reading
Make sure you think about what you want to achieve and keep the purpose in mind as you read.
Quickly scan the material
Before reading in any detail, scan through the materials quickly, simply to get a general impression of it. The aim at this stage is not to get to grips with its detailed arguments, simply to understand how many sections it has, which of them require careful reading and which you can read through quickly, etc. Check the contents pages to see how many sections there are. Check headings, images and summaries (see 'Scanning and skimming' below). Keep in mind what your purpose is.
Read more thoroughly
Once you have an idea of what you are trying to achieve and a general overview of the material, read it in more detail.
Take notes, add margin comments or highlight sections.
Pay attention to the structure of a text to help you to understand the writer's purpose and argument. Take notice of headings and sub-headings, of opening and closing paragraphs and of other signposts the writer has provided.
Try to understand what you are reading, rather than simply memorising what you have read. Consider whether you agree with the content and think about how it compares to any other reading you've done on the same topic. This effort to understand is itself an aid to memorising.
Keep a dictionary or glossary to hand and look up any terms you don't understand. Accept that sometimes you need to re-read in order to check your understanding, reconsider particular points of interest and to add to your notes.
Be prepared to read in different ways depending on your purpose. Sometimes you might quickly skim and then you can slow down and grapple with the detail to improve your understanding of the topic.