1. The Differences between Spoken and Written Language

	Speech	Writing
1.	Verbal and non-verbal communication	Verbal communication
2.	Voice-based (intonation, loudness, tempo, rhythm, tone of voice, etc.)	Style-based (spatial organization, punctuation, syntax structure, word choice)
3.	Situational (social context, attitudes)	Factual (communication of ideas)
4.	Spontaneity and speed	Repeated reading and close analysis
5.	Time-bound	Space-bound

Checklist of language to avoid in academic writing

1. Phrasal or prepositional verbs:

Research expenditures have gone up to $ 350 million. → have increased

2. Contractions:

The experiment won’t be over until the end of the year. → will not

3. Informal negative forms:

not…any → no

not…much → little

not…many → few

This approach does not promise many innovations. → few

4. Adverbs in the initial or final positions:

The result can be seen easily. → can be easily seen

5. Direct questions:

What should we do to improve the ecological situation? → We need to consider what we should do to improve the ecological situation.

6. “Run-on” expressions (“and so forth”, “etc.”):

These semiconductors can be used in robots, CD-players, etc.→ These semiconductors can be used in robots, CD-players, and other electronic devices.

7. Colloquial abbreviations and shortened words:

TV→ television,’ cause → because, fridge→ refrigerator.

8. Meaningless, vague, simplistic and/or weak words:

”very”, “really”, “pretty much”, “sort of”, “kind of”, “it is interesting to note”, “you know”, “well”, ”good”, “bad”, “thing”.

9. Addressing the reader directly, especially in more formal papers:

“as you know”, “as you can see”.

10. Personal pronouns (I, we), especially in more formal papers.

11. Conversational vocabulary (euphemisms, jargon, slang, clichés).

Compare the following two paragraphs: although the ideas expressed in the paragraphs are the same, one presents them in a much more formal, academic way.

Example 1

Example 2

Capital is a complex notion. There are many definitions of the word itself, and capital as applied in accounting can be viewed conceptually from a number of standpoints; that is, there is legal capital, financial capital and physical capital. The application of financial and physical concepts of capital is not straightforward as there are various permutations of these concepts applied in the business environment. . .

Capital is a difficult thing to understand. We can explain it in different ways, and in accounting we can look at it from different angles. Accountants talk about legal capital, financial capital and physical capital. How we apply financial and physical concepts of capital isn't easy because people in business use it differently. . .