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withallthethingswhicharestipulatedinthestylesheetofajournal,
festschriftorconferencepublication.Thewidthofmargins,thedistance
betweenlines,thetypeandsizeoffonts,whetherfootnotesshouldgoto
thebottomofthepageortotheendofthetext—thesearequestions
whichessentiallyhavenothingtodowithlanguage.HenceAppendixC
(EEReferencestoBooksandPeriodicals’’),intentionallyrudimentary,
hasbeenincludedonlyasanafterthought.
Attheoutset,however,threedistinctivefeaturesofacademicEnglish
deservetobeemphasised.Firstandforemost,lucidity,economy,and
precisionareoverridingconsiderations.Nomatterhowdemandingthe
subjectmatter,agoodwriterofacademicEnglishisneververbose
orintentionallyobscure,andwillalwaystrytovisualisethereader
andtogotohim,insteadofexpectinghimsomehoworotherto
construethemeaning.
Secondly,digressivenessisgenerallyavoided.AcademicEnglishby
andlargesetsgreatstorebykeepingtothesubjectathand,nomatter
howdivertingorremarkablethematerialwhichmightbementionedin
agivencontext.(Digressionsareusuallytobefoundonlyintheformof
footnotesandappendices.)
Thirdly,anyacademictextmusthaveaclearorganisationalpattern,
firmlydividedintomanageableparagraphsseveralsentencesinlength.
Ideallyeachparagraphisaself-containedunit,devotedtooneparticular
aspectoftheideabeingdeveloped.Thefirstsentenceineachparagraph
generallypreparesthereaderforwhatistofollow,whilethecontentof
theparagraphisusuallyadevelopmentofthatsentence.Thelast
sentenceineachparagraphisalsoprominent,asitoftenprovides
aconclusionorelseatransitiontothenextparagraph.
Ifthesethreeprinciplesarefirmlyadheredto,thenthewritingstands
amuchgreaterchanceofcommandingthereader’sattention.
Gdańsk,2004
