🌱 Understanding the Purpose and Types of Academic Discourse

 In academic communication, we don't just write to fill pages—we write to share, explain, convince, describe, and connect ideas. That’s what academic discourse is all about. Whether you’re telling a story from your classroom, explaining a new teaching strategy, or writing a report, the type of discourse you choose shapes your message and its impact.

Let’s explore the main types of academic discourse and how you can use them in everyday teaching scenarios.

🧭 Narrative: Telling Stories with Purpose

Narratives are powerful. They let us connect emotionally with our audience and make meaning from real experiences. In education, narratives can describe classroom events, explain student learning journeys, or reflect on teaching practices.

🔁 Language tools:

• Past simple – for main actions: “The students arrived on time.”
• Past passive – to focus on what happened, not who did it: “The test was completed by all.”
• Past perfect – for earlier events: “She had prepared the lesson in advance.”

🌟 Before you write a narrative, ask yourself:

• When and where did it happen?
• Who was involved, and how did they feel?
• What details (sights, sounds, emotions) would help the reader imagine being there?
• What happened next?

📌 Tip: Narratives are not just for stories—they help us reflect and learn from our practice.

🧠 Exposition and Argumentation: Explaining and Persuading

🔎 Expository writing

This type helps readers understand a concept, method, or issue—without giving opinions. It’s useful when you’re explaining a curriculum policy, a language rule, or a classroom routine.

Key features:

• Factual and objective
• Clear and logical organization
• No personal opinions or "I think…"
• Examples: “Teachers should provide scaffolding strategies such as modeling and sentence starters.”

💬 Argumentative writing

When you need to defend a viewpoint—like why bilingual education matters—this is your go-to.

Key strategies:

• State your opinion clearly
• Back it up with facts, data, examples, or experiences
• Consider different perspectives (pros and cons)
• Organize ideas clearly, ending with a strong conclusion

🗣️ Example: “Integrating first language support helps bilingual learners build confidence, as shown by García & Wei (2014).”

📌 Tip: Good arguments come from solid evidence—not just strong feelings.

🧾 Definition: Clarifying Concepts

Sometimes, your task is to explain what something means. In that case, defining is your best tool. But definitions aren’t only found in dictionaries—they can be expanded with examples, comparisons, or illustrations.

You can define something by:

• Function: What it does: → “Scaffolding helps students build on prior knowledge.”
• Structure: How it looks or is organized: → “A rubric includes criteria, levels, and descriptors.”
• Analysis or contrast: What makes it different: → “Unlike simple correction, formative feedback invites reflection.”

🎨 Description: Painting with Words

Descriptive writing lets your reader see, feel, and imagine. In teaching, it helps when you describe a learner, an activity, or even the mood in a classroom.

Include:

• Sensory details (What did you see, hear, feel?)
• Emotions (How did people react?)
• Vivid language (Use adjectives and strong verbs)
• Context (When and where?)

🧡 Example: “The classroom buzzed with energy as students proudly displayed their projects.”

🔍 Exemplification: Explaining with Examples

Exemplification means giving examples to explain a general idea. This is especially helpful when you’re writing a thesis or trying to convince others of a pattern or truth.

Structure:

1. Start with a general statement or claim
2. Give real-life examples
3. Link them clearly to your main idea

🌱 Example: “Bilingualism strengthens cognitive flexibility. For example, students who switch between languages develop stronger attention control (Bialystok, 2009).”

📚 Classification: Sorting to Understand

When we categorize information, we help readers see patterns and make sense of complexity. You might classify learning styles, assessment types, or language errors.

Steps:

• Present the data
• Divide it into logical categories
• Explain each one with examples
• Draw a conclusion

🧠 Tip: Classification builds clarity—and strong foundations for decision-making.

🔁 Comparison and Contrast: Finding Similarities and Differences

Whether you’re comparing teaching methods or contrasting two students’ learning paths, this type of writing helps explain choices and outcomes.

Use:

• Similarities: “Both strategies encourage collaboration…”
• Differences: “Unlike traditional drills, games promote engagement.”
• Connectors: “However,” “on the other hand,” “similarly,” “unlike,” “in contrast…”

🔗 Cause and Effect: Connecting Reasons and Results

This structure is essential when you’re explaining why something happened and what followed—such as changes in student performance or the impact of a teaching method.

Two formats:

• Grouping: List all causes, then the effects
• Chaining: Link each cause to its specific effect

🧩 Example: “Because instructions were unclear, students felt lost. As a result, participation dropped.”

As a bilingual teacher in training, understanding academic discourse helps you write better, teach better, and reflect more clearly. Whether you're telling a story, explaining a concept, or defending an idea—your words matter. Choose them with care, and let them support your learners’ growth.

📚 References

Bialystok, E. (2009). Bilingualism: The good, the bad, and the indifferent. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 12(1), 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003477

García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hyland, K. (2019). Second language writing. Cambridge University Press.

Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills (3rd ed.). University of Michigan Press.