I felt that my writing flowed smoothly, so why did the professor say it was like "chatting"?
This is the moment countless international students break down late at night: You've stayed up three nights in a row, reviewed over a dozen papers, and feel your logic is sound and your viewpoints sharp. But when the assignment comes out, the grade is barely passing, and the comments section starkly states:
- “"Tone is too informal."”(Too casual in tone)
- “Phrasing feels awkward.”(Awkward wording)
- “Argument is unclear due to language barriers.”(Language barrier leads to unclear arguments)
The most frustrating thing is that you might not even know where the information is. Subconsciously, we think that as long as the grammar is correct, the meaning is conveyed. But in academia...Register This determines your level of professionalism. Writing in a spoken style will make professors think you lack rigorous thinking and may even make them doubt your academic abilities.
To improve academic writing for international studentsFirst, you need to know where the "pitfall" is.
I. Deconstructing the "Four Major Pitfalls" of Academic English“
1. Overuse of colloquialisms and "all-purpose" adjectives
Many students like to use good, bad, a lot of, really, big Such words are not only vague in academic writing, but also indicate a limited vocabulary.
- ❌ Spoken version: This theory is really good and explains a lot of things.
- ✅ Academic Version: This theory is robust and elucidates Numerous phenomena.
2. Sentence structure polarization: too long or too fragmented.
Either they try to showcase their skill by writing two or three lines of long, complex sentences without logical connectors, leaving the reader breathless; or their sentences are too short and fragmented, sputtering words like a machine gun, lacking the flow that academic texts should have.
3. A basic error in tense and subject-verb agreement.“
International students often get lost in complex clauses. For example, they might use the past tense to describe previous research and the present tense to describe universal truths, but then switch back and forth within the same paragraph, or use inconsistent singular and plural forms, which can greatly disrupt the reading experience.
4. The loss of control over hedging (vague limiting terms)
Academic writing demands rigor.
- Too absolute: “"This proves that..." (Unless it's a mathematical proof, "prove" is rarely used; it's too arrogant.)
- Too timid: “"Maybe it could be possible that…" (Overuse of ambiguous words makes one seem insecure.)
II. Personal safety net process: How to rewrite a draft into a High Distinction
Don't try to write it perfectly the first time. It's recommended to write a draft first, and then perform a "surgical" rewrite following these steps:
Step 1: First preserve the logic (The Skeleton)
No matter how eloquent the language, if the logic is flawed, it's flawed. Check each paragraph:
- Is the first sentence the topic sentence?
- Does the rest of this paragraph support the first sentence?
- If a paragraph contains two core viewpoints, please split it.
Step 2: Language Upgrade (The Flesh)
- Terminology standardization: Ensure that the terminology used for the same concept is consistent throughout the entire article; do not change technical terms arbitrarily in order to "change words".
- Replace colloquial words: 把 get Change to obtain/acquire,Bundle look at Change to examine,Bundle make Change to generate/produce。
- Controlling sentence length: Use a combination of short and long sentences. Use short sentences to emphasize the point, and long sentences to explain the mechanism.
Step 3: Infuse with "The Soul"
This is paraphrase formal tone The key is to increase academic conjunctions and strong argumentative verbs:
- conjunction: Furthermore, conversely, consequently, in light of this…
- Argumentative verbs: abandon say 和 show, changed to suggest, indicate, demonstrate, illustrate, imply.
Step 4: Grammar and Register Fine-tuning (The Polish)
- Grammar check: Read it once specifically, focusing only on tense, articles (the/a), and singular/plural forms.
- Subject tone: Social Sciences may allow a small number of first-person pronouns (I argue that…), but STEM fields typically require absolutely objective passive voice or impersonal sentences.
three, DiffMindYour 24/7 AI Academic Editing Assistant
If you find the above steps too time-consuming, or if you are still unsure after making the changes,DiffMind It can become a core tool in your rewriting process. It's not just about correcting errors, but also about helping you reshape your academic style.
1. One-click multi-version rewriting (Formal / Concise / Persuasive)
When you write a sentence in "Chinglish", DiffMind can provide multiple rewritten versions for you to compare.
- It can transform the colloquial phrase "It is exceedingly difficult to…" into a more precise academic expression.
- You can choose “"More Formal"” The model enhances professionalism, or “More Concise” The pattern removes redundancy and meets the character limit.
2. Logic Vulnerability Detection
Often, when a professor calls you "unclear," it's because of unclear reference (e.g., misuse of words). this, itThis can identify logical breaks in a paragraph, pinpoint unclear references, and provide suggestions for improvement, ensuring your chain of arguments is seamless.
3. Consistency in style and terminology throughout the text.
DiffMind can remember your word choice habits throughout the text. If you use "Customer Acquisition Cost" in the first paragraph, it will remind you not to suddenly change it to "Cost to get users" in the third paragraph. Maintaining consistency in terminology throughout the text is a basic requirement for publication-level papers.
IV. Self-Help Checklist for International Students
Before submitting your assignment, please do one last round of this checklist. academic rewriting help Self-check:
- Spoken vocabulary review: Search and replace the following words in the full text: good, bad, big, thing, a lot, really, very.
- Connective check: Are there logical connectors (However, Therefore, In addition) between paragraphs and sentences?
- Argumentative verb escalation: Check if you are still using show/say? Replace it with demonstrate/argue/suggest.
- Hedging (appropriate level) Is the conclusion too absolute? Perhaps words like may, might, likely, and potential should be added.
- Temporal consistency: Is it confusing to use the past tense to describe the experimental process and the present tense to describe the charts/conclusions?
- Terminology consistency: Are the naming conventions for the core concepts consistent throughout the text?
- Active/Passive Selection: Does it conform to the conventions of your discipline (social sciences vs. science and engineering)?
Conclusion: Moving from "spoken language" to "academic style" doesn't require memorizing an entire dictionary, but rather mastering a logic for rewriting and proofreading. Combine the correct thought process with efficient tools like DiffMind, and you can completely master it. formal academic EnglishThis will ensure that language skills are no longer a stumbling block to achieving high scores.
