1. Words Matter: How to effectively use idioms, slang, & stock phrases in academic writing
Academic writing is not always easily defined. For the purpose of this presentation, we’ll talk about academic writing as writing you do here at Purdue for classes, presentations, research, publications, etc. Paying attention to our audience informs us of the types of language we can use. Keeping that in mind, let’s see how we can effectively use idioms, slang, and stock phrases in our writing here at Purdue.
Note to presenter: As you do the presentation, be sure that you’re writing words/phrases on the board for students to refer to during activities and that you categorize them as informal vs formal
Ashley Velázquez
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab

2. What are idioms?
Idiom
An idiom is a group of words that is language specific and that does not directly translate in meaning. Here are some examples:
Bite your tongue
Sitting on the fence
Rule of thumb
Piece of cake
Give rise to
What do these mean?
Which of these, if any, would you use in a paper?
Ask the audience:
What are idioms?
Idioms are usually special to one language and the meaning does not translate directly.
Example: break a leg; a can of worms; break even; it’s raining cats and dogs
What do these each mean?
Can you provide 3 examples of your own?
Would you use them in an academic paper?
Some of these are more appropriate for academic writing than others. For example, give rise to and sitting on the fence can easily be incorporated into a research paper. Rule of thumb is another potential. The other two, however, would not be appropriate in academic writing.

3. What is slang?
Slang
Slang is very informal language usually found in speech and not writing. Slang is also typically associated with groups of people that share a similar cultural background.
Because slang can be offensive, it’s not always appropriate in writing.
Can you think of any types of writing where slang may be appropriate?
Ask the audience to define slang in their own words and provide some examples.
Afterwards, give them a more concrete definition (provided in the slide).
Things to note about slang: it can be very offensive to many people. These include derogatory names and slurs as well as cuss words.
Ask the audience after a definition is given: do you think slang is ever appropriate in academic writing?
Some cases where slang may be appropriate: narratives, marketing towards a certain audience, personal notes, etc.

4. What are stock phrases? Stock phrase:
A stock phrase is a phrase that is habitually used by a person or group of people, and thus associated with them. This can also refer to certain fields of study.
What are some stock phrases you know?
When might stock phrases be appropriate in writing?
Are any of the examples we talked about ever appropriate in academic writing?
Ask the audience: what is a stock phrase.
After talking about the definition, ask them to provide some examples that they may know
Example stock phrases:
Agree to disagree
Am I right?
Abandon ship
When life gives you lemons…
Wrote the book
You remind me of _____
Classified information
Eat my dust
Go figure
How the mighty have fallen

5. Informal vs. Formal Language Informal Formal
Simple language
Complex language
Colloquial language (slang)
Academic language
Contractions and abbreviations
No contractions or abbreviations
Subjective (empathy and emotion) – 1st person
(Usually) 3rd person: Objective and factual/logical
Here are some examples of informal and formal language uses. Can you think of any situations where you’d use simple language versus complex language? What about a situation where you’d use more empathy and emotions and another where you would use more logic?
(Colloquial can be referred to as slang/idioms/stock phrases)
Possible activity:
Have students take a paragraph from their paper and put it into a Tweet format (140 characters only). You may also show some example Tweets that tackle current events using colloquial/informal language. If there is enough time, you may have students write a short paragraph in groups of 3, and then change that paragraph into a Tweet to be shared with the rest of the workshop members (depending on how many attendees you have and how much time is allotted). This activity could take A tip for something like this is to make it competitive – see who can create the most informal tweet from a formal text the quickest.

6. Informal/Formal Writing Assignments
Middle
Formal
Journal
Book-Article Report
Glossary
Note-taking
Process Reflection
Summaries
Timed Short Response
Web Site Review
Annotation
Book/Article Review
Contextual
Analysis/Solution
Definition Paper
Reflective Paper
Response/Reaction Paper
Lab Report
Essay Exam
Group Project Report
Letter to the Editor
Professional Article
Research Paper
Translation Paper
Ask the audience:
Based on this list, what types of writing do you do most often?
After surveying to see where the audience mostly falls (informal, middle, formal), ask them if their language/word choice ever changes or if they use the same language all the time? (i.e., engage in a critical discussion about language choices in different contexts. For example, why might a journal entry be more informal than a lab report, why is a book/article review considered middle ground [this could be due to the fact that reviews are generally a mix of subjectivity and objectivity], or are summaries ever formal?)
Possible activity:
Have ½ the students write a review of the workshop thus far and ½ the students write a journal entry about the workshop. Compare how the language is being used between the two groups and discuss how both assignments might be turned into a professional article (i.e., what strategies would students need to employ in order to make these assignments more formal). This may take students 10 minutes to complete.

7. Writing Activities Tweet the main idea of one of your current papers.
Tweet first to your friends
Tweet second to a professional audience
Turn both of your Tweets into a Facebook status about the topic of your paper (no more than 4 sentences)
First to your friends
Second to a professional audience
Be sure to have students use the words/phrases that have been discussed up until this point in the presentation. It may also be helpful to have students brainstorm in groups of 4-5 new phrases they might use (they could use Google if you’d like).
If there’s time, you may consider showing students informal and formal examples of Tweets and Facebook statuses to show that it’s not only the media we use that determines our language choices but our audience(s) as well.
If you’re short on time, you can do both of these as a whole group where you facilitate students’ responses and write the examples on the board or via computer/projector. Either way, students will certainly see the differences in language and formality.

8. Academic Vocabulary Resources
If you have time, you can show students these websites. I highly recommend looking at these for yourself beforehand and deciding whether or not they’d be useful for your students.

9. https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/608/01/
The OWL is also Helpful
There are many resources on the OWL’s website, one of which is about vocabulary and appropriate language in academic writing.
Here’s the link:

10. The End
Words Matter: How to effectively use idioms, slang, & stock phrases in academic writing
By: Ashley J. Velázquez
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab