Wanderlust

  Academic voice in essays Personal voice and academic style are worth considering to challenge students to write more clearly and convincingly. It really does not take long to improve a student’s written voice to be more critical and academic. I want to be clear here that this can be achieved by any student regardless of year group or perceived ability.    This can have a real impact both on the quality and precision of their thinking, their essays and ultimately their grade. At the outset of tackling an essay remind students about their own ‘voice’. Highlighting the difference between the more informal versus an academic style is key. Two things I have taught immediately help to eliminate the informal voice. Firstly, students remove first person from their essays- those who find English challenging absolutely can do this if they are taught how. Most sentences starting, ‘I think Dickens’    or ‘I think Lady Macbeth’ can be edited to easily remove the first pers...