WARNING! The following characterizations of academic texts in English and in Czech are generalizations only. They
show typical tendencies. Of course, there are excellent academic texts written by Czech authors, and bad academic
texts written by English-speaking authors!
English
Academic Texts (tendencies)
Highly structured
Clear division of the text (abstract, introduction, body,
conclusion, bibliography)
More logical division into sections
Logical division of the text into chapters, sub-chapters
or sections, sub-sections, etc.
Strict paragraph function
Paragraphs with clear single theme or topic, each with
a ‘topic sentence’, body, and (possibly) concluding
sentence – longer paragraphs
No digression from theme
Information or ideas avoided if not related to the
theme
Thesis clearly identified
Clear thesis (expressed in introduction)
Clarity more important than style
Repetition of expressions and use of straightforward
syntactic structures to increase clarity and
understandability
Author – happy to state opinions
Authorial self-confidence – use of assertive statements
(The results of the research show that...); clear titles
(Problems associated with...)
Emphasis on understandability
Orientation towards the reader – the author is
responsible for the reader’s understanding of the text.
Czech
Academic Texts (tendencies)
Loosely structured
Boundaries between different parts of text less clearly
identifiable
Less logical division into topics
No division into sections or less logical indication of
chapters and sub-chapters, etc.
Less strict paragraph function
Long stretches of text devoted to one topic – made up
of shorter paragraphs to provide reading pauses only
Digression from theme allowed
Information or ideas unrelated to the theme are
acceptable
Often no explicit thesis
Explicit thesis not required. The conclusion is
wherever the ‘javelin’ lands.
Style more important than clarity
Use of synonyms and complex syntactic structures to
convey message in a stylistic, ‘flowery’ way
Author – fear of appearing immodest
Modalization – tentative statements (From our results,
it appears that...); modest titles (A small contribution to
understanding problems associated with...)
Emphasis on sounding ‘academic’
Orientation towards the subject in all its complexity –
it is the reader’s responsibility (or problem?!) to make
sense of it.