Words matter, particularly in academic writing. Issues such as vague language, wordiness, and cliches make it difficult to get a point across. Part of a larger series to improve writing skills, the handout on word choice shows writers how to avoid common issues, as well as strategies to use and questions to ask while writing a paper.

Concepts

word choice, writing styles, cliches

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Write an awkward paragraph that contains some of the issues mentioned in the resource, then read it aloud as a class and discuss how to improve the language used
• Conduct a peer review of student essays using strategies from the handout

Classroom Considerations

• Focuses on revising a paper and assumes scholars have reached that stage of the writing process

Pros

• Includes links to handouts on style, passive voice, and proofreading to provide learners with additional resources
  
• Uses tables to organize and display key pieces of information for easier viewing

Cons

• Feels somewhat disorganized, as many different topics appear throughout the handout

Common Core

W.9-10.5 W.11-12.5