Writing with “Academic Style”: Theoretical considerations and preliminary findings on the new frontiers of EAP

Research in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has increased in terms of teaching and learning forms, methods and materials over the past decades. The globalisation of knowledge sharing and communication within the academic community, and the inclusion of marginalised higher education and research institutions have resulted in an ongoing evolution of many EAP-related terms. Nevertheless, underexplored areas of EAP research and practice remain, including that of "academic style", a necessary integration of EAP and academic writing teaching and practice. The study presents a pilot study consisting in the detailed qualitative analysis of a collection of abstracts from a PhD seminar on academic style (self)proofreading. By employing a methodological framework combining stylistics, error analysis, and the categorisation of specific "areas of interest", the pilot study highlights relevant stylistic errors in academic writing and draws conclusions on the requirements and implications of introducing academic style to EAP.