The Value of Academic Writing for Doctor of Philosophy Dissertations in Law

Abstract

Problem setting. The issue of speech competence of legal professionals is gaining more and more importance in connection with the observance of academic integrity both in the educational process and in professional activity. Academic writing is the basis on which legal experts, in particular, in the process of preparing a dissertation for obtaining a doctor of philosophy, create scientific texts, form and present their own ideas, argue, generalize and abstract. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The issues of academic writing, academic literacy, and academic culture were investigated by T.V. Tymoshenko, N.V. Grechikhina, G.F. Khoruzhiy, N. Shlichta, T.V. Lyuty, A. V. Vykhrushch, M.B. Tsenko and others. Academic writing is interpreted as the process of creating and publishing a scientific text, which involves the expediency of using the possibilities of modern information technologies, as well as mastering the basics of academic culture. Yuvayapan F., Bilginer H., Lin L. H. F., Morrison B. dealt with issues of the importance of academic writing for graduate students. Target of the research is to find out the importance of academic writing, academic literacy for the training of legal professionals in the process of preparing dissertations for obtaining the scientific degree of Doctor of Philosophy, to deepen speech competence and to suggest areas for improvement. Article’s main body. The issue of language and speech competences of law specialists in academic writing, in particular in the preparation of scientific texts of higher education holders of the degree of doctor of philosophy (postgraduate students), was investigated. The specifics of the concept of “academic writing”, its types and structural elements are clarified, the compliance of dissertation annotations with the norms of the modern Ukrainian language, compliance with the laws of academic writing, which is considered by scientists as a complex and multifaceted complex of skills that includes linguistic, syntactic and stylistic competences, is analyzed. The importance of proficiency in academic literacy in relation to written language involves the purpose of the work and the task. The result of academic writing should be an impeccable scientific text, both from the point of view of linguistics and regarding the formulation of the topic of the scientific work, its relevance, scientific novelty, substantiation of the significance of the research results, etc. It is analyzed how the quality of academic writing dynamically changes in the process of language design of dissertation annotations. Attention is focused on typical language problems in academic writing, ways to avoid them are suggested. The competence of specialists in the field of law regarding the peculiarities of academic writing, its structure and requirements for it, language specifics will allow avoiding many mistakes in the professional field, will contribute to the creation of a highquality academic text, and will serve as evidence of high professional culture and general professional training. Conclusions and prospects for the development. Achieving a high level of speech competence of scientists and specialists in the field of law in academic writing is one of the important tasks that requires constant attention, an essential solution at all stages of the educational process, most strongly at the level of obtaining a doctor of philosophy.