How to use an Appropriate Language for your Literature Review

When creating a literature review, an important aspect to consider is who your target audience will be. If you are writing for dissertation purposes, your literature review most likely will be read by external Teachers, Professors and Lecturers to give an extended non-bias perspective and understating to your piece. Your choice of language is important to address at this point because when writing with the intention of an academic review, you must remain aware that your reader will understand the correct language and terminology to use.



Abbreviations of words may only be used when the full description has been provided. For example, once you mention the words 'United Kingdom', you may then abbreviate to UK from that point onwards. If you are intending to use this method, it is often worth implementing the full wording, complimented by the abbreviation in brackets straight after. For example, I used to live in the United Kingdom (UK), before moving abroad to the United States of America (USA).

Dialect of a Literature Review

Secondly, you must consider the language and dialect that you are writing in. For piece of work written for English purposes, you must note that there are spelling differences between English and American English. These usually take the form of a letter removed from a word, or a differently spelt word, for example in English the word 'Mum' whereas in American English the word 'Mom'. This remains true for entire words that are pronounced differently between the two dialects, for example in English 'Aluminium' and in American English 'Aluminum'. Careful consideration of these differences can be the difference between creating a well written literature review and a poorly written dissertation. One final point to consider is the use of 'slang' terms.

These terms are not commonly accepted in literary circles including education authorities. If writing a dissertation that includes using slang due to a person's dialect or accent, such as 'No' becoming 'Nah', then this needs to be clearly explained before the term is used to ensure coherency throughout the review.