Writing At University

This text presents strategies and approaches to allow the reader to gain more control over his or her academic writing in a higher education environment. This edition includes more detailed consideration of plagiarism and careful use of source material.

"Academic Writing for University Students is designed to help all students succeed in writing essays, reports and other papers for coursework and exams effectively. Academic writing is often the biggest challenge facing college and university students, but this book provides all the tools needed to master the necessary skills. The book is divided into four parts, to help teachers and students easily find the help they need, both in the classroom and for self-study: The Writing Process: From finding suitable sources, through to editing and proofreading, Writing Types: Practice with common assignments such as reports and cause-effect essays, Writing Tools: Skills such as making comparisons, definitions, punctuation and style, Lexis: Academic vocabulary, using synonyms, nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs This key handbook breaks down and practises every stage of essay writing. All units are fully cross-referenced, and a complete set of answers to the practice exercises is included. In addition, the companion website hosts comprehensive teaching notes as well as more challenging exercises, revision material and links to other sources. Designed for self-study as well as classroom use, this book uses authentic academic texts from a range of sources and provides models for common writing tasks such as case studies, while progress checks are included for each part to enable students to assess their learning. Academic Writing for University Students is an invaluable guide to all aspects of academic writing in English"--

This indispensable guide shows students what successful academic writing involves and gives them the tools they will need to write successfully themselves. It separates fact from fiction and takes students through the five essential elements of academic writing: writing critically; using sources; developing your own voice; having a clear structure and style; and editing and polishing drafts. Chapters include annotated extracts of real students' academic writing from a range of subject areas. This third edition has been revised throughout, and contains three new sections on originality, argument and synthesising sources. Writing for University is an essential resource for students making the transition to university-level study and a valuable reference point for all students doing academic study in English. It is suitable for students of all disciplines, from education and business through to social work and psychology.

This book presents a unique visual approach to academic writing and composition specifically tailored to the needs of dyslexic students in higher education. Readers will learn to successfully structure and articulate their ideas, get to grips with critical reading, thinking and writing, and fulfil their full academic potential. The ‘writing process’ is demystified and techniques for writing compelling, insightful and mark generating essays are conveyed via innovative and meaningful representations, templates, images, icons and prompts, specifically designed to meet the visual and ‘big picture’ strengths of dyslexic learners. A companion website offers supplementary exercises, examples, videos and a full range of downloadable templates and bookmarks. Written by a dyslexic for dyslexics, Academic Writing and Dyslexia is underpinned by extensive research. As a dyslexic student you will learn to present your thoughts with confidence, critically evaluate competing arguments and gain top marks. The book will help you bridge the gap between your existing coping strategies and the increased demands and rigours of academic writing at university. It will be an invaluable resource for dyslexic students, academics, dyslexia specialists, learning developers and writing tutors throughout the higher education sector.

This is a basic, short guide that helps students make the transition to writing at college or university as simple as possible, providing them with the basic skills they need to write in an effective academic style. The authors draw on their own work to demystify the academic writing process that many students, in all disciplines, find daunting. By understanding exactly what obstacles students face when approaching writing at university they offer proven advice that is simple, uncomplicated and easily achievable. Clear and accessible, this book gives students step-by-step advice to overcome the main hurdles. It covers: overcoming apprehension – then making sure you know exactly what you are supposed to do planning reading – managing your time and keeping your focus, helping you get the material that needs to be in your work getting organised – you are ready to write the first draft, take a break and finally come back and edit it. Jargon-free, the book helps students at all levels of higher education to write clearly and persuasively, expressing both opinions and findings.

This volume aims to raise awareness of the underlying complexities concerning student writing in the universities. The authors address a series of theoretical as well as practical questions regarding the literacies required of students in Higher Education, from the perspective of both students themselves and of their tutors. The research described here intends to move beyond the narrow confines of current policy debates and the quick fix solutions of writing manuals, to explore the epistemological, cultural, historical and theoretical bases of such writing. Issues addressed include the nature of competing epistemologies that underlie the writing process and the varying degrees of explicitness about what academic writing entails; ways of challenging the institutional marginalisation of academic writing as teaching, learning, and research practice; what counts as knowledge and how far it is mediated by the rhetorical conventions of one culture; to what extent the challenging of such rhetorical conventions is itself a crucial epistemological issue. Writing, in this volume, then, is addressed in terms of academic literacy practices involving relations of power, issues of identity and theories of knowledge.

Composition research consistently demonstrates that the social context of writing determines the majority of conventions any writer must observe. Still, most universities organize the required first-year composition course as if there were an intuitive set of general writing "skills" usable across academic and work-world settings. In College Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for University Writing Instruction, Anne Beaufort reports on a longitudinal study comparing one student’s experience in FYC, in history, in engineering, and in his post-college writing. Her data illuminate the struggle of college students to transfer what they learn about "general writing" from one context to another. Her findings suggest ultimately not that we must abolish FYC, but that we must go beyond even genre theory in reconceiving it. Accordingly, Beaufort would argue that the FYC course should abandon its hope to teach a sort of general academic discourse, and instead should systematically teach strategies of responding to contextual elements that impinge on the writing situation. Her data urge attention to issues of learning transfer, and to developmentally sound linkages in writing instruction within and across disciplines. Beaufort advocates special attention to discourse community theory, for its power to help students perceive and understand the context of writing.

Examines trends in the different theoretical perspectives (cognitive, social and cultural) and derived practices in the activity of writing in higher education. This volume samples writing research traditions and perspectives both in Europe and the United States.