Academic Writing: A Book Critique

         It is certain that most students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) find academic writing challenging and require special training in order to meet the demands of the discourse community. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (Bailey, 2006) aims to prepare student to face such challenges in a broad spectrum of circumstances. The author highlights the importance of students’ needs “to adopt new conventions of style, referencing and layout” (Bailey, 2006, p. vii) and states that all of these objectives may be attained by means of hands-on practice. 

        The book has been organized in four sections. The first one is “The Writing Process” which deals with the essential contents of writing academically. The second section, “Elements of Writing”, provides students with the necessary skills that are common for writing assignments. “Accuracy in Writing” is the third section and refers to areas that are usually considered problematic for students. The fourth section, “Writing Models”, exemplifies the different texts students are asked to write in most courses. Each of these main sections is subdivided into smaller units which lead students to develop specific skills and contents. Additionally, a “Writing Tests” section can be found at the end of the handbook; it provides self-assessment so that students may check their progress. 

       Not only Bailey’s handbook is well-organized but it also presents a number of positive aspects. Students are efficiently guided and introduced to the world of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). It is clearly organized and covers the areas might be problematic for students who are not accustomed to the requirements of EAP. All of the units comprise of practice on a particular topic. Students are always given the chance to produce a text where a specific writing aspect is practiced. 

      However, certain aspects of Bailey’s work (2006) could be improved. For example, the book deals with a wide range of topics which diminishes the quality of their treatment. Moreover, Bailey’s book would have been more comprehensive if he had included more text variety. Students using this book could have been highly benefited of concrete examples of the types of texts they may be asked to write. More importantly, the book would have been more useful to students if it had featured documentation styles. In section 2.11 Avoiding Plagiarism, it would seem as if the author dealt with the American Psychological Association (APA) style, but no explicit reference to the style was made. Additionally, Bailey’s handbook could have been more beneficial if he had encouraged students to research further on areas of their interest by recommending primary sources. 

      To conclude, Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (Bailey, 2006) is a very good option for students of EFL who need to learn the basic aspects of the writing process required in academic settings. It is a well-organized book that presents numerous advantages like hands-on practice activities. Although certain aspects need improvement, Bailey’s book has an undeniable value to EFL learners.

References

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for international students (2nd ed). Retrieved from http://npu.edu.ua/!e-book/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_t27.pdf

An experience to be shared

                 At the beginning of this year (2014) I got the position I currently hold, Coordinator of the English Department at a private school in the province of Bs As. Before I got the position, there had been no coordinator for 4 years and thus, the teachers worked following their personal beliefs with no clear directions or any type of control. It was February and classes were about to start and I was asked to attend the first meeting with the Supervisor, who does not know English but had decided the focus of her attention this year was going to be Language Practices, including the teaching of Foreign Languages. She gave me the format in which all schools were to write their annual plans, following the Curriculum of the Province of Bs As for Primary schools (forms 4^th to 6^th). Her plans did not take into account that this document did not fit in our school, which has English lessons every day from kindergarten to 6^th form. In order to meet her requirements and directions, all plans had to be rewritten and practices, observed and modify. It has been hard work to comply with all the requirements the Supervisor asked for,. Making all changes effective will take time. However, working as a team with my colleagues and meeting to agree on procedures and study the curricular designs has paid off.   Our new plans have been signed and the Supervisor even sit in on a class to see if we were doing what she expected us too. In fact, after having watched the class, she stated we were one of the few schools implementing the new curricular directions. It was a rewarding experience.

English language courses in Turkey: needs of empowering and improving practices - Summary

           Turkey is one of the many countries which is nowadays looking for new ways of improving the teaching and learning processes in its English language classes inside its primary institutions. In 2006, the Ministry of National Education published a new curriculum which not only regulates the contents and practices but also gives the teachers ideas of how to implement it (Arda 2011, para 1). In the article “A small-scale study of primary school English language teachers’ classroom activities and problems” (Arda, 2011), the author explains what the reality of Turkish primary schools is in relation to its English language classes, gives a description of the study conducted by Akdeniz University and exposes its results.

          To begin with, the author explains the importance English is gaining in the country which is shown in the attitude parents and teachers have towards the subject: the earlier the children are taught the language, the better it will be. As a result, the age at which they are first introduced to the language has gone down and more studies direct their attention to the type of activities developed at this early stage. However, different problems should be faced if excellence wants to be achieved. Developing the wrong type of language activities is an example. Teacher should have in mind that young learners do not learn the same way adults do, and thus, they should be taught differently.

          To carry out the study a group of 46 teachers were asked to answer 3 questions which targeted the type and frequency of language learning activities developed in the classes, what teachers needed to improve their practices and what the teachers considered of outmost importance for language learners to be a successful. From the study, it could be concluded that students continued to be recipients of the target language and that the teachers’ practices centered around themselves. It was also shown that teachers fostered the teaching of vocabulary, pronunciation, reading and speaking leaving aside others areas of equal importance, such as culture, writing, grammar and listening. (Arda, para. 11).

          To conclude, the author compares the results of this study to the Ministry of National Education’s OBBS report (2009) in which similar findings were exposed. The needs of shifting form teacher-centred activities to student-directed ones is crucial if Language courses should be upgraded.  

References

Arda A. (2011).  A small-scale study of primary school English language teachers’ classroom activities and problems. International Conference on New Trends in Education and their implications. 

Academic Writing and Wikipedia: A Writing Project - Summary

Writing academic texts may be a challenging task for learners of English as a foreign language. In her article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing”, Tardy, C. (2010) claims that students can develop writing skills by means of writing an article for Wikipedia, a web-based, freely editable encyclopedia. (www.wikipedia.org)

To begin with, Tardy introduces the benefits of the project: Wikipedia helps students to conduct research, evaluate sources and avoid plagiarism. She also highlights the challenges of academic writing like knowledge on genre repertoires. Then, she describes and emphasizes the characteristics of Wikipedia which she deems important for the project. Its main objective is producing an original article in English.

The author describes the necessary steps to write an article complying with Wikipedia's standards and regulations. The first stage is analyzing the website, discussing advantages and disadvantages of using this encyclopedia. Students are asked to read articles and answer questions as guidance in this phase. For the second step, they choose a topic to write about and start looking for information “maintaining a record of the sources of information” (Tardy, 2010, p. 16). When students have collected enough information, they are supposed to begin writing their articles using outlines and paraphrasing. After this, a first draft should be produced and later revised by a classmate. Once the article is close to publication, students should use the accepted format for Wikipedia articles. Careful attention must be paid to citation and sources. The final stages consist of polishing the articles, i.e. checking vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation as well as hyperlinking to other articles in the website. Publishing the article will be the last step of the project.

Tardy (2010) concludes students may develop research and writing academic skills in an interesting way. She also mentions it may be possible to introduce some variables to the project so as to make it fit different stages in the learning process. She also highlights the importance of supervising the evolution of the article as it is modified by other users. Moreover, this project provides students with a non-conventional way of introducing the different aspects of academic and collaborative writing. Tardy’s idea gains particular relevance for students who struggle to be acquitted with the features of academic English.

References

Tardy, C. M. (2010). Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing. English Teaching Forum, 48(1), 12-19.

Discovering the Importance of APA in Academic Writing and the Discourse Community

             The purpose of the present analysis is to delve into the use and importance of in-text citations, signal phrases, and reference list on the basis of the American Psychology Association (APA) Manual. The text to be analyzed is the article Providing increased Access to English L2 Students of Computer Science at a South African University by Dalvit, Murray and Terzoli (2005).

 To begin with, the authors of this article have mostly resorted to in-text citations to refer to their sources. They have paraphrased the information provided by other professionals and included the surnames and the year of publication between brackets, as indicated by APA. As regards the use of one author in-text citations, we are able to locate several examples, such as “Boughey, 2002” (Dalvit, Murray, Terzoli & Zhao, 2005, p. 73). They have also cited multiple author sources, paraphrasing their contributions to the field of study. As an example of this case, we find “Sweetnam-Evans, 2001” (Dalvit et al, 2005, p. 74). Furthermore, they have correctly cited institutions as sources, including their full names and the year of publication. “Department of Education and Department of Communication, 2001” (Dalvit et al, 2005, p. 72) is an example. It can be noticed they have also consulted online reference tools, as the Webster’s Online Dictionary and the High-Tech Dictionary. However, it should be stated that they have not made use of direct quotes. All in all, they have cited their sources correctly throughout the text.

Furthermore, the authors have made limited use of signal phrases. Following the APA documentation style, they have opted for a very common signal phrase to indicate the introduction of cited material into the text. There are two examples: “According to Heugh (2002)” (Dalvit et al., 2005, p. 72) and “According to Halliday and Martin (1993)” (Dalvit et al., 2005, p. 73). Overall, they have not resorted to numerous signal phrases, in spite of the numerous alternatives to select from.

Moreover, the authors provided an inappropriate list of references. On the one hand, references to both books and organization as authors follow the APA style correctly. (Paiz, Angeli & Wagner, 2012). On the other hand, the authors listed articles from a data base, sections from web pages and online dictionaries, but they did not fully adhere to the APA rules. In the case of references to websites (journals and dictionaries), the phrase “retrieved from” should have been included (Paiz et al, 2012). Moreover, definitions from online dictionaries did not contain the word entry first and the date was absent in several of the items listed. Additionally, the list is alphabetized but does not begin on a new separate page. The text is not doubled-spaced or formatted in hanging indent and the references should not be numbered. Furthermore, the word References should not be in bold or followed by a colon; instead, it should have been centered. Thus, the reference list cannot be framed within the principles of the APA system of referencing as it contains several errors in adhering to its principles.

As a conclusion, although the authors have respected the rules laid down by the APA when quoting their in-text references, they should have paid the same attention to the reference list. Having a correct, properly formatted reference list is as important as giving credit to their sources. Members of the discourse community seeking to extend or verify the content of the article would find great impediments in the list the authors have provided.

References

Dalvit, L., Murray, S., Terzoli, A., & Zhao, X. (2005). Providing Increased Access to English L2 Students of Computer Science at a South African University. US-China Education Review, 2(9), 72-75.

Paiz, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., et al. (2012). Welcome to the Purdue OWL. Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/06/

University of Minnesota Center for Writing. (n.d.) Quicktips: APA documentation style: Reference list. University of Minnesota: Student Writing Support.

English for Acadeic Purposes (EAP) - Outline

Purpose: To define EAP and its scope

Thesis:  Teachers of English who aspire to belong to a discourse community need to understand what EAP and its scope are.

Audience: Teachers of English who are interested in or need to develop their understanding of the field of English for Academic Purposes.

EAP

I. Definition

     A. EAP: the discipline that deals with the communicative skills necessary to study in formal educationa

II. Background

     A. The first recorded use of the term was in 1974.

III. Need and Usage

     A. Students may need EAP for higher education studies.

     B. Students may use EAP for pre-departure courses.

IV. Courses

     A. Courses have two main forms:

          1. Pre-sessional (before an academic course begins full time)

          2. In-sessional (during an academic term or semester- part time)

     B. Course elements:

          1. Formal teaching programs

          2. Self-access situations

          3. Distance-learning materials

          4. Computer-assisted language learning (CALL)

V. Coverage 

     A. English for General Purposes (EGP)  or Teaching of English for No Obvious Reason (TENOR) 

     B. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 

          1. English for Occupational /Vocational/ Professional Purposes (EOP / EVP / EPP)

          2. English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

               I. English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP)

                    a. Common core

                    b. Study skills

                         b.1. Abilities, techniques, and strategies which are used when reading, writing or listening for study purposes.

               II. English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP)

                    a. Subject-specific English is the Language needed for a particular academic subject (language structure, vocabulary, particular skills needed for the subject, and appropriate academic conventions)

References

Jordan, R. R. (1997). English for academic purposes: a guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.