Criterion

Grade: 5/4/3/2/1

Comments (5 being the highest grade and 1 the lowest)

Originality

3

This book bridges the reader’s knowledge and experience from writing for IELTS or something similar, as a pre-academic student, to writing for academic purposes, within an institute of Higher Education. It’s originality lie in raising the students’ awareness of and encouraging students to notice, the difference between what has been expected of them and what is going to be expected of them, in terms of academic conventions when writing for academic purposes within Higher Education.

Practicality

3

As a self-study resource, the information is written in a clear and concise way.

• The Introduction provides useful information regarding the structure, content and use of the book, with some very practical study tips.
• This book could be worked through sequentially or units could be used in isolation, as required/preferred.

Presentation

2

• Following on from the Contents page and Introduction, this book contains eleven chapters. Each chapter begins with outlining its aims and is followed by a self-evaluation quiz of 3-4 questions.
• Sub-headings are used throughout the Units.
• The information presented in this book is focused and compact.
• Illustrations and exercises are presented in individual boxes.
• Clear explanations are given, making the information accessible, with a glossary outlining key terminology adjacent to where it is being presented on the page.
• Helpful study tips are presented throughout each Unit, at appropriate points.
• At the end of each Unit there is a summary of important points to remember.
• An answer key and full glossary of the terminology used throughout the Units are provided at the back of the book.
• There are 3 Appendices: 1) Annotated Essay Examples, 2) Responding to marking criteria and feedback and 3) Useful phrases

Overall rating

3

What outstanding strengths/ weaknesses do you feel this title possesses?

This is a very informative resource which provides a general overview of academic writing. It promotes a change in the student’s mind-set, informing and ‘mentoring’ them towards developing their academic writing skills.

Strengths:

Easy to understand examples and illustrations are used to portray complex ideas and concepts.

Acronyms are used to enable the student to remember important points and processes, such as the steps involved in paraphrasing.

Students are encouraged to take their writing to ‘the next level’ and are shown what that looks like, through model essays and texts. They are also given guidance on the steps needed to move forward.

Students are encouraged to notice the gap between a pre-undergraduate essay and a graduate essay. The useful tips and guidance given also challenge the student to rethink their current understanding of how to approach structuring their essay. For example, the difference between writing ‘for and against’ paragraphs to writing a discussion.

The book is cross-referenced throughout enabling the student to either discover or revise a particular point being highlighted through an illustration.

Review and consolidation of academic conventions are provided through 2 annotated essays. Each annotation refers to the Unit in the book where the student can review the information again.

The useful phrases used throughout the book are consolidated and presented in the Appendix.

How to respond to marking criteria and feedback is considered with attention being given to evaluating the comments, in terms of whether they are positive, negative or neutral and how the student can best learn from them.

Weaknesses:

The pages are heavily text-laden and will, therefore, require a lot of reading. This could be counter-productive for a lower level language learner.

There is limited opportunity for student practice, in relation to exercises provided.

No information is given regarding the range of genres required in academic writing.

No references to resources are provided for further reading/study.

On which courses do you envisage being able to use this material?

This book could be used as an additional self-study resource on any of the following programmes:

Pre-sessional, Foundation, First year Undergraduate students on degree or comparative programmes,

Preparatory Academic English programmes

Please note that this self-study book has not been mapped against the CEFR (Common European Framework). It is text-heavy and requires a lot of reading. Whilst it is written in a very accessible way, and a glossary is provided, it is anticipated that a student with an IELTS score of 4.5 or less may struggle to use this resource effectively.

In contrast, for Pre-sessional students of IELTS 6.0+, it is likely that the information in this book would be accessed and applied, without difficulty.

Other comments

The information and advice given in this book provide valuable insight into the academic conventions required for writing at university. Addressing a pre-academic audience, this book guides the student forward toward recognizing and using academic conventions within a Higher Education context. The content includes: Reader expectation and essay structure; Essay content and language; Formality; Authority; Integrity; Paraphrasing and Essay process and presentation, amongst others.

It seeks to enable the learner to recognize and assess their current writing abilities and develop these so that they are able ‘…to produce successful academic essays.’  In addition, it instructs the student in the writing process, as well as considering grammatical points and analysing sentence structure to aid reading comprehension.

Emphasis is placed on understanding the ‘What and Why’s’ of academic conventions, with instruction given regarding the ‘How to’s’, with some but limited opportunity to practise.         

For the student transitioning from a preparatory course such as IELTS or other pre-academic programme, this book provides essential insight into the fundamental principles of academic writing.

For the ELT teacher transitioning from teaching EFL to EAP, this could be a beneficial addition to the book shelf!