Learning to write for academic purposes: Specificity and second language writing

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The massive expansion of English as the academic lingua franca has meant that many students around the world are now studying their subjects in a second language. This means that the ability to write in ways valued by their tutors becomes a key part of their learning and how they demonstrate their competence in a discipline. Writing is the way students learn to display their critical and analytic skills, their use of English for reasoning and persuasion, their grasp of subject matter issues and their ability to shape an argument using the conventions of their field. This means being able to craft their writing in community-specific ways and it is at the heart of the conceptual understanding of a discipline. In this chapter I explore what it means to take this view seriously, addressing the theme of this volume by focusing on learning to write for academic purposes.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationTeaching Writing for Academic Purposes to Multilingual Students
Subtitle of host publicationInstructional Approaches
EditorsJohn Bitchener, Neomy Storch, Rosemary Wette
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Chapter3
Pages24-41
Number of pages18
ISBN (Electronic)9781351979757
ISBN (Print)9781138284210
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Apr 2017

Cite this