As a student you need to write: Class assignments, Project reports, Term

papers, Dissertations

As a researcher you need to write: Research proposals, research project reports,

journal articles

As a civil servant you will need to write: Progress reports, project proposals, minutes of

meetings, workshop proceedings and official correspondences

Whether you are a student, research officer or a general civil servant, you will need to do some writing in your life.

This writing is FORMAL writing because you need to follow certain conventions (rules)

ACADEMIC WRITING is nothing but a form of FORMAL writing employed in the field of education.

If you learn ACADEMIC WRITING, you will be able to:

1. Write your course assignments and projects well and achieve academic success.

2. Critically analyse other’s works and learn to synthesize information from different sources

Principles of good writing How to do a literature review? Extract and synthesize relevant

information Citing and referencing Note taking and summarizing skills Reading skills and strategies Writing skills Conventions of Academic Writing

1.   Simplicity, economy and clarity of words 2.   Follow correct grammar, punctuation

and spelling 3.   Improving sentences4.   Working towards, coherence, vigor, and

rhythm

Surveying material Note-taking and summarizing skills Avoiding plagiarism Citing and referencing

Predicting Skimming Scanning Detailed reading Guessing unknown words Understanding main ideas Inferring Understanding text organization Assessing a writer’s purpose Evaluating a writer’s purpose

Incorporating source material Dividing a text into paragraphs Writing introductions and conclusions Synthesizing from different sources Including tables and figures Layout of written work Writing a bibliography Revising and proof-reading Commonly used abbreviations

Part B: You will be given a sheet of paper that explains what Academic Writing is all about. Read and identify the key points that characterize Academic Writing (15 min). Discuss in groups of five (30 min).

  Reporting: A member from each group

will report to the whole class (5 min). Subsequent group representatives will either add or present the points that are different from the previous groups.

What is a literature review? What purpose does it serve in Academic Writing?

A.  Answer the question in a sheet of paper in not more than 3 sentences (5 min)

Reporting: Your answer sheet will be exchanged with another person. It will be read to the class but the anonymity of the author will be maintained.

http://www.papermoz.co.uk/assignments/buy-assignments/ http://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/academic-writing/ http://wac.colostate.edu/aw/ http://monash.edu/lls/llonline/writing/general/academic/index.xml http://www.uc.edu/aess/lac/writingcenter.html