Academic Writing Step by Step: A Research-Based Approach

Academic Writing Step by Step offers a new methodology for teaching academic writing informed by discourse analysis and genre theory and by recent research in text analysis. The book draws on accessible articles presenting popular science topics of current interest to illustrate and practice the processes involved in developing and writing an academic essay or research paper step by step. Each unit in Academic Writing Step by Step involves the user in guided hands-on practical analysis of an exemplar text. This analysis forms the basis for a sequence of learning activities directing students to engage with the text, moving from analysis (reading for intent) to composition (writing with intent). In this structured process, students acquire a critical understanding of the components of research and essay writing to underpin their own writing. Support for students’ analysis and writing of texts includes pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading activities. These activities are linked to practice in the recognition and use of words in context, grammar in context, and distinctive features of text types.Each unit contains many interactive tasks and closes with a substantive writing assignment reinforcing at least one component of academic writing highlighted in the unit. The book is designed as a textbook for academic or research writing courses, and its step-by-step approach makes it usable by university undergraduates or senior secondary students, including those for whom English is a second or foreign language. In addition, its authentic readings and focus on academic and research writing makes it also suitable for graduate level writing courses in English-speaking and English as a second or foreign language contexts.