Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills (Michigan Series In English For Academic & Professional Purposes)

I used the 2nd edition of this book to teach Academic Writing in a Continuing ed. ESL program to mostly Phd. candidates at the University of Massachusetts, as well as to Phd. students and professors at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. I found this to be an outstanding book for graduate students needing to learn the organizational patterns of IMRD research papers as well as rhetorical strategies commonly employed in such papers. Since these conventions are not typically taught in the ESL courses in the countries my students came from, they typically found the text quite informative. Having revised the English of over 1,400 research papers written by non-native speakers of English, I find this book to be highly relevant for anyone learning the basics of writing research papers. For example, the three moves of the introduction: 1. Begin by defining the larger general territory or context from which the topic of your study develops. 2. Point out a gap or lack of knowledge that exists in the literature about the topic of your study. 3. Indicate how your study fills this gap. Feaks and Swales elaborate on these 3 moves, and illustrate how to structure the introduction according to these three moves. The authors provide a lucid and simple set of points for students, which are quite reassuring to junior authors writing their first paper.While there are countless guidebooks on writing research papers, the authors address the unique needs of English Language Learners. It is a fine book to use alone, in small groups, or with large classes. One interesting feature of this book is that it does not simply prescribe rules. It is a far more nuanced approach to the topic. The authors cite various studies of applied linguistics that report not on what they think authors should be doing in their writing but instead on what actual authors do in various fields. This book relies heavily on the research of the field of Applied Linguistics, specifically genre analysis. One of the main ideas is develop students awareness of how researchers in their particular field write papers, considering their particular word choice, phrases, and strategies. The idea is to empower students and help them present themselves as knowledgeable and competent members of their particular research discourse community. This is a book that challenges students to think about how they wish to present their research; it does not provide a simplistic lists of dos and don'ts; it encourages thoughtful self-reflection. This feature sets it apart from common writing guidebooks.The the detailed review of issues related to writing the title, abstract, introduction, material and methods, results, and discussion, the lesson on hedging, citation patterns, the formulaic language used in various parts of a paper, the mixing of complex grammar with certain rhetorical strategies of research papers, all make this book a brilliant one-of-a-kind approach to the genre. The third edition, which covers more examples from natural and physical sciences, seems to have only greatly improved this superb book. Personally, after teaching ELL for 8 years in public schools, I was inspired by this book to delve deeper into English for Academic Purposes in higher education and research. I would highly recommend this book for any ELL graduate student aiming to improve their ability to write research papers.

I've been using the 2nd edition of this Academic Writing for Graduate Students in a writing class for international graduate students for several years. I liked it a lot, but this edition is even better. It's considerably longer than the last edition, contains example texts and exercises from a greater variety of fields, and works well both for in-class activities and individual study. One improvement over the last edition is the emphasis on "old to new" informational flow to improve clarity and coherence. Also, the skeletal sentences throughout the text (typical sentence structures found in academic writing that students can adapt for use in their own writing) are especially useful for students whose first language is not English.I should add, though, that this edition is probably more appropriate for Ph.D. students and visiting scholars than it is for master's students. I used it in a class composed almost entirely of doctoral students and international faculty members, and they reported that they learned a lot from the text. One of my colleagues, however, used it in a class composed mainly of master's students, and he found it less effective. In fact, he preferred the previous edition and thought that the 3rd edition was inappropriate for most of the students in his class. I prefer the 3rd edition and would recommend it to any doctoral students who want to master the genre of academic writing. I should also add that the commentary that can be purchased separately from the main text has also been significantly improved over the previous edition. The 2nd edition commentary was not worth buying, but the 3rd edition is much more useful, especially for students who are buying Academic Writing for Graduate students for individual study. Finally, at less than $30, this text is very good value for money.

I work as a writing consultant at a School of Public Health. I use this book every week, maybe even every day. Everything is thoughtful and well-chosen. The 8 pages on the language shift between informal and formal writing style is fantastic -- even my American students, often good writers, benefit from the very lucid explanations of the differences between "examine" or "investigate" vs. "check out" or "look into." Especially for international students, who often imitate what they HEAR, those distinctions are so incredibly helpful.

I ordered this as it is recommended for a Master's level course in organizational leadership. The book was delivered quickly, and is in generally good condition however the spine of the book bends like it was on the bottom of a book shelf? This may have been discussed in the product description and the book is still in great shape relatively, pages have no marks, and readable.

This book is impressive and very useful for academic writing

If you're planning to start your master's, then I would highly recommend this book! It doesn't matter in what field of study you're planning to do in your master's, I would definitely recommend this book for correct academic writing. It explains step by step on how to write academically correct. The only bad part that I see in this book is that there's no "answer key" if you want to correct yourself on completing the tasks that are presented in this book.

Well organized book. However, all contents are too focusing on grammar or systematic issues. I don't know why the author is asking so many questions like 'which is strong/weak expression'.I'd like to get more practical advice for my research paper such as diverse recommended expression.

The packaging was perfect and the copy was new. Its really helpful for academic writing and as a graduate student, I am pleased with its formation and way of learning. They should provide a solution for the exercises so that one can easily cross check their answers. Thanks to the writer and thanks to Amazon.

Es un libro bien organizado que ayuda a obtener las habilidades para hacer una redacción cientifica.

Libro che serve per fare le lingue.

A good book to learn how to write acdemically.

Product was only returned because, after ordering, I realized the course tuition already included a copy of this book.

It is difficult to teach writing skills in general, especially at a higher level. This book offers many exercises and tasks for the student to do and offer many tips and good examples. I really recommend this book!