HR Matters | Lit. Academic Writing for Beginners

Students are shown that academic writing is part and parcel of the research process. It is a skill that will help them prepare for, implement and report on their research. Assignments at pre-university and undergraduate levels tend to be based on secondary sources. But there is a growing awareness of the importance of getting students to engage in some data collection and analysis. This is one way of helping them to become producers of knowledge in their own right, not just consumers. They are also likely to discover their own originality in the process, and to make a small contribution to their area of investigation.

Elaine Morais retired as a Professor from the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, in early May 2004 after 26 years of service. While at the university, she taught a variety of courses on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. These include courses on Academic Writing, English as a Second Language, Negotiation Skills and Ethics at the undergraduate level, and Research Methodology, Varieties of English and Patterns of Communication Within and Between Communities to Master's students. She has also over the years provided guidance and supervision to countless students undertaking assignments, project papers and theses.

Table of Contents
Preface to Second Edition
Preface to First Edition
Introduction
Unit 1 : Getting Started
Unit 2 : Coming to Grips with Writing
Unit 3 : Planning What to Say
Unit 4 : Diving In
Unit 5 : Keeping the Audience in Mind
Unit 6 : Expressing Main Points, Reformulating, Elaborating and Giving Reasons
Unit 7 : Giving Examples, Making Additional Points, Comparing and Contrasting
Unit 8 : Expressing Sequence, Summarising and Generalising
Unit 9 : Introductions and Conclusions
Unit 10 : References and Citations
Unit 11 : Data Analysis and Commentary
Unit 12 : Avoiding Plagiarism
References
Acknowledgements
Answer Key

Introduction

Every academic programme requires students to produce various kinds of written assignments in the course of their studies. This is true for pre-university, undergraduate and postgraduate study. The expectations and standards become higher as you move up the academic ladder.

At pre-university level, students are routinely expected to turn in assignments that are expected to meet the basic standards of academic writing. A significant part of the assessment for many programmes at undergraduate level includes coursework requirements, in addition to the final examination.Coursework usually takes the form of term and project papers which students are expected to submit at various stages.

So, anyone who enrolls for a pre-university programme or for a course at college or university level will need to have a sound understanding of the basic principles of academic writing and to be able to use the micro and macro writing strategies needed to produce the assignments. Essentially, the student will need to be able to generate, organise, and present ideas. This involves learning how to express main points, to reformulate and elaborate on what has been said, to give reasons for views put forward, and to make comparisons and contrasts. In addition, he will need to be able to express ideas in sequence, to generalise, to summarise and to write suitable introductions and conclusions for his paper as a whole, as well as for sections within his paper.

Academic writing is part and parcel of the research process. The student needs this skill to prepare for, implement and report on his research. Assignments at pre-university and undergraduate levels tend to be based on secondary sources, that is on material from the library and the Internet. But there is growing awareness of the importance of getting students to engage in some form of data collection and analysis. This is one way of helping them to become producers of knowledge in their own right, not just consumers. They are also likely to discover their own originality in the process, and to make a small contribution to their area of investigation.

Before the student proceeds to collect his data, he will need to carry out a literature review based on secondary sources. The literature review does not need to be finalised prior to the data collection. What he needs is a working theoretical framework that he can use to launch his study. It can be modified and fine-tuned as he proceeds with the data collection, analysis and commentary. The literature review draws on published work in the are of investigation and enables the student to come up with the basic parameters of his framework. This can then be used as a tentative template for the analysis. As he writes his literature review, the student will need to ensure that his references and citations are in place to enable him to build on the work of others and to properly acknowledge their contribution.

Academic writing is essentially writing about research that is based on secondary sources only or, ideally, both on primary and secondary sources. Students need to realise that in undertaking an academic assignment, they are writing for a specific audience and for a particular purpose and need to position themselves accordingly. They have to gather material, generate arguments by thinking critically about the material before them and organise, structure and present their ideas in a cohesive and coherent manner in order to convince the reader. The micro writing strategies referred to earlier need to be orchestrated to build the larger text. A good introduction strikes the right note at the beginning and a suitable conclusion achieves appropriate closure.

Research involves the planned and systematic investigation of a serious topic. It can range from fairly simple, straightforward research projects which pre-university, college and university students can undertake, to more complex studies suitable for students pursuing a Master's or doctoral degree. The purpose of this book is to equip students with the basic knowledge and skills they will need to investigate or research a topic and to produce a term or project paper based on it.

Too many students are fearful about research and the academic writing that they are expected to produce. Very few are willing to admit that they don't understand something and to take the necessary steps to ensure real understanding. Many just go along with the crowd, producing written work that does not reflect their true ability. The result often is a poor grade that may seriously affect their overall assesment and prevent them from proceeding further with the course. Some students drop out of a course altogether because they are unable to complete their assignments.

Many of the problems that students face with their academic writing may be due to their failure to get the big picture and with the mystification that sadly accompanies much of academic work. The cases of plagiarism that we occasionally read about in the press reflect more the lack of skill and knowledge on the part of students than an attempt to deliberately pass off someone else's work as their own.

This book is an attempt to demystify the process by which knowledge is acquired, written about and produced. It is an attempt to lay bare what may appear to be needlessly complex, obscure and difficult and, in so doing, to encourage more people to take an active interest in research and academic writing. As students learn to build on available knowledge to create new knowledge and to write about it, they are likely to achieve a truer sense of personal and academic accomplishment. That must surely be at the heart of all academic endeavour.

Elaine Morais retired as a professor from the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, University of Malaya, in May 2004 after 26 years of service.

She is currently engaged in writing, research and part-time teaching using her own published material. Her areas of special interest include Writing in an ESL context, Pragmatics and Business Communication.