Academic Writing for University Students 1st Edition by Stephen Bailey 1000480267 9781000480269

Part 1 The Writing Process

1.1 Writing Basics

1 The purposes of academic writing

2 How is academic writing different from other writing genres?

3 Common types of academic writing

4 The format of written assignments

5 Common text features

6 Writing clear sentences

7 Writing in paragraphs

8 Practice

1.2 Understanding Essay Questions and the Planning Process

1 The planning process

2 Analysing essay questions

3 Practice: key words

4 Evaluation criteria

5 Brainstorming

6 Essay length

7 Outlines

8 Practice

1.3 Reading: Finding Suitable Sources

1 Types of text

2 Academic resources

3 Assessing texts

4 Using reading lists

5 Searching library catalogues

6 Using library websites to search journals and bibliographic databases

7 Reading abstracts

8 Practice: varying search terms

9 Assessing text features

10 Reading strategies

11 Practice

1.4 Reading: Developing Critical Approaches

1 Critical thinking

2 Fact and opinion

3 Assessing internet sources critically

4 Domain name suffixes

5 Practice A

6 Practice B

1.5 Finding Key Points and Note-making

1 Why make notes?

2 Finding key points

3 Finding relevant points

4 Practice A

5 Effective note-making

6 Practice B

7 Practice C

1.6 Avoiding Plagiarism

1 Acknowledging sources

2 What is plagiarism?

3 Basic plagiarism

4 Degrees of plagiarism

5 Avoiding plagiarism by summarising and paraphrasing

6 Avoiding plagiarism by developing good study habits

7 Practice A

8 Practice B

9 Research

Progress Check A

1.7 References and Quotations

1 Why give references?

2 Citations and references

3 Reference verbs

4 Practice A

5 Referencing systems

6 Using quotations

7 Practice B

8 Abbreviations in citations

9 Secondary references

10 Internet references

11 Organising the list of references

1.8 Summarising and Paraphrasing

1 What makes a good summary?

2 Stages of summarising

3 Practice A

4 Practice B

5 Practice C

6 Paraphrasing

7 Practice D

8 Techniques for paraphrasing

9 Practice E

10 Practice F

1.9 Contrasting Sources

1 Referring to sources

2 Practice A

3 Contrasting sources

4 Balancing different sources

5 Practice B

1.10 Organising Paragraphs

1 Paragraph structure

2 Practice A

3 Practice B

4 Practice C

5 Introducing paragraphs and linking them together

6 Practice D

7 Practice E

1.11 Introductions and Conclusions

1 Introduction components

2 Introduction structure

3 Opening sentences

4 Conclusions

5 Conclusion structure

6 Practice

1.12 Editing and Proofreading

1 Editing

2 Practice A

3 Practice B

4 Proofreading

5 Practice C

6 Practice D

7 Practice E

8 Practice F

The Panama Canal

9 Summary

Progress Check B

Part 2 Writing Types

2.1 Argument and Discussion

1 Discussion vocabulary

2 Organisation

3 Practice A

4 The language of discussion

5 Argument and counter-argument

6 Practice B

7 Providing evidence

8 Practice C

9 Practice D

2.2 Cause and Effect

1 Causes and effects

2 The language of cause and effect

3 Practice A

4 Practice B

5 Practice C

6 Practice D

2.3 Problems and Solutions

1 Vocabulary

2 Paragraph structure

3 Alternative structure

4 Practice A

5 Practice B

6 Practice C

7 Practice D

2.4 Case Studies

1 Using case studies

2 Planning a case study

3 Background research

4 Model case study

2.5 Literature Reviews

1 What is a literature review?

2 Examples of literature reviews

3 Writing a literature review

4 Model literature review

2.6 Writing Longer Papers

1 Introduction

2 Planning your work

3 Formatting the paper

2.7 Reports

1 Essays and reports

2 Writing reports

3 Scientific reports

4 Practice

2.8 Reflective Writing

1 The purpose of reflective writing

2 Example

3 Structure

4 Style

5 Practice A

6 Practice B

Progress Check C

Part 3 Writing Tools

3.1 Cohesion

1 Reference words

2 Practice A

3 Preventing confusion

4 Practice B

5 Implied language

6 Practice C

7 Practice D

8 Practice E

3.2 Comparison

1 Comparison structures

2 Practice A

3 Using superlatives (e.g. the largest/ smallest)

4 Practice B

5 Forms of comparison

6 Practice C

7 Practice D

8 Practice E

9 Practice F

3.3 Definitions

1 Simple definitions

2 Category words

3 Complex definitions

4 Practice A

5 Practice B

3.4 Examples

1 Using examples

2 Phrases to introduce examples

3 Practice A

4 Practice B

5 Restatement

3.5 Generalisations

1 Using generalisations

2 Structure

3 Practice A

4 Practice B

5 Building on generalisations

6 Practice C

3.6 Numbers and Visual Information

1 The language of numbers

2 Percentages

3 Simplification

4 Further numerical phrases

5 Practice A

6 Visual information: Types of visuals

7 The language of change

8 Describing visuals

9 Labelling visuals

10 Practice B

11 Practice C

3.7 Punctuation

1 Capital letters

2 Full stops (.) [US: period]

3 Commas (,)

4 Apostrophes (’)

5 Semi-colons (;)

6 Colons (:)

7 Quotation marks/ inverted commas (“ ”/ ‘ ’)

8 Others

9 Practice A

10 Practice B

3.8 Style

1 Developing an academic style

2 Guidelines

3 Practice A

4 Avoiding repetition and redundancy

5 Varying sentence length

6 The use of caution

7 Using modifiers

8 Practice B

Progress Check D

Part 4 Lexis

4.1 Approaches to Vocabulary

1 Vocabulary issues

2 Dealing with new vocabulary

3 Language features

4 Confusing pairs

5 Words and phrases from other languages

6 Practice A

7 Abbreviations

8 Common abbreviations

9 Punctuation

10 Duplicate abbreviations

11 Abbreviations only found in writing

12 Practice B

4.2 Academic Vocabulary: Nouns and Adjectives

1 Introduction

2 Nouns

3 Nouns and adjectives

4 Similar adjectives

5 Academic adjectives

6 Practice A

7 Practice B

4.3 Academic Vocabulary: Verbs and Adverbs

1 Understanding main verbs

2 Common academic verbs

3 Using adverbs

4 Practice A

5 Practice B

4.4 Prefixes and Suffixes

1 How prefixes and suffixes work

2 Prefixes

3 Practice A

4 Suffixes

5 Practice B

4.5 Synonyms

1 How synonyms work

2 Common synonyms in academic writing

3 Practice A

4 Practice B

5 Practice C

Progress Check E

Written British and American English – A Short Guide

Glossary

Answers

Index