Assignment 3 Book Critique

Consoli Claudia

Book Critique

EAP

November 2012

Academic Writing

a Handbook for International Students

by Stephen Bailey

Routledge 2006 (2^nd edition)

ISBN13 : 9-78-0-415-38420-9 (ppb)

A Review of : Academic Writing a Handbook for International Students

College and university writing has always posed a challenge for students. Non native speakers of English present a twofold problem when faced with academic assignments or tests. They have to meet the standards of the subject under study in the established academic style and they have to do it in a foreign language. Bailey (2006) offers a variety of suggestions to help beginner writers enter the world of academia.

His book is exactly what the title and subtitle suggest: A handbook for overseas students delving into the waters of academic writing. The book presents a clear four-part organization. The author has attempted a holistic vision to the world of academic writing. Each of the parts, subdivided in smaller chapters take the novice writer from the background of writing, through the complete process of writing(planning, organizing, editing and proofreading) to actual model pieces to help comprehension on what is expected of them in  the academic world.

Part 1 and Part 2 of the book explain and exemplify the relevant standards regarding the writing process and the elements of writing.  While Part 3 contains excellent practical grammatical  exercises, this is not a grammar book per se. Part 4 contains models including formal letters, Curriculum Vitae (CVs) and comparison and discussion essays.

By the end of the book, the reader will have a clear understanding of how to structure a variety of writing pieces and which criteria the pieces need to conform to. As Bailey(2006) states in the introduction ‘this practical book thoroughly explains the writing process and covers all the key writing skills.’(p. ii)

The book’s drawbacks stem from its advantages. The fact that such a wide range of issues is covered inevitably leads to reduced depth. More experienced writers would find the book lacking in more specific items such as text variety. These more advanced students would need more models including for instance research papers. It would also have been better if the author had contemplated different academic styles such as American Psychological Association( APA), Modern Language Association (MLA) and the like.

Overall, academic writing involves an understanding of writing genres, styles and layout. This book examines all of these aspects and, as such, may be interesting to freshmen students, native and non native alike. For these reasons, it is ideal as an addition to beginner writing courses.

References

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students (2nd ed.).Retrieved October 2012 ,from Taylor & Francis elibrary:http://npu.edu.ua/!ebook/book/djvu/A/iif_kgpm_t27.pdf.