Academic Writing Intercultural And Textual Issues

Description:
Writing is crucial to the academic world. It is the main mode of communication among scientists and scholars and also a means for students for obtaining their degrees. The papers in this volume highlight the intercultural, generic and textual complexities of academic writing. Comparisons are made between various traditions of academic writing in different cultures and contexts and the studies combine linguistic analyses with analyses of the social settings in which academic writing takes place and is acquired. The common denominator for the papers is writing in English and attention is given to native-English writers' and non-native writers' problems in different disciplines. The articles in the book introduce a variety of methodological approaches for analyses and search for better teaching methods and ways of improving the syllabi of writing curricula. The book as a whole illustrates how linguists strive for new research methods and practical applications in applied linguistics.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Context and genre: strategic vagueness in academic writing, Greg Myers; three hypothetical strategies in philosophical writing, Thomas Bloor; occluded genres in the academy - the case of the submission letter, John Swales; academic writing in computer science - a comparison of genres, Meriel Bloor; the hidden curriculum of technology for academic writing - toward a research agenda, Lars Evensen. Part 2 Culture and textuality: 'Look in Thy Heart and Write' - students' representations of writing and learning to write in a foreign language, Philip Riley; academic writing in Czech and English, Svetla Cmejrkova; packing and unpacking of information in academic texts, Eija Ventola; discourse competence - evidence from thematic development in native and non-native texts, Anna Mauranen; learning discipline-specific academic writing - a case study of a Finnish graduate student in the United States, Ulla Connor and Susan Mayberry.