Monday, 5 November 2012

A Guide for International Students


Review: An Innovative Resource for Novice Academic Writers (Bailey, 2006)
       This handbook was written by Stephen Bailey, who has been a university teacher of English for Academic Purposes for the last ten years. This highly experienced teacher of English has also worked in other countries such as Spain, Japan, Malaysia and the Czech Republic. Bailey (2006) considers that academic writing is crucial for overseas students who are studying at English-medium colleges and universities. Thus, this practical handbook has been written to help international students develop their academic writing abilities.
       This newfangled handbook is basically organized into four parts. Each part provides easy-to-understand explanations, diagrams and practice exercises. Part one focuses on the writing process and is divided into three main sections: Writing Foundations, Reading and Note-making, and Writing Stages. Part two depicts the different elements of writing, for instance: argument, cause and effect, cohesion, comparison and so forth. Part three emphasizes on accuracy and deals with subjects such as abbreviations, articles, confusing pairs, and punctuation. Part four presents different writing models (formal letters, CVs, essays).
       Within the academic world, plagiarism is one of the major issues to be dealt with. Great importance to this topic is given by Bailey (2006) when he asserts that:
All students have to face the issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism means taking information or ideas from another writer and using them in your own work, without acknowledging the source in an accepted manner. In academic work, plagiarism can be a serious offence (p. 7).
Besides, students are provided with techniques to avoid plagiarism such as paraphrasing and referencing, which are illustrated with appropriately chosen examples extracted from genuine material.
       Several are the strengths of the book, which contribute to the usefulness of the source. This point could be illustrated by means of some examples such as: the fact that this handbook provides a key, with the purpose of developing learners’ autonomy; the presentation of different writing models and the emphasis made on academic lexicon as well. Another beneficial aspect is the implementation of cross-references that generates an easy access to the sections required by students.
       In this second edition of the handbook, Bailey (2006) offers teachers and lecturers who use this book with their students, the possibility of finding extra teaching material within the teacher resources section of the Routledge website at http://www.routledge.com/education.
       An existing third edition of this handbook cannot be omitted. Thus, Ottman (2012) compares this second version of the book with the third one and explains that the latter has been improved considerably as regards content reorganization and the companion website (http://www.routledge.com/education) has been updated with topics and activities that were not covered in the previous edition. Regarding the issue of plagiarism, it seems to be broadly analised by the third edition of the handbook since it offers a more extensive coverage of the topic.
       By means of this second edition,  Bailey (2006) has intended to offer university level students who have to develop their writing skills for academic requirements a practical, updated and easy-to-follow handbook which covers the whole writing process.

References
Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. Second Edition. London: Routledge.
Ottman,T. (2012). Academic Writing – A Handbook for International Students. Reviews. English Teaching professionally. Retrieved on October, 2012 from http://www.etprofessional.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1409:academic-writing--a-handbook-for-international-students-3rd-ed&catid=17&Itemid=36

2 comments:

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    Gabriela

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