Academic Writing for International Students of Science

Book excerpt: Academic Writing for International Students of Science will help international students to develop their command of academic scientific writing in English. It guides students through the writing process itself, and will help them to produce clear, well-written and well-organised essays and reports. The book covers a range of issues such as how to explain complex ideas clearly and concisely, how to develop a coherent argument, and how to avoid plagiarism by making effective reference to sources. Through detailed analysis of authentic scientific texts, the book will enhance students’ understanding of the nature of academic scientific writing. This will enable them to understand how language and discourse function in a real scientific context. The texts serve as models of good writing and are followed by practice activities which will help students to develop their own writing skills. Key topics include: the writing process; academic scientific style; sentence structure; paragraph development; referring to sources; coherence, argument and critical thinking; academic and scientific conventions. This book will be an invaluable companion to those studying for a science or technology degree in an English-speaking institution. Informative study boxes, model answers and a clear, comprehensive answer key mean that the book can be used for self-study or with guidance in the classroom.