Writing Academic English

Here is a detailed review and explanation of the book, which is part of The Longman Academic Writing Series. 

Review Summary

     Writing Academic English is considered an essential and comprehensive writing textbook designed to prepare students for academic success in college. The book is well-regarded for its clear, structured, and step-by-step approach to composition.

• Strengths: It takes the mystery out of the composition process. It offers a focus on writing as a process, guiding students through the steps of prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.
• Practicality: It includes clear models, varied practice exercises, and examples with academic content to ready students for university-level work.
• Reference Value: It features extensive appendices that provide easy reference for key writing concepts, grammar, and research information.

📘 Book Details and Review

Detail	Information
Authors	Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue
Title	Writing Academic English, Fourth Edition (The Longman Academic Writing Series, Level 4)
Year of Publication	2006
Target Audience	High-intermediate and advanced college or college-bound English language learners (ESL/EFL students).

🗣️ Explanation of the Book's Content

The book is structured into three main parts, moving students systematically from the basic unit of a paragraph to complex academic essays and sentence structure:

Part I: Writing a Paragraph (Review and Introduction)

This section reviews the foundational elements of academic writing, essential for building longer essays:

• Paragraph Structure: Teaches students about the topic sentence, supporting sentences, and the concluding sentence.
• Unity and Coherence: Focuses on making sure all sentences directly relate to the topic (unity) and ensuring smooth flow using transition signals, key noun repetition, and logical order (coherence).
• Using Outside Sources: Introduces fundamental skills like summarizing and paraphrasing, along with the dangers of plagiarism and the basics of citation.

Part II: Writing an Essay (The Core)

This is the heart of the book, focusing on essay organization and rhetorical patterns:

• Essay Structure: Explains the three parts of an essay: the introductory paragraph (including thesis statements), body paragraphs (using logical division of ideas), and the concluding paragraph.
• Patterns of Organization: Dedicated chapters cover essential essay patterns, which are now organized by chapter in the 4th edition:
• Process Essays.
• Cause/Effect Essays.
• Comparison/Contrast Essays.
• Argumentative Essays (a new chapter in the 4th edition, which includes instruction on using outside supporting materials like statistics).

Part III: Sentence Structure

This section drills down on the grammar and mechanics necessary for sophisticated academic writing, with an emphasis on creating complex sentences:

• Sentence Types: Covers the components and construction of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.
• Sentence Problems: Addresses common errors, such as sentence fragments, run-on sentences, comma splices, and choppy/stringy sentences.
• Subordination and Clauses: Provides extensive practice on structures like noun clauses, adverb clauses, and adjective (relative) clauses to help students develop a mature and varied writing style.  

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