Academic Writing vs. Composition.

Observation and investigation indicate that academic writing tasks are generally quite different from those required in standard English composition courses, with respect to both process and product. Writing instruction in English as a second language should prepare students for subject-matter writing tasks, focusing less on pure composition. Academic writing tasks require little generating of ideas, but do require selecting, organizing, and expressing specific information, either in response to an essay question or in an informative paper where there is little room for personal opinion. Classroom writing exercises found to be effective in producing transferable writing skills in students include: (1) sentence combining exercises of a paragraph that provide a check on reading comprehension, elicit specific grammar points, convey information, and model suitable information and organization types; (2) writing from data in non-prose form; (3) sentence forming from lists of bits of information; (4) reading selections in preparation for answering questions; and (5) writing from lectures, with or without accompanying readings. (MSE)