Bailey’s (2006) book: Academic Writing,
A Handbook for International Students, second edition, focuses on the
writing skills needed by foreign students who are taking courses taught in
English. The book is divided into four parts; each part containing examples,
explanations, exercises and cross-references. This useful book is organised in
a simple and clear way as Bailey (2006) stated that students “can work either
with a teacher or by themselves, since the structure of the book has been made
as simple as possible to allow them to find what they want quickly” (p. vii ).
The
purpose of part one is to show students the basic components of written texts,
such as paraphrasing, the organization of paragraphs, plagiarism and proof-reading.
Those skills needed for most types of academic texts, such as making
comparisons or giving examples, are dealt in Part two. Part three focuses mainly on grammatical items, such as the use of articles, passives or
prepositions. Part four offers models of various types of writing, such as letters
and different types of essays. The book
also includes writing tests for students to check their progress as well as the
answers to the several exercises provided.
To conclude, Bailey’s (2006) handbook proves extremely valuable for
international students who wish to improve their writing skills. It is
exceptionally well organised and full of suitable practice exercises. The
author pointed out that the book “it is a flexible course that allows students
of all subjects and levels, from foundation to PhD, to practise those aspects
of writing which are most important for their studies” (p. vii). Since the book
is also directed to those students who are just beginning to polish their
writing skills, it would have been better if Bailey (2006) had included a
glossary. In that way foreign students would have been able to find those
academic terms they are not familiar with. It is strongly recommended for novice
students to have a dictionary at hand.
Reference
Bailey, S. (2006). Academic
writing: A handbook for international students (2nd ed.) Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Taylor & Francis e-Library. Retrieved from
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario