Demystifying Academic Writing: Genres, Moves, Skills, and Strategies

Informative, insightful, and accessible, this book is designed to enhance the capacity of graduate and undergraduate students, as well as early career scholars, to write for academic purposes. Fang describes key genres of academic writing, common rhetorical moves associated with each genre, essential skills needed to write the genres, and linguistic resources and strategies that are functional and effective for performing these moves and skills.

Fang’s functional linguistic approach to academic writing enables readers to do so much more than write grammatically well-formed sentences. It leverages writing as a process of designing meaning to position language choices as the central focus, illuminating how language is a creative resource for presenting information, developing argument, embedding perspectives, engaging audience, and structuring text across genres and disciplines. Covering reading responses, book reviews, literature reviews, argumentative essays, empirical research articles, grant proposals, and more, this text is an all-in-one resource for building a successful career in academic writing and scholarly publishing.

Each chapter features crafts for effective communication, authentic writing examples, practical applications, and reflective questions. Fang complements these features with self-assessment tools for writers and tips for empowering writers. Assuming no technical knowledge, this text is ideal for both non-native and native English speakers, and suitable for courses in academic writing, rhetoric and composition, and language/literacy education.

Table of contents :
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Author Biography
Preface
Section I: Unpacking Academic Writing
1 What Is Academic Writing?
Importance of Academic Writing
Defining Academic Writing
Envoi
Reflection/Application Activities
References
2 Linguistic Features of Academic Writing
Introduction
Structure
Formality
Density
Abstraction
Objectivity
Rigor
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
3 Skills and Strategies for Academic Writing: Part One
Introduction
Contextualizing
Summarizing
Quoting
Sourcing
Agreeing or Disagreeing
Evaluating
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
4 Skills and Strategies for Academic Writing: Part Two
Defining
Classifying and Categorizing
Describing
Explaining
Exemplifying
Comparing and Contrasting
Referencing Visuals
Entertaining Opposition
Recommending
Connecting
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
Section II: Writing Academic Genres
5 Writing a Reading Response
What Is a Reading Response?
Rhetorical Moves in Reading Response
Reading Response Sample #1
Analyzing Reading Response Sample #1
Reading Response Sample #2
Analyzing Reading Response Sample #2
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
6 Writing a Book Review
What Is a Book Review?
Rhetorical Moves in Book Review
Book Review Sample #1
Analyzing Book Review Sample #1
Book Review Sample #2
Analyzing Book Review Sample #2
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
7 Writing a Literature Review
What Is a Literature Review?
Rhetorical Moves in Literature Review
How to Go about Writing a Literature Review?
Determining the Scope
Locating and Selecting Studies
Reading and Analyzing Studies
Constructing the Review
A Sample Literature Review Essay
Analyzing the Sample Literature Review Essay
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
8 Writing an Argumentative Essay
What Is an Argumentative Essay?
Rhetorical Moves in Argumentative Writing
Linguistic Resources for Argumentation
Argumentative Essay #1
Analyzing Argumentative Essay #1
Argumentative Essay #2
Analyzing Argumentative Essay #2
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
9 Writing an Empirical Research Article
Writing the Abstract Section
Writing the Introduction Section
Writing the Theoretical Framework Section
Writing the Literature Review Section
Writing the Methods Section
Writing the Results Section
Writing the Discussion Section
Writing the Conclusion Section
Writing Other Parts
Concluding Remarks
Reflection/Application Activities
References
10 Writing a Grant Proposal
What Is a Grant Proposal?
Process in Developing a Grant Proposal
A Sample Grant Proposal
Analyzing the Sample Grant Proposal
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
Reference
Section III: Maximizing Success in Writing and Publishing
11 Building Capacity for Academic Writing
Introduction
Fostering Writing Habits that Work for You
Reading Deeply and Widely
Developing Linguistic Awareness
Note How Familiar Grammatical Resources Are Used in Novel Ways
Observe How the Same Meaning Is Expressed in Different Ways
Be Curious about New Words, Phrases, or Other Grammatical  Structures
Compare How Texts Are Similarly or Differently Structured within and across Genres
Play with New Language Patterns
Persevering through the Writing Process
Attending to Key Elements of Academic Writing
Audience
Purpose
Organization
Style
Flow
Clarity
Appearance
Overcoming Cultural Barriers
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
12 Writing for Scholarly Publication
The Publication Process: From Submission to Print
Submission
Review
Editorial Decisions
Revision and Resubmission
Print
Manuscript Review Criteria
Significance to the Field
Methodological Soundness
Rigor of Interpretation and Argumentation
Quality of Writing
Tips for Getting Published
Write about Something That You Really Care and Know About
Know the Outlet You Are Targeting
Find People of Like Interest to Collaborate With
Be Patient and Persistent
Simulate Dialogues with Potential Reviewers
Use Feedback to Improve Writing
Conclusion
Reflection/Application Activities
References
Appendix A Survey of Academic Writing Needs
Appendix B Checklist for Self-Assessment of Academic Writing