Formal academic writing instruction to advanced English
learner groups in science and engineering
Steven Taro Suzuki
Waseda University, Faculty of Science and Engineering
suzukitaro@aoni.waseda.jp

Introduction

Approach and Method (Cont.)

There may be little argument that the acquisition of formal academic writing skills is paramountfor EFL university students of science and engineering. One ESP context that can pose a varietyof challenges is teaching academic writing skills to EFL science and engineering university
students who are at an advanced level of English proficiency. Advanced here is being defined asTOEIC scores of 900 or greater. Although these students have in some cases, near native English
speaking proficiency, many may still struggle in understanding and engaging in formal academic
writing. In addition, simply studying the Academic Word List [1] may be insufficient for thesestudents to transform some of their language habits from informal to formal language usage.
This poster looks at a particular course, shares some basic suggestions to give students at
the aforementioned level, and offers some classroom activities and materials that will engage
and empower students to grasp a clearer understanding of some basic aspects of formal
academic writing. The suggestions and activities are designed to enhance both students’
analytical and rhetorical skills in an academic environment, and encourages rhetoricalconsciousness-raising and reflection [2].

• Avoid using the personal pronoun “you”
As you can see from the data, smartphone use is increasing. → As can be seen from the data,
smartphone use is increasing.
• Try to make your paper more impersonal by reducing the amount of “I” and “we”
statements and writing with the passive voice.
I think we need to address this issue. → This issue needs to be addressed.

Educational Context
The course is a special version of a second-year compulsory English discussion and writing
course at Waseda University, Faculty of Science and Engineering. What distinguishes this courseis that it is offered by invitation only to students who possess a TOEIC score of 900 or greater.
The course is called Concept Building and Discussion 1 (CBD1).
In the spring semester of 2014, 19 students accepted the invitation to the advanced versionof CBD1. The student make-up could be divided into two general categories: students whoacquired their language skills from living in an English speaking country for several years, andthose whose TOEIC scores were mainly attributed to their diligent study of English in Japan.
From the first writing assignment, it was clear in many cases that students struggled to writein a formal academic style even though their compositions were lexically and syntacticallycorrect in general terms. For example, personal pronouns, informal casual language, and slangterms were often used in their writing. In the next section, I will explain a particular approachand method that was used to heighten students’ awareness of their analytical and rhetoricalskills, which resulted in improved formal academic writing skills.

Approach and Method
The standard textbook, Concept Building and Discussion: Foundations [3], was used in theadvanced CBD1 course. However, in order to increase the students’ awareness of their languageuse, a more technical approach was used involving supplemental materials. Many of my ideas
came from the textbook, Writing Up Research in Science and Engineering: Foundations [4]. The
following stages explain the process of improving the students’ skills in formal academic writing
while heightening their analytical and rhetorical awareness.
Stage 1: In class, a short explanation was given on the Problem-Solution structure of writing.
Students were then given short sample texts where the sentences were out of order. Students
worked together to put the texts in the correct order based on the pattern [4]:Situation → Problem → Solution → Evaluation
Then some explanation on paragraph structure was given using the pattern [4]:Topic sentence → Supporting sentence(s) → Conclusion/Transition sentence (optional)
At the end of class, a short academic writing assignment was given. Students were told to write
a four paragraph essay on any topic of their choice based on the Situation → Problem→Solution → Evaluation pattern [4]. I collected the papers through digital submission, readthem, made personal notes (needs analysis), and then returned them to the students without
making any evaluations or comments.
Stage 2: One weakness displayed in the students’ early writing assignments was the use of thepassive voice. In class, therefore, the students worked on passive voice sentences in both pastand present tense. One activity that was used was taking a recipe and changing all of theimperative sentence forms.
Imperative form:
Turn the heat on high and bring the water to a boil.
Passive present:
The heat is turned on high and the water is brought to a boil.
Passive past:
The heat was turned on high and water was brought to a boil.
The students were told that writing in the passive voice is important in some styles of formal
academic writing, and that in this course, I wanted them to use the passive voice in their writing
as much as possible. I told them that not all academic writing uses the passive voice, and that in
the future after they have mastered the passive voice, they could make their own writing
decisions using good writing judgment.
Stage 3: In class, I offered some prescriptive advice on stylistic aspects of formal academic
writing [4]:• Avoid using contractions:
The results weren’t recorded properly. → The results were not recorded properly.
• Avoid using run-on expressions (and so on, etc.):
Calories can be burned by playing tennis, soccer, etc. → Calories can be burned by playing
tennis, soccer, and other sports.
• Avoid starting sentences with “And,” “So,” and “But.” “In addition,” “Therefore,” and“However” are preferred:And, gasoline prices are increasing. → In addition, gasoline prices are increasing.

Stage 4: In class, I advised the students to try to avoid short high frequency verbs wheneverpossible [4]. Then an activity sheet was given to them and I had them work in groups trying tothink of more formal academic alternatives. Below is a sample of the sheet, and some of theanswers produced by the students:
High frequency verbs Academic alternative High frequency verbs Academic alternativestop
getkeep

cease, terminatesayobtain, achieve, acquireneed
preserve, maintain, retain end

report, state
requirefinish, complete

dotellperform, conduct
inform, notify, instructhope, desire
observe, view

wantsee

We did the same activity for phrasal verbs [4]. Below are some of the answers produced by thestudents:
Phrasal verbs

Academic alternative Phrasal verbs

Academic alternative

blow upbreak up (take apart)come outdo again
do wellfind out
fill out (a form)
finish up
get bettergive off
go down (an amount)go up (an amount)go down little by little
go up little by little

explodedismantle, disassemble
appearrepeatsucceeddetermine, investigate
completecomplete, conclude
improvereleasedecreaseincrease
gradually decrease
gradually increasefluctuate
submitomit, exclude
releaseinvestigate
investigate
compensate
Insufficient, inadequate
highlight
extinguishconstruct, establish
commence
considerdetermine

go up and down
hand in (turn in)leave out
let golook at (a problem)
look into (a problem)
make up for
not enoughpoint out
put out (a fire)set upstart out
think about
work out (a problem)

Stage 5: In class, students were given various academic texts. They were to analyze andcompare these texts with the prescriptive advice and classroom activities in Stages 3 and 4.
Following this activity, the students were then to exchange their Problem-Solution papers from
Stage 1 with a partner and provide peer feedback, comments, and advice on how the author
could improve his or her paper. Then the students were given the assignment to reflect on theirfirst Problem-Solution paper and rewrite it using what they had learned about formal academic
writing and the peer feedback they received.

Results and Discussion
Here, I will report on some interesting occurrences and my observations during and after thepreviously explained process. Unsurprisingly, the students’ second Problem-Solution papers
were much improved in quality. What was unexpected, though, were some comments I
received from some students.
Some of the students reported that they were surprised at their own improvement, and how
much they did not know about formal academic writing prior to the course. Some had thoughtthat they already had sufficient knowledge of English and that the course, albeit ‘advanced,’would be easy. Some also reported that they could see their own improvement developing
while doing the classroom activities and that their view of writing academic texts had changed
and evolved. One student disclosed that he found it interesting that he could make so much
improvement without teacher comments on his first paper.
The foregoing comments lead me to believe that the approach and method outlined in thisposter were effective for three primary reasons. First, the technical approach gave students
something specific and concrete to focus on while learning and writing formal academic papers.
Second, the students could see measurable qualitative improvements in their writing. Finally,
the activities engaged and encouraged students to think and reflect on their own writing. As aresult of their increased awareness, the students were able to enhance their analytical andrhetorical skills.
Notwithstanding the effectiveness of the approach and method presented here, it was thefirst time for me to implement the described process, and there were clearly some areas that
could be improved for future use. In future courses, more concrete research designs will be
implemented with the idea of measuring the effectiveness of the language teaching approachand method presented in this poster.

References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]

A. Coxhead, The Academic Word List. 2010. [Online]. Available:
http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/ [Accessed: 7 Sept. 2014].
J. M. Swales and C. B. Feak, Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks andskills, 2nd ed. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004.
L. Anthony et al, Concept Building and Discussion: Foundations. Tokyo, Japan: DTP
Publishing, 2010.
L. Anthony, Writing Up Research in Science and Engineering: Foundations. Tokyo, Japan:
Unpublished manuscript, 2013.