Our graduate students merit individualized instruction in academic writing at all levels. Since my classes are populated with international master’s and PhD students from various disciplines, this can become daunting. As writing instructors, quite often we become bogged down with editing multiple pages of text. Yet, I have found a solution that seems to fulfill my students’ requirements, and I would enjoy sharing this with my readers.

In class, lessons emphasizing academic writing aim for clear and concise communication. Particularly, vague terminology has no place in such writing. Students should strive for explicit vocabulary, allowing readers to interpret factual meaning through the given text. In attempting to impress professors, students are cautioned not to formulate extremely complex sentence structures and overt formal language because, at times, less is more. Furthermore, our rich English language allows for linguistic manipulation to accomplish an assortment of writing objectives. Clear writing with smooth flow guides readers throughout the text, creating a straightforward read.

Initially, the semester begins with an explanation on how academic writing is unique to each person in class. We may not share the same field of study or research focus, but our class as a whole will collectively learn the components of academic writing. Proceeding with the instruction of each focused lesson, students are presented with clarification for the topic introduced. This is followed by examples and then pragmatic exercises applying the target writing lesson, and concludes with a final written sample. Writing assignments give students free reign to compose in their field of study while adhering to the prescribed homework task. Their self-assurance in writing is enhanced, as they are particularly familiar with the content area. What a confidence builder!

Generally, these are short writing assignments concentrating on the specific lesson. For example, when working with paragraph-level definitions, sentences within the paragraph move from a very general statement at the start to specific support, and then widen out again to a conclusive general sentence. This pattern is quite common in paragraphs of this type (Zenner, 2013).

The class is encouraged to apply discipline-specific technical terms, writing styles, and idiosyncrasies. When these papers are shared in class, peers can fully appreciate classmates’ scholarly work. Subsequently, penning these paragraph-level definitions denotes further significance.

Sample 1 depicts a student sample assignment and comments for editing.

Homework: Paragraph-Level Definition

Now, it is your turn to write a paragraph-level definition...

Type a paragraph-level definition with your topic sentence as the sentence-level definition you have already written. Keep in mind the general to specific format. Your first sentence is general and sentences two, three, and four are more specific in supporting your topic. The fifth and last sentence is your conclusion, wherein, you may return to a generalization or future prediction.

Occupational Therapy Graduate Student
Academic Writing
Assignment #3

Universal Design

Universal design is an approach to develop products and physical environments accessible to the majority without adaptation. One example of universal design (redundant, delete) is (article: because house is a singular noun…the…) zero-step entrance of a house. It is a uniform pathway connecting a sidewalk with (replace prep. with “to” because “without” is in such close proximity…to…) a house’s entrance (more concise: “house” as an adjective describing the noun “entrance” …the house entrance) without a ramp or stairs. Such accessible entrance (wrong word form: convert adjective [accessible] to noun [accessibility] & reduce to one word…accessibility can...) can be used by both, (delete comma) non-disabled people and people with mobility impairments, for instance, (comma splice) a person using a wheelchair (more succinct: wheelchair bound). The intent of universal design (more concise: Universal design intent…) is to reduce the stigmatization of people with disabilities (disabled people…) by creating environments which are (delete, not necessary for clear comprehension) accessible by (to) everyone.

Revised: Universal design is an approach to develop products and physical environments accessible to the majority without adaptation. One example is the zero-step entrance of a house. It is a uniform pathway connecting a sidewalk to the house entrance without a ramp or stairs. Such accessibility can be used by both non-disabled people and those with mobility impairments, for instance wheelchair bound. Universal design intent is to reduce the stigmatization of disabled people by creating environments accessible to everyone.

Sample 1

Customizing instruction is not as demanding as it might seem. As students write on topics from their fields of study, instructors can clearly edit for standard English sentence structure and correct word forms, wordiness, redundancies, and additional errors. At times, technical terms may seem perplexing, yet meanings surface with quick Internet searches, and consulting the author suffices well. Keep in mind, it is vital to decipher what part of speech each of these technical terms represents. Subsequently, your editing can suitably correct verb and word forms, decrease wordiness, eliminate redundancies, reduce prepositional phrases, create possessives, pluralize nouns, and conjugate verbs.

Sample 2 shows three excerpts of edited technical term writing.

1. Usually biologically (wrong word form: biologically, disruptive flow when 2 words end with “ly”: Often, biological…) active targets contain (article: …a…) higher ratio of carbon and hydrogen atoms compares (…as compared…) to other elements therefore (punctuate on either side of transition “therefore” when independent clauses on either side: …elements; therefore, their study…) their study is classified in (…as…) organic chemistry, the chemistry of carbon and hydrogen.

Revised: Often, biological active targets contain a higher ratio of carbon and hydrogen atoms as compared to other elements; therefore, their study is classified as organic chemistry, the chemistry of carbon and hydrogen.

2. Molybdenum disulfide is a two dimensional material which attract (verb tense: which has attracted…) much of (delete) attention in recent studies due to its unique properties as having a direct band gap. For instance, its band gap can be tuned from a direct to the indirect by going from the single layer to the multilayer thickness. (wordy: …directly or indirectly tuned from a single to multilayer thickness.) There are different methods to produce this material from which chemical vapor deposition plural: …depositions…) (CVD) one is the best method (…are one of the best methods…) due to its application in mass production.

Revised: Molybdenum disulfide is a two-dimensional material which has attracted much attention in recent studies due to its unique properties as having a direct ban gap. For instance, its band gap can be directly or indirectly tuned from a single to multilayer thickness. There are different methods to produce this material; chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the best methods due to its application in mass production.

3. Today, silicon carbide (SiC) devices are used vastly (phrasal verbs require placing adverbs between the 2 verbs: …are vastly required…) in high power transmission, (because the other 2 items in the list are plural, this must be consistent: transmissions,…) distribution systems and pulse power applications. SiC is a wide band gap material (3.26 eV) and has about 10 (add article, numbers 1-10 are written as words in academic writing: …a ten…) times higher breakdown electrical field (…as…) compared to silicon (1.1 eV).

Revised: Today, silicon carbide (SiC) devices are vastly used in high power transmissions, distribution systems and pulse power applications. SiC is a wide band gap material (3.26 eV) and has about a ten times higher breakdown electrical field as compared to silicon (1.1 eV).

Sample 2

Throughout the semester, additional writings conform well to this individualized approach, such as brief autobiographies, data commentaries, summaries, abstracts, and critiques. Although I do offer prescribed assignments in my textbook, students are continuously encouraged to comment on tables and graphs they have previously generated, compose summaries on discipline-specific works, write mock abstracts, and pen critiques on related subjects. In this manner, instruction takes on a dual role of improving students’ academic writing skills, and, at the same time, refining their craft within each discipline’s accepted vocabulary, technical terms, and style.

In conclusion, students extraordinarily benefit from this method of education. Additionally, educators are equipping our future scholars with the most practical means of gleaning lessons from their own actual discipline-specific academic writing. In essence, we are suitably grooming our charges for requisite publishing of their research, as they mount the ladder of successfully climbing toward positions of esteemed honor as professors.

Reference

Zenner, A. (2013). Precise American Writing: A Guide for International Students & Professionals. Naperville, IL: Marsten.

Audrey Zenner is an instructor at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Academic Center for Excellence. She teaches academic writing and communication skills to the international graduate students.