Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7 (2008) 133e138 www.elsevier.

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Book reviews
Study Writing. A Course in Writing Skills for Academic Purposes, Liz Hamp-Lyons and Ben Heasley, (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2006) 214 pp. ISBN: 0521534968, US$25.00 Academic Culture: A Students Guide to Studying at University, Jean Brick. Sydney: NCELTR, Macquarie University (2007) 262 pp. ISBN: 1741381355, AUS$29.95

1. Introduction Study Writing (2006), which will undoubtedly replicate the popularity of the rst edition, incorporates much new material while retaining those features which have contributed to its continuing success. While the focus of much of the rst edition was on the structural and linguistic features of academic texts, emphasis in the newer edition is also on the academic writing process. The rst unit of the book and sections of a number of the following units focus on key aspects of that process. The use of peer work, from brainstorming and planning through to peer feedback, is particularly pertinent, given current research on its importance in the development of student learning (see for example, Dennen & Jones, 2006; Falchikov & Goldnch, 2000; Topping, 1998). Units 1, 5, 6 and 7 introduce the concept of virtual peer groups for obtaining feedback, working with a peer group, learning about peer reviews and obtaining formal peer feedback. This focus on peer work foregrounds the interactive nature of the reader-writer relationship and the writers need to consider the viewpoint of the reader. The bottom-up approach of the rst edition is largely retained in the organisation of the second. After a brief look at the overall structure of the research report in Unit 2, the text examines the individual functions of academic writing, including classication, comparison and contrast, denition, generalisation, description of events in time and description of processes and products. The nal two chapters examine the situation-problem-solution-evaluation text and the nal research report or paper. A number of sub-genres are also introduced, including the literature review (Unit 5), the methods section (Unit 7), as well as the results and discussion sections (Unit 8) of the research paper. Like its companion volumes in this series (reviewed by this writer in JEAP 4/3), Study Writing is intended for adult learners from upper intermediate to advanced level who are going on to further study at tertiary level in an English medium institution, or who are studying for IELTS or TOEFL. However, given the amount of material devoted to the needs of the postgraduate research student, this text appears to be especially suitable for this particular student cohort. New to this edition is some useful language work on, for example, hedging (Unit 5), nominalisations (Unit 7), and developing coherence (p. 80, p. 128) and cohesion (p. 129), and there are a wide variety of tasks to engage students in the learning process. Teaching notes, tips for carrying out constructive peer review, academic writing assessment criteria and notes on assessing written work can be found in the appendices. The sample texts included for the purposes of illustration and analysis have also been completely revised and updated. I wondered, however, about the advisability of using Wikipedia as a sample text (p. 108) given the emerging controversy surrounding its inappropriate use by students, which has led some faculties to develop policies banning it as an acceptable source in students written assignments. Also new is a brief introduction in Unit 9 to the concept of argument and the development of an academic voice. The issue of plagiarism and how to avoid it is discussed in the nal Unit 10, as well as the importance of authorial identity in writing about ones own research. However, in attempting to include as much as possible to suit diverse audiences, these new sections may be too little, rather late in the text. Less experienced teachers wishing to introduce academic argument will need to be careful with the use of this unit. For example, Task two on identifying types of supporting evidence (p. 105) does not highlight the requirement for citations from experts, even though some will

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argue that this constitutes the most important form of support in many disciplines, particularly for research students. But perhaps this oversight underlines the difculties of producing a writing textbook to suit both undergraduate and postgraduate audiences with their different needs. Another issue of concern is the use of tables of language forms for particular functions. Unless they study the use of these forms in a variety of texts and contexts, some students are liable to think that all they have to do to express a particular function is to insert a few sample language forms in their own writing, in an over-simplied paint by numbers approach. Unfortunately, some of the tasks in Study Writing would seem to encourage this practice. For example, in Unit 9, Task four, students move straight from a table of language forms, without examining them in context, to an exercise in which they select three sentences from a sample text and rewrite them using some of the language forms suggested in the table. Although the authors recommend in the introduction that students keep a logbook of extracts from readings for further analysis, it would also be helpful for less experienced teachers, if the teaching notes indicated the essential need for textual analysis before undertaking particular exercises. Additionally, the rationale for the choice of language forms in several of the tables is not always clear. This is the case for the short selection in Table 8.1 of de-contextualised verbs, adverbs and formulaic phrases (p. 109), which the authors claim are frequently used in writing academic arguments. Although expressions such as in my opinion and the verbs think and believe may be acceptable in spoken academic discourse or in the IELTS writing test, they are likely to be judged harshly by some disciplinary experts as features of poor academic style. For the same reason, students should be wary of using the verb prove, except in specialised circumstances. Research on the complexities of evaluative language has been extensive and students would have beneted greatly had the authors incorporated some of the ndings from this research. Hamp-Lyons and Heasley adopt a cognitive approach in Study Writing, with an emphasis on the text, the structural and discoursal features of particular academic genres and some exploration of the processes the learner writer needs to undertake. In contrast to this more traditional stance, Academic Culture: A students guide to studying at university, by Jean Brick, adopts a more top-down academic literacies approach, which also reects Hallidays ideational, interpersonal and textual framework. Brick starts by exploring the concept of academic culture, the underlying beliefs and values of its members and their expectations of students. Brick seeks to explain to students new to the western academic context the underlying assumptions generic to academic culture, the centrality of argument and debate in the creation of new knowledge, and the reasons for the adoption of particular academic conventions or behaviours. Chapters 1 to 4 introduce academic culture, and provide exceptionally useful material on the features of an academic argument, the differences between an opinion and a position, between descriptive and analytic texts and between deductive and inductive arguments. Independent learning and the roles of students and lecturers in academic communication are examined in Chapters 5 and 6, while Chapters 7 and 8 explore the sources of academic knowledge and their reliability, as well as effective critical reading strategies. Particularly interesting is Bricks emphasis on the importance of voice, both that of the student and of the expert academic writer. This focus reects the interpersonal view of academic communication as social interaction, where the student is learning not only to hear the voices of experts as they debate key academic issues e whether they are presenting arguments or rebutting the arguments or theories of others e but also to begin contributing his or her own voice. Such an approach helps the student to make sense of why plagiarism is to be avoided in academic culture even though it may be acceptable in other cultures or contexts. Chapters 9 to 12 introduce students to direct, indirect and external voices in academic texts; techniques for expressing their own voice; strategies for avoiding plagiarism and nally to the identication of voices in other types of texts, including textbooks and magazines. The next three chapters consider specic genres including essays and research reports, with a particular focus on the purposes, audience and structure of each. Strategies for increasing textual coherence and cohesion are introduced in Chapters 16 and 17, including some excellent work on paragraphing, topic sentences, lexical chains and the arrangement of theme and rheme, or given and new information in clauses. The nal two chapters look at interactions in tutorials and seminars and effective group work. Each chapter is systematically organised with a series of student questions on each topic and thoughtful explanations, numerous authentic texts from multiple sources for illustration and analysis, a clear summary of key points, and a nal section of relevant tasks for skills practice. One of the advantages of Bricks approach is that by exploring the bigger picture about the purposes of academic study, students are able to make sense of their own place within the academic community, and how particular

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communication tasks are situated within the broader cultural context. Such an approach is not only suitable for EIL students but also for the wider, increasingly diverse, student population. Although Academic Culture is designed for all students new to the university context, the focus on essay writing and the choice of sample texts make it especially relevant for coursework undergraduate or postgraduate students who are studying linguistically demanding courses in the Humanities, Social Sciences or Business. One or two slight quibbles, however, relate to teaching methodology. The author claims that the text can be used either as a course text or for self-study. I couldnt help feeling, however, that those teachers who employ a learning-by-doing rather than a learningby-instruction methodology may need to incorporate more interactive tasks to introduce the new material in each chapter, if the book is to be used as a course text. In addition, if teachers were to follow the text as it stands, students might nd the adoption of exactly the same chapter format for each lesson rather repetitive. Study Writing and Academic Culture raise the question of generic versus discipline specic approaches to the teaching of academic writing. Both texts take a generic approach; the former mainly focuses on the structural and discoursal features of academic texts, and the latter focuses on the broader concept of academic culture and generic features of academic communication. Although it is impossible to cover every aspect of academic writing in a single text, there are, nevertheless, occasions when disciplinary differences should not be ignored. Take for example, the question of hedging in academic writing. Study Writing includes material on hedging, and yet no mention is made of different types of hedging acceptable in the different disciplines, about which there has been extensive research (see, for example, Hyland, 1998, 2000). Similarly, the work on reporting verbs (p. 114) in Academic Culture does not take account of numerous research studies on disciplinary differences in citation practices. The role of research in EAP teaching and materials writing is a critical one. Despite an increasing body of empirical research and theoretical discussion on writing, texts for teaching writing have a tendency not to refer to the research or theories which underpin the approach adopted. Historically, as Hyland (2006, p. 5) points out, authors of EAP texts generally take a pragmatic approach drawing on their own intuition and experiences in the classroom rather than on any systematic research or theory. Even where theory and research clearly underpin a writing text, seldom do the authors refer to them. In Units 4, 5, 7 and 8 of Study Writing, for example, the Gricean maxims for effective communication (Grice, 1975) have been effectively adapted to introduce the importance of clarity, honesty, reality and relevance in academic writing. Yet Grice himself is not acknowledged. Study Writing also lacks a bibliography, which adult students and their teachers would nd very valuable. Although Academic Culture does include a list of further reading, there is no reference to Halliday (1994) or to Systemic Functional Linguistics, despite the apparent inuence of this approach. This is surprising given that acknowledgement of other peoples ideas is itself a fundamental feature of academic culture. My disquiet about a lack of reference to theoretical underpinnings and research relates to a number of other issues. The rst of these is the need to provide sufcient guidance for teachers of writing about the theory behind the texts. With the increasing globalisation of English and many different teacher training courses worldwide, authors of texts on academic writing can no longer assume the same shared knowledge about approaches to writing with teachers in the outer and expanding circle countries (Kachru, 1992), and may need to clarify or justify a particular approach with reference to empirical or theoretical studies. Secondly, in order to prepare students for the demands of academic study, it is important for EAP lecturers to model academic conventions, and to set an example in their own practice which reects the academic expectations of western university contexts. One of the most important features distinguishing academic texts from other genres e if not the most important e is the use of references to theoretical or research studies to support arguments in the development of new knowledge. It follows, therefore, that EAP lecturers need to be able to demonstrate a writing approach which meticulously incorporates references to support the new knowledge being introduced in the writing class. Such an approach also demonstrates that writing conventions themselves are not immutable facts, but can be subject to challenge and change and, like argument, need evidence to justify their use in particular contexts. Yet, despite the need for EAP practitioners to demonstrate the academic rigour and attention to detail expected by the academic gate-keepers, textbooks about academic writing seldom incorporate this approach. It is of course, far easier to critique an EAP textbook, than to write one. Despite my reservations, Study Writing and Academic Discourse represent two different but in many ways complementary perspectives and can be highly recommended for any teacher of academic writing. Nevertheless, I look forward to a new generation of EAP texts which pays due regard to underlying theory and systematically incorporates the latest research ndings for study and analysis.

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References
Dennen, V. P., & Jones, G. (2006). Hows my writing? Using online peer feedback to improve performance in the composition classroom. In T. S. Roberts (Ed.), Self, peer and group assessment in e-learning (pp. 245e258). Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing. Falchikov, N., & Goldnch, J. (2000). Student peer assessment in higher education: A meta-analysis comparing peer and teacher marks. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 287e322. Grice, H. P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole, & J. Morgan (Eds.), Syntax and semantics, Vol. 3 (pp. 41e58). New York: Academic Press. Halliday, M. A. K. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (2nd ed.). London: Edward Arnold. Hyland, K. (1998). Hedging in scientic research articles. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Hyland, K. (2000). Disciplinary discourses: Social interaction in academic writing. Harlow, UK: Pearson. Hyland, K. (2006). English for academic purposes: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge. Kachru, B. (Ed.). (1992). The other tongue. English across cultures (2nd ed.). Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press. Topping, K. (1998). Peer assessment between students in colleges and universities. Review of Educational Research, 68(3), 249e276.

Fiona Cotton School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy, Northcott Drive, Canberra, ACT 2612, Australia E-mail address: f.cotton@adfa.edu.au
doi:10.1016/j.jeap.2008.02.008

Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills John M. Swales and Christine B. Feak, (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, (2004), (117 pp., US$14.95), ISBN 0-472-08857-2 (pp. ix331), ISBN 0-472-08856-4, US$21.95 As research in English for academic purposes (EAP) has grown, so too have the number of self-help manuals, courses, and textbooks which are now available to non-native speakers of English, L1 students and EAP lecturers. Among the most widely used of these is perhaps Academic Writing for Graduate Students (hereafter known as Academic Writing). Those who are familiar with the rst edition (1994) will no doubt wonder what differences have emerged in the intervening decade. The answer is that the second edition of this successful text updates and expands the earlier version by including more disciplines, including practice-based disciplines such as nursing and marketing, more discussion, and more genres while retaining the same user-friendly and insightful analyses and exploitation of texts. Updated and renewed by new reading samples, research modes, communicative requirements, and an awareness of the ever-changing environment of academic writing, the second edition of Academic Writing is molded to what the authors believe made the earlier edition so successful. The book itself comprises eight chapters. The rst three are preparatory units that focus on more general approaches to academic writing, raising the readers awareness of issues such as purpose and strategy, style, and text organization, with separate chapters devoted to writing general-specic texts and problem-solution texts. These chapters lend authority to the later units, which are more genre specic, moving deliberately from general ideas to more specic representations of text. Chapter four takes on the key skill of discussing graphical data, making the important point that this is an exercise in writer positioning and discussing the challenges this raises. Each of the following chapters deals with a different (sub) genre: summaries, critiques, and research papers. As in the earlier edition, each chapter contains a clear overview, copious examples, plenty of consciousness-raising activities, and a language focus section. More generally, the changes are expressed in the change of sub-heading, from A Course for Nonnative Speakers to Essential Tasks and Skills. The original edition of Academic Writing, with its focus on skills, genre-specic explanations, lexical foci and tasks was invaluable to both students and tutors both as a reference and source of teaching ideas. Its genesis in an earlier period of EAP, located at the beginning of what was to become a wave of published academic writing courses, meant that it took its lead from the research and teaching considerations of the day, making it a useful and intelligent reference point and an implicit commentary on current approaches to teaching and learning. By the beginning of the new century, however, several of the reading texts were becoming dated and some of the lexical foci had become more difcult to explain to a new cadre of international students, perhaps made more aware by their