Academic English

Book excerpt: This book features five theme-based units on cross-disciplinary academic English skills, focusing on the needs of first-year undergraduate students. Each unit covers academic writing, reading and speaking skills. The units progressively take students through the steps needed to complete three common academic assignments: the essay, report and tutorial discussion. These steps include searching for sources, note-taking, establishing personal stance, synthesizing information from multiple sources and structuring academic texts. Each unit also includes opportunities for students to analyze texts, apply their critical thinking skills, try out what they have learnt in productive tasks, as well as reflect upon their progress. It is aimed at first-time university students. Many of the readings in the book are related to China and the broader Asian context. As such, this textbook might appeal to first-year university students in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan.