Bailey’s (2006) Book: Academic Writing. A Book Critique

Bailey (2006) defines his book Academic Writing: A handbook for International Students as a “practical and easy-to-use-guide to writing in English” (p.III). This notable work is intended for non-native students studying at colleges and universities, who need to write essays and reports for exams and coursework. To ensure that students’ writing skills meet the necessary academic standards is the purpose of the book.

The innovative book is divided mainly into four parts, namely The Writing Process, Elements of Writing, Accuracy in Writing and Writing Models, planned to cater for the variety of needs of “students of all subjects and levels” (Bailey, 2006, p. III). Information and practice on how to write and organize texts, how to develop writing skills such as the use of comparisons, articles; and models of types of writings needed, among other topics, are provided.

Bailey (2006) states that the book is “clearly organized into four parts…containing explanations, diagrams and practice exercises, for use in the classroom or self-study” (p.I). However, mainly the first part appears to be teacher-dependant, and then more explanations would have been more helpful for students at English-medium colleges and universities to be able to use the book by themselves. Had the author offered more explanations, examples and models at initial stages, the book would have been more appealing for the intended audience it was claimed to be for.

The original book is complemented by a system of cross-references designed to make easier for students to relate units together. Although it is argued that some topics are “organized alphabetically for easy access” (p.III), perhaps it is not practical as students need to jump from one part of the book to another constantly. Had Bailey (2006) organized topics in order of appearance, the work would have been more practical and easy-going as it was stated.

Academic writing also contains a writing tests section, exercises answers and sources. Especially noteworthy is the inclusion of exercises and tests with their respective answers for students to self-check their learning progress. Regarding sources, Bailey (2006) points out that no in-text citations are made throughout the book; yet, in the book students are taught to use references appropriately, either in the texts or at the end of them, to avoid plagiarism. Had the author cited adequately, he would have given more authority to his research.

On the whole, Bailey’s (2006) book allows international students to learn and to practice those academic writing skills which are most important for their studies, specifically conventions of style, referencing and layout.   With teacher guidance and organization of topics throughout different lessons, it seems to be a very interesting resource. However, Bailey’s (2006) book would have been more convincing for students studying by their own, if the author had included more explanations and models for further guidance as well as a clearer organization of cross-references. Had this been successfully accomplished, the book would have been a much more practical and easy-to-use-guide for international students. 

References

Bailey, S. (2006). Academic Writing: A handbook for international students. (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis e-library. Retrieved from http://npu.edu.ua/!e-book/book/djvu/A/ii_kgpm_27.pdf