The Academic Writing Project has three main aims:
. to inform writing instruction and assessment that learners in the School of Languages engage in;
. to recommend areas of materials exploitation and further development in relation to SL academic writing principles and approaches;
. to recommend and support teacher training and development activities in writing instruction.
The Writing Task Group has carried out extensive research and continues to explore among instructors and students in the School of Languages, as well as in Faculty to find out students' future needs and how they can best be met. This has led to the creation of the Academic Writing Guidelines, a reference book for instructors teaching on the Foundation Development Year (FDY) and including ideas on how to best utilize the SL's Beyond the Boundaries: English in an Academic Environment series and other core material for writing instruction. An initial step has been to introduce the Short Answer Question into instruction in the FDY with the aim of better preparing students for a common type of university examination question as well as improving their awareness of features of writing such as rhetorical strategies.
The Writing Task Group has consulted with Dr. Ann Johns from San Diego State University and continues to consult other experts in the field of writing.