The challenge of academic writing for Chinese students within ...

Writing for academic purposes
All participants saw academic writing as the most challenging part of their academic life in
the UK. They were surprised by the length, number and variety of types of writing required
and the research involved in preparing the writing. Two main reasons emerged from the data
that contributed to their initial reaction towards academic writing. According to the
participants, their prior English education in China did not prepare them well for the demands
of academic writing in UK. As mentioned above, English education in secondary schools in
China aims to prepare students for passing the college entrance examination with an
emphasis on learning grammar rules, and memorizing vocabulary. Writing is given less
attention since it constitutes very small portion of the examination. Some participants
remarked:
I was scared for the first written assignment because I had never been asked to
write a 3000 word essay before. I had no idea what was expected of me. (Maxine,
interview)
Before coming to the UK, I had no idea of academic writing. In China, writing is
sometimes simply for some tests. How to do the research How to get the
information you want How to structure your essay How to write it academically
Such questions always confused me at the beginning. (Celine, autobiographical
account)
It was nothing near to my learning experience in China. (Li, autobiographical
account)
Some participants had studied two years at university level in China. They commented they
still struggled to meet the writing demands in UK. They highlighted the fact that minimal
research was required to complete writing tasks in China – ‗we just write what we think about
the topic without doing any research…‘ (Li, interview) Their university study in China did
not provide them with any appropriate training on academic writing in English with similar
levels of writing requirements and standards as required in the UK higher education.
Also, when they came to the UK they did not receive any tuition on academic writing, and
writing skills. The participants recalled they were not informed about what academic writing
would involve and what tutors‘ expectations were regarding the writing.
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