Developing an English for Academic Purposes Course for L2 Graduate Students in the Sciences

Abstract

Graduate students face a fundamental change in identity when transitioning from undergraduate writers to graduate writers. In their new role as graduate writers and researchers, they must move from consuming knowledge to producing knowledge through their writing. Often, they must learn new genres of writing, new disciplinary conventions, and new rhetorical models. For non-native English speakers, these tasks are even more complex because of the advanced language skills required and the cultural differences in rhetorical models. This article explains teaching strategies for an interdisciplinary, graduate-level scientific writing course for non-native English speakers. For Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) instructors who are accustomed to general undergraduate writing, this article will offer suggestions for scientific writing at the graduate level. For composition instructors who do not specialize in TESOL, this article provides ways of adapting graduate-level scientific writing conventions to an audience of international students.