Language

Awareness on Academic Writing:

Handout 1
Take the following quiz to find out your level of awareness on language use in
writing for academic purposes.

1. I expect my students to write independently
a. always
b. only after I have trained them
c. only during exams

2. Some of the common writing tasks that I use in my courses are
a. only essays and critical responses
b. essays/paraphrases/summaries/short responses
c. the ones required during exams

3. I think all subtypes of academic writing pose
a. equal level of difficulty
b. differing levels of difficulty
c. difficulty only during exams

4. I think to write for academic purposes students have to pay attention to
a. the whole text
b. different sub parts/skills of writing
c. only grammar and vocabulary

5. I think some of the subparts/skills of academic writing that students need to deal
with are
a. introduction-body- conclusion paragraphs, grammar and vocabulary
b. language functions, text length, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and themes
c. grammar, vocabulary and spelling

6. I think students need to be made aware of the fact that academic writing deals with
a. only formal style of writing as in books and journals
b. both semi-formal and formal styles of writing
c. no specific style apart from what the teacher gives out as answers

7. In my writing class I give a task to my students and
a. expect them to submit their writing after an assigned time
b. help them break down the task into smaller bits, plan and then write
c. expect them to write responses as samples that they would do during exams

8. In my writing class I mostly ask my students to
a. work individually and consult the teacher
b. work in small groups/pairs and then individually
c. work individually

9. After the writing task is over I assess my students based on
a. a comparison between student performances and my judgment
b. a rating scale that I have designed or adapted from a reference point
c. features like grammar, vocabulary and spelling which are most important for
exam performance

10. Post assessment I mostly
a. ask students to rewrite if required
b. give students feedback and then ask them to redraft
c. give feedback to rectify the errors in grammar and vocabulary