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The action-oriented approach (AoA) is a powerful basis to inform teaching, learning, and assessment in the classroom that identifies learners as social agents and focuses on language learning through language use. This paper answers the call for developments that help teachers teach and learners learn in an AoA-informed way. We argue that cognitive discourse functions (CDFs) align with AoA, helping to develop learner thinking by focusing on the learners' use of language. We complement our conceptual discussion referring to the process of developing a self- and peer-assessment tool informed by AoA and CDFs and the initial application of this tool in an advanced academic writing course in a Japanese university with B1 and B2 level students. We discuss how this tool can guide learners' understanding of their writing process and fosters learners' responsibility for deciding how they mobilize their linguistic resources to express particular language functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the World Wide Web (hereinafter the `Web') has become an increasingly viable way to source information in academic writing. However, the Web is a fundamentally different type of resource from conventional sources such as books and journals. This paper argues that there is a need among learners for a heightened critical awareness of web-source nuances. Specifically, although the Web contains a much greater amount of information than conventional research sources, a great proportion of its sites harbour ideological agendas. It is suggested that L2 learners, in particular, may require both consciousness raising and practice in recognizing the biases that exist in websites. The paper concludes by describing a pilot study which produced some practical steps that teachers can take to introduce and enhance Internet literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes how a group of intermediate learners of English were guided through the process of producing their first academic essays in English. The approach applied the concept of scaffolding to the academic writing process by providing flexible suppor for the learners throughout the writing of their essays. Scaffolding included a number of features, each of which is discussed in the paper. The writers argue that the approach they adopted promotes learner autonomy, by focusing on an authentic task, making the expectations of the task explicit, and providing flexible support for the learners as they approximate the target performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I discuss ways that Applied Linguistics literature on topics in academic and professional writing can be used in a multidisciplinary graduatelevel EAP class. I focus on three main uses: providing students with information about issues in academic and professional writing; helping them make comparisons of form and style with academic articles in their own fields; and serving as resources for common and formulaic expressions that can be incorporated into their own writing. The paper includes a discussion of the strengths and limitations of this approach in a foreign language setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the growing tendency among writers of academic papers and advertisements to use unnecessary lexical word-choices. The author cites several examples of job advertisements and states that the use of the word "within" in the advertisements could have been avoided and the word "in" would have served the purpose. The author also cites examples wherein the authors of papers and speakers have used the word "upon" while the word "on" could have served the purpose. It is viewed that writers and speakers use pompous words to sound impressive when writing for publication or speaking to audience. The author states that writers of academic papers use word "within" to appear sophisticated while job advertisers use the word to make their institution sound grand.

This study investigates the effect ofa mixed composition class in an American University on student interaction and writing over a semester. The class was a freshman academic writing course that consisted of fifteen international and ten American students. Some teachers believe that a mixed composition class enhances cultural understanding, and that cultural diversity presents a good learning environment, contributing to developing student writing and language skills; others believe the contrary because the needs ofthe ESL and native English speakers (NES) cannot be addressed simultaneously. To investigate this issue, we used student journals, interviewed students and observed the class. This paper describes the change in students' attitudes and interaction, the benefits that students gained from the course, and the teachers'/researchers' approach to teaching the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]