Writing Proficiency Issues for International Students in the UK

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Writing proficiency is an obstacle which most students, especially those who should start writing in academic style, can face. However, more difficulties are likely to be faced by international students in the UK, who have to succeed in achieving two main aims; the first one concerns the ability to understand what might be the requirements that they should fulfil. Secondly, how they manage to express their ideas through the UK academic procedure. In fact, the cultural factor plays a pivotal role in a student’s progress as regards academic writing, while the UK readers often struggle to understand what non-native speakers try to say in their papers, which probably lead to unsatisfactory assessment. More recently, many studies have carried out to consider what possible justifications of this problem. This paper seeks to discuss whether the overseas students should change their attitude in academic writing using the UK pattern through evaluating Linn (2009).

Linn (2009) suggests that the differences between cultures are an essential aspect to consider why non native English speakers have a limited ability to reach the acceptable level of the UK academic reader. Linn (2009) uses Kaplan’s categorization which includes four patterns of writing and they have been classified according to culture: Anglo Saxon, Semitic, Romance and Oriental. Those cultural groups may help us to understand this contradiction between a non-UK writer, who expresses their ideas influencing by their own attitude, and the UK readers. Consequently, international students probably struggle when they attempt to modify their patterns to be acceptable by the UK reader.

However, there are five fundamental features could be as a beacon which guides foreign students to...

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...ak as an English student because of the limitations in their use of language.

In conclusion, it would be complicated if we suggested that students, who have to study in the UK, must entirely change their attitude when they write academically because, in all likelihood, they will leave the UK returning to their countries and they have to make another modification in order to write again in their own languages. Meanwhile, they should assemble the necessary features of English academic style to be able to complete their studies successfully. However, the only solution to redress this problem is for the academic institutions to train foreign students how to successfully write an academic essay in English which is actually in progress at most the UK academic institutions, and for students to be flexible by learning the English style without forgetting their own style.

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