Chances and Challenges: Teaching Academic Writing to University Students in Hong Kong

The mastery of academic writing has long been viewed as “the hallmark of success for any student at university” (Jones 1999: 37). However, research indicates that university writing courses offered by language centres or English departments often fall short of the writing demands expected in various academic disciplines (Grabe 2001). Recent studies on academic English writing and learners’ literacies, including Flowerdew & Miller (2008), Grabe (2001), Hyland (2003) and Prior (2006), have criticized generic writing courses for turning a blind eye to socio-cultural contexts and individual learners’ needs and motivation. The development of academic literacy, now an increasingly popular area of study, comes under the spotlight. In this paper, we will examine the main difficulties Hong Kong university students face when taking a freshman English academic writing course for first-year students. We will also discuss the key challenges English teachers encounter in the academic writing class.