While this is a question that many writing instructors may feel could never be satisfactorily answered, it is nevertheless a question that students often ask. To help students gain some understanding of this question and the complexities involved in answering it, L. Lennie Irvin offers some answers.
As Professor Sears explains, “In ‘What is Academic Writing?’, L. Lennie Irvin writes directly to new college students and claims, “Your success with academic writing depends upon how well you understand what you are doing as you write and then how you approach the writing task.” She focuses on ways to do both and sets up a good overview of what college students learn in composition courses and what skills you can hope to gain. This essay appeared in the OER text Writing Spaces, Vol. 2.” Here is a link to Irvin’s essay:
https://wac.colostate.edu/books/writingspaces1/irvin–what-is-academic-writing.pdf
Source: Professor Jennifer Sears, English Department
