Although not comprehensive, this volume addresses an admirable range of topics related to the experience of academic writing in English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) contexts. The position of English as the current global lingua franca of scientific publication (Mauranen, Reference Mauranen, Mauranen and Ranta2009) has resulted in ever-increasing numbers of nonnative speakers of English (NNSEs) producing academic work in English: International students in ESL contexts and students majoring in English in EFL contexts produce theses in English, and NNSE academics, seeking the widest possible audience for their work, have little choice but to publish in English. The unique contribution of this collection of articles is its integration of three strands focusing on, respectively, the learning and teaching of academic writing, features of NNSE-produced texts, and issues of identity in ESL/EFL academic writing.
One notable feature of the volume is the nuanced portrait of NNSE writers of academic English evident throughout. This is particularly obvious in the strand focusing on identity issues in which, for example, it is pointed out that the distinction between a native speaker and a NNSE is neither meaningful nor helpful for describing every individual. Other points raised in the identity strand are also informative and compelling, such as the discussion of the subtlety with which NNSE writers may inject authorial identity into their texts. However, the nuanced portrait of ESL/EFL writers is evident in the other strands of the collection as well in which the reader admires the descriptions of the successful construction of academic texts using tools such as corpora, analyses of textual features, and visual presentation strategies (e.g., tables, figures, and lists).
This collection of articles successfully communicates not only an appreciation for the challenges facing NNSE academic writers but also the real strengths and resources they bring to their endeavors. Second language writing researchers, teachers, and learners will all find much of interest in this volume.
