In this text, Hinkel argues that second language (L2) writing instruction has long favored teaching the writing process and discourse and rhetorical features of text while neglecting the essential language skills that L2 writers need to succeed in mainstream university classes. She attempts to redress this perceived shortcoming by identifying and describing the formal syntactic and lexical characteristics of academic text and advocating the explicit teaching of these key structures and lexical chunks.

Part 1 provides an overview of the research findings and theoretical justifications that support the author's approach to teaching academic writing. Chapter 1 discusses the fundamental assumptions of the text, including the claim that learning to write in a first language (L1) differs significantly from learning to write in an L2; the author argues that the process approach, originally devised to teach L1 writing, is an insufficient means for developing L2 writing. Chapter 2 reviews research findings that examined the nature of academic text and the disparity between the writing tasks and methods of assessment for English for academic purposes (EAP) and those that confront L2 writers in mainstream academic courses. Finally, chapter 3 outlines the essential elements of an EAP writing curriculum that prioritizes syntactic and lexical accuracy and academic vocabulary expansion.

Parts 2 and 3 focus on the information EAP teachers and learners need to know about syntax and grammar in academic text construction. Drawing heavily from the genre-analysis and corpus-based studies of researchers such as Swales, Biber, and Nation, Hinkel claims that L2 writers can increase syntactic and lexical range and accuracy by learning and analyzing recurring chunks of language—or lexicalized sentence stems—as well as permissible substitutions to constituent elements of these chunks. Chapter 4 discusses the basic structure of sentences and phrases in terms of slots and the grammatical and lexical items that are either required or permitted to fill these slots. Chapters 5–9 deal with the individual elements that make up sentences and phrases and the ways in which they function in academic text.

Part 3 is dedicated to discourse elements and begins with a study of the form and discourse function of dependent clauses (chapter 10). Chapter 11 addresses the rhetorical features of text, noting the tendency of many L2 writers to misuse and overuse transition words, tag questions, and highly idiosyncratic examples in their academic writing. Finally, chapter 12 provides an insightful discussion of the role of hedging in academic text and highlights the need for L2 writers to make greater use of hedging elements appropriate to the register to avoid overstatement.

Although few researchers or teachers of English to speakers of other languages would debate the critical role of syntactic and lexical accuracy and range in advanced academic writing, some of the author's assumptions and claims in the first section of the book are problematic. Communicative language teaching (CLT) is frequently alluded to as an approach that prioritizes fun activities that focus exclusively on fluency-building and conversational English while neglecting the formal features of language or written text. CLT, however, is not inconsistent with attention to formal features of language, and one need only look to the focus-on-form studies of recent years to dispel this misconception. Similarly, a process approach to EAP writing is not inconsistent with explicit language study—contrary to the author's claims—nor does such an approach underestimate the importance of editing and accuracy at appropriate stages of the process.

Although readers are likely to find some of the basic assumptions and assertions in part 1 difficult to reconcile with current theories and practices of L2 instruction, the chapters in parts 2 and 3 provide a thorough explanation of the structures and lexical items under investigation as well as an informed discussion of their function and usage in academic text. The teaching suggestions are sound, although they tend toward the more obvious and traditional at times. There are, of course, numerous exceptions, most notably the suggestions included for helping students to recognize and employ hedging strategies in chapter 11.

Due to the controversial nature of some of the underlying assumptions of the text and the highly specialized nature of the genre it examines, this book is unlikely to become one of the primary course texts in an ESL teacher-training program; however, those teaching academic ESL writing or training teachers to teach in this specialized field of ESL will find the descriptions and explanations of the features of academic text a valuable addition to the available resources for teaching academic ESL writing.