Journal of Language and Learning
Volume 4 Number 2 2006
ISSN 1740 - 4983

Addressing Self-Representation in Academic Writing in a Beginners'
EAP Classroom


Ramona Tang
National Institute of Education,
Nanyang Technological University Singapore

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Abstract

In this article, I argue that it is important for the issue of self-representation in academic writing to be addressed in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) classrooms. This is because the ways in which writers present themselves in their texts have consequences for how their writing is received and judged by their readers. I introduce a few of the different aspects of one's self which a person may foreground in his or her academic writing, and suggest a way of using short sample academic texts in the EAP classroom to raise students' awareness of how language works to convey aspects of their identity.