Welcome to the Academic Written English Program

Please note that many UF policies and procedures regarding Academic Written English have been changed!

Change to Policy Related to International Students' Writing
Skills (Spring 2009):

Effective immediately, the new policy requires individual academic units to determine acceptable writing skills, using a holistic evaluation. They will be responsible for creating a plan for student success in academic writing, which may include a requirement to take a course in Academic Written English. This plan must be included in the student's acceptance letter as a condition of admission. Students must still meet the UF required minimums on the admission tests or else be admitted conditionally.*

New Graduate Council Policy effective immediately (Spring 2009):

"Graduate students must have sufficient writing skills to be successful in graduate education. In addition to checking that applicants meet the minimum IELTS, MELAB, TOEFL and/or verbal GRE scores required for graduate admission*, admission committees must assess their applicants' writing skills and make reasonable admission decisions based on a holistic evaluation of the applicants' credentials. In cases where applicants are admitted but lack sufficient writing skills to maximize their education, the graduate coordinator must ensure that sufficient opportunities are available for the student to succeed. These opportunities include tailor-made instruction in the academic unit or courses and workshops offered at UF or elsewhere.

Graduate coordinators should review their students' writing indices (test scores such as the analytic writing portion of the GRE, letter of intent, writing samples, etc.) and, when appropriate, inform them of the need to improve their writing skills. Writing skills courses and screening tests are available through the Academic Written English Program in the English Language Institute."

*Graduate Council policy requires that international students meet a minimum score of 320 on the verbal portion of the GRE, and a minimum score on one of the following English language skills tests: 6 on IELTS, 77 on MELAB, 213 on Computer TOEFL, 80 on internet TOEFL, or 550 on paper TOEFL.

Tuition:

Note that UF policy has recently changed regarding the use of tuition waivers for EAP courses. Tuition waivers may no longer be used for Academic Writing EAP 5845.

Academic Written English Screening Test:

Academic Written English will no longer be offering a university-wide screening test, as new UF policy does not require students to take this test.  Screening test holds will no longer be placed on student records.  Departments wishing to arrange for a department-specific screening test should contact Megan Forbes at mforbes@eli.ufl.edu.

About the AWE Program:

Academic Written English, which began in August 1983, was instituted to meet the academic writing needs of regularly enrolled graduate students who need help with writing in English. In Summer 2008 university-wide budget cuts and policy changes led to significant restructuring of the program and its offerings.

• Academic Written English (for international students)
• Research Writing (for native and non-native speakers)
• Contact Information
• Academic Spoken English (our sister program)
  

Academic Written English

• This program is LABOR INTENSIVE.  

• These classes are small, 11-12 students per section. 

• Additionally, students are required to have one-on-one writing conferences with the instructor.

• The course is offered S/U, which means that the grade does not affect the student's GPA.

We offer two courses, Academic Writing EAP 5845 and Research Writing (formerly EAP 5846).

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EAP 5845 - Academic Writing

EAP 5845 is designed to help international graduate students improve their academic writing skills. The course offers the opportunity to develop their ability to write an academic paper as well as to improve their sentence level vocabulary, grammar, and use of cohesive devices and other features of good quality academic literacy.  Within a framework of tasks to learn and practice the stages of writing an academic paper, students complete exercises, practice peer and self editing, and write paraphrases, summaries, critiques, and literature reviews. Library visits are included to learn about databases in their fields and oral presentations may be required.

NOTE: EAP 5845 is no longer required by the UF Graduate School, although it is highly recommended for students needing additional writing support. 

NOTE: EAP 5845 is no longer covered by tuition waivers.  Either the student or the department must pay regular (in-state or out-of-state, as appropriate) graduate-credit tuition for this course.

NOTE: Spring 2010 is the last semester EAP 5845 will be offered as a credit-course.

Research Writing (Formerly EAP 5846)

Research Writing addresses the needs of, but is not limited to, non-native English speakers who are conducting research for advanced degrees. Typically they have passed their qualifying examinations and need to develop their writing skills for publication, for their proposals and dissertations, and for conference papers. In this course, we examine different forms of professional/academic writing such as abstracts, which are integral to academic literacy skills.  We closely examine sentence- and paragraph-level writing in order to improve clarity, coherence, and concision of students’ writing to avoid weaknesses and common pitfalls. In individual student/teacher conferences we have the opportunity to discuss larger elements of academic writing distinctive to each discipline.

NOTE: Research Writing is no longer offered as a credit-bearing course at the University of Florida.  Research Writing is now being offered as a non-credit workshop. To register for this workshop please contact Megan Forbes at mforbes@eli.ufl.edu.

Contact Info

Academic Written English is now being administered by the University of Florida English Language Institute. 

For more information please contact:
Megan Forbes, Director
English Language Institute
University of Florida
315 Norman Hall
PO Box 117051
Phone: 352-392-3354
Fax: 352-392-3744
www.eli.ufl.edu
mforbes@eli.ufl.edu

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