There is a lot of help available on the web as regards
both general writing help and also grammar. Here we have listed some of
the sites: if you know of any others which you have found particularly
useful, please do not hesitate to contact
us.
On this page, we have provided a list of sites which
may help you with your English. There are a large number of writing sites,
many of them compiled by Universities anxious to give their foreign students
help with academic English. Much of this advice is geered to undergraduates,
but there is still some useful advice. We select the best of them, together
with other relevant sites, and we provide details below.
| General
features of academic writing |
| Online
writing lab (OWL) |
One of the first Internet writing resources, this
site is the work of Purdue University Online Writing Lab, and contains
some very high quality handouts on a range of subjects from placement
of the comma to writing research papers and non sexist language.
|
University
of Hertfordshire Using English for Academic Purposes:
A Guide for International Students |
This is an excellent resource written by Andy
Gillett. The sections on 'Features of academic writing' and 'Rhetorical
functions in writing' may be particularly useful, as are the sections
on punctuation and spelling (see below). |
| Harvard
Writing Center |
Aimed at undergraduates, but still at a fairly
high level, as would be expected from Harvard. |
| University
of Toronto Advice on Academic Writing |
Again addressed to undergraduate assignments,
but looks fairly comprehensively at logic, style, grammar etc. |
| The
Writing Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison |
An excellent set of resources again aimed at students
but providing a useful resource on grammar, as well as advice on writing
clearly. |
| The
University of Victoria Writers' Guide |
Useful advice on paragraphs, sentence construction. |
| The
Writing Centre at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute |
Mainly scientific writing, but has some sections
on language use. |
| Goldsmiths
University of London Resources for English Academic literacies |
A highly useful site looking mainly at all types
of language issues. |
| eslbee.com |
Has a page on 'advanced academic composition'. |
| Writing
on research papers |
| Scitext
Cambridge |
A useful article on how to compose a scientific paper - the term
'scientific' is used in the most general sense of research. |
| Younstown
State University Guidance on writing research papers |
One of the few resources actually on research papers. Takes one
through the whole process from formulating the question to editing. |
| General language |
| William
Strunk's elements of style |
Dating from 1918, this is one of the classics of
guides to grammar and style, set out as a series of rules. |
| Bartleby.com |
This site takes well known reference books on English
usage, such as Fowler, American Heritage Book of English Usage, and
provides a search facility. Quite why they use the 1908 version of
Fowler is a mystery, and their popup ads are irritating, but other
than that they provide a very useful site. |
| Common
errors |
A useful reference work where you can check usage/spelling. |
| Grammar |
| Guide
to grammar and writing |
A good online source of grammar information, accessed
by means of drop-down menus. |
| Hypergrammar |
Compiled by the University of Ottawa. |
| Edufind |
Easy to use and search, and well set out. |
| Jack
Lynch Guide to Grammar and Style |
very well set out with alphabetical organization,
easy to check common 'difficult words' e.g. is it alot or a lot? |
| Internet
Grammar of English |
written for undergraduates by the English Department
of University College London, but a useful resource for anyone interested
in grammar. |
| Online
writing lab (OWL) |
A very useful generic site (see
above), which contains a lot of information specifically on punctuation,
capitals
and spelling, parts
of speech, and English
as a second language. |
| Hong
Kong Polytechnic University English Language Centre |
This is an 'English for Academic Purposes' site,
but it contains some very useful sections on usage, grammar and sentence
construction. |
University
of Hertfordshire Using English for Academic Purposes:
A Guide for International Students |
Has excellent sections on punctuation and spelling,
as well as general advice (see above). |
| Online
dictionaries |
| http://www.voycabulary.com/ |
This site acts as an online dictionary
in the sense that it converts words on websites into links with online
dictionaries. |
| Websters
online |
A free online dictionary. |
| Bibliographic
referencing |
| Emerald site: How
to use the Harvard reference system |
This site gives advice on using Emerald's recommended
system for references, along with links to other sites. |
| Portal
and gateway sites |
| Cambridge
Language Consultants |
An editing and consulting services specialising
in research publications, this excellently organized site has pages
devoted to writing resources online and in print. |
| ELB
Brighton |
Has useful links to other sites for English for
academic purposes |