[00:11.22]This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

[00:15.35]Today in our Foreign Student Series we discuss writing college papers.
[00:22.70]Writing a term paper,
[00:24.86]research paper or essay for a college class is a kind of academic writing.
[00:30.22]Academic writing among professionals is a way to create new knowledge.
[00:38.92]A professor assigns students to write a paper.
[00:44.37]The students examine an issue,
[00:47.07]review what is already known,
[00:49.18]think about what they have learned and come to some conclusion.

[00:55.95]This means that each student-writer must present information and also take a position.
[01:02.86]The student might support an idea,
[01:06.17]question it or even disprove it.
[01:09.32]Or the writer could show how the subject may be understood better or in a different way than it has been.
[01:18.39]And the student must support the position with evidence.
[01:24.27]Cultural differences may interfere when international students try to write this way.
[01:31.00]Writing teachers say students in many countries have learned to write beautiful descriptions about something without ever stating the main idea.
[01:46.14]American college students are expected to state their main idea at the beginning of the paper.
[01:54.19]In other cultures,
[01:56.47]paragraphs may be organized to build toward the main idea,
[02:01.92]which is revealed at the end.
[02:05.43]But in the United States,
[02:08.06]the main idea of each paragraph should be in the first sentence.
[02:13.44] Another difference is about writing style.
[02:18.45]Other cultures may use lots of descriptive words.
[02:23.13]But American English values short,
[02:26.89]strong sentences.
[02:28.55]Teachers at the writing center at Purdue University in West Lafayette,
[02:35.86]Indiana work with students to improve their writing.
[02:39.32]Graduate tutor Lars Soderlund says non-native English speakers generally have some trouble with English grammar.
[02:51.22]He says their sentences may be too long.
[02:55.16]Or they incorrectly use articles such as "a",
[03:01.48]"an" and "the." He also says non-native speakers generally use too much emotional language and give too many details before getting to the main idea.
[03:17.88]The associate director of the writing center,
[03:20.94]Tammi Conard-Salvo,
[03:23.45]says international students should look online for materials that explain the kind of writing they will be required to do.
[03:35.59]They should ask their professors for help.
[03:38.32]Most colleges have a writing center where they can get free individual help with their work.
[03:49.96]Links to writing center materials can be found on our Web site,
[03:55.11]voaspecialenglish.com.
[03:56.46]And that's the VOA Special English Education Report,
[04:00.73]written by Nancy Steinbach.
[04:03.64]I'm Jim Tedder.
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