Yes an academic writing is a skill that each of us must learn. It is an important tool for each of us if we want to write with effect to attract people to listen to what we have to say. It takes time and effort to learn this skill. As for me, a writing skill is about my voice, my expression on things I have encountered, my research, my studies, my thoughts, my ideas on something which I have written down on paper.

Without a good writing skill, we will perhaps fail to convey an important message that will bring an awareness of the studies or research done to the society. Therefore we must have good academic writing skill in order to enhance what we want to share to others. The writing must be well written, profound, clear and precise with clarity, structure and organization in that piece of work. When one can write well, the expression of the author or writer's voice will be heard and as a result, people will be affected and they will respond to the matter voiced out by the writer. Yes, it is without a doubt an academic writing skill is an art of writing and it is important for every individual.

Saya berpendapat bahawa kemahiran penulisan akademik adalah satu kemahiran yang amat penting dan perlu dikuasai oleh para pelajar ijazah kedoktoran untuk membolehkan mereka menghasilkan sesuatu tugasan yang berkualiti melalui aktiviti penulisan. Harus diingat bahawa pelajar ijazah kedoktoran adalah mereka yang bakal dianugerahkan ijazah kedoktoran pada sedikit masa lagi. Mereka perlu menyumbangkan idea kepada masyarakat dan negara melalui hasil penulisan mereka, contohnya seperti penulisan artikel, jurnal, kertas cadangan, tesis, dan sebagainya. Tanpa hasil penulisan yang baik dan bernas, objektif penulis untuk menyampaikan idea dan pendapat mereka kepada masyarakat tidak akan tercapai. Sehubungan dengan itu, sesebuah penulisan yang bermutu adalah hasil daripada penguasaan kemahiran penulisan akademik yang baik.

Sure thing. If you do not have such skill, is like an athlete who wants to win an Olympic medal without training. So, you need to make a lot of training. Good luck with your endeavor!

Are academic writing skills REALLY that important, especially for doctoral candidates?

Thank you for initiating this discussion, Dr Airil Haimi Mohd Adnan

It is my habit especially when the writer-in-me is switched-on to dissect the question or the statement of analysis. As such, are academic writing skills REALLY that important, especially for doctoral candidates, in my view, divided into 3 segments.

The 3 segments are as follows:

1. Academic writing skills, what are these?

2. Important, yes or no, or both?

3. weigh the importance to a Doctoral candidate?

Besides the listed above, the word REALLY is accepted to be synonymous with 'in actual fact' or 'in reality'.

Referring to the above breakdown, my view is as follows:

1. Academic writing skills, what are these?

Like any other topic of discussion, Academic Writing Skills is presented differently by the different schools of thought but most agree that writing is the key outcome-enabling-activity. The 'academic' word of the said phrase is a broad-spectrum-subject by itself although the narrow synonym ~ 'theoretical' exists. It is unlikely that one is required to cover the weight of the word 'academic' contextually and we acknowledge there is no need to do so here.

However, as a professional obligation, I would coin 'academic' as that which is theoretical in nature which needs constructive dwelling both in the metacognitive and cognitive plane of the learner/writer, encompassing by nature, and has held the authority to challenge that which the 'practical' [antonym] deploys as solutions or applications.

It is the two-way dialogue between the 'theoretical' and the 'practical' by means of academic writing that at large, documented the civilization of mankind, achieving solutions and proceeding for more.

As such, academic writing is the key mode of conversation between the theorist, practitioner, and the observer. These in turn serve as the reference for the decision perusal in the present time. Academic writing is beyond time as a subject but is time-limited as a skill.

The academic writing skills, in my understanding, includes the following but not limited to:

THE BROAD END OF THE FUNNEL

READING

a. cognition

i. recognition

ii. critical analysis

iii. the agreement

[the above is impossible without reading]

NARROW END OF THE FUNNEL

WRITING

b. journal the output of processes a. i - iii

c. edit- finalize a flow to the presentation of the acquired knowledge to the target reader/audience

2. If the above explanation is the lens through which I would perceive the topic of discussion, then, YES is my answer to the question: are academic writing skills REALLY that important, especially for doctoral candidates?

3. To weigh the pertinence of Academic Writing Skills especially to Doctorate candidates, I would refer to the description that Doctoral studies focus on research and professional studies where the Doctoral degree holder is discerned as a virtuoso and authority in the field of their study.

Referring to my take as above; the mere presentation, justification, application, and defense of the optimally acquired knowledge, to be conferred the Doctorate recognition will surely need good Academic Writing Skills. This will increase the chances of the output to be unassailable [or minimally assialable] to the audience and achieve its goals. The good Academic Writing Skills will aid the doctorate-candidacy by means of minimizing the intended-outcome of the output from being misunderstood, miscommunicated, and misconstrued.

On the other hand, the subjectivity of good Academic Writing Skills makes it 'amoebic' as a teaching topic. The validity of the learner acquiring good Academic Writing Skills at a theoretical level or via teacher-centric methodology is highly arguable. As such, the acquisition of good Academic Writing Skills could be aided with many short writing practices.

Given the current technological diverse output and input, more so at the doctoral level, the candidates' writing [blanket] style/individuality in producing the presentation should not be the subject of intended-outcome scrutiny. Instead, the presentation's defense and it's quality should.

Pada pendapat saya, kemahiran penulisan akademik ini amat penting bagi pelajar berijazah doktor untuk menghasilkan kajian yang dikaji. Pelajar berijazah doktor menggunakan teknik atau cara untuk melaporkan laporan kajian seperti jurnal, tesis dan disertasi.

In my view, academic writing skills are very important for doctoral students in developing learning strategies to overcome the barrier writing thesis paper ,journal and dissertation in future

Indeed, it is important as without proper writing skills it will be difficult to even start writing and know what to write on. I used to teach students on writing as required in the college syllabus but now I am the one who is `doing and generating'’ the ideas on what to write on. It cant be done over night. And although I have scored in an assignment does not mean I am a good writer. Thus, academic writing involves a larger realm which deems one to be explicit/clear plus good in academic language and can argue facts theoretically as well as argumentatively or critically. Its not easy but it can be very easy if we know what is it that which we want to write on and write it academically well.

Yes. It is a way for us to express our thought in certain topic.

Hi Airil,

How to publish internationally when you don't write or speak in Academic English?

Erasmus students from other EU member states studying at Belgian universities, get their courses in Academic English. If each EU student would only communicate in its mother language, the Erasmus student exchange program would become impossible to execute. This goes as well for the Erasmus lectors at EU Universities.

And the EU with 445 million inhabitants has thousands of exchange students, also from outside the EU in fact!

See what I mean?

Cheers,

Frank

Yes, because :

• "Practice makes perfect". The more we write, the better our writing skills would be.
• Our intellectual development would be stimulated and this helps in analytical thinking.

Kemahiran penulisan akademik amat penting bagi pelajar ijazah kedoktoran bagi memastikan penulisannya berilmiah dan boleh diterima dan difahami oleh pembaca tanpa menjurus kepada emosi semata-mata