Writing Point

This Writing Point web site is continuously evolving: it collects together useful and reliable resources for developing English language and academic writing skills. When online resources seem to be lacking for a topic, we create our own; when there are resources available, we include a link to them only when we have checked them.

To start navigating the web site begin by selecting from the menu of Words, Sentences, Paragraphs and Text genre, or browse Frequent mistakes.

Our Writing Point blog features regular posts on aspects of the English language and Anglo-American academic writing to help enrich your own English and tailor your academic texts to an international audience.

Seeking feedback on an academic text you are preparing in English? Whether it be drafting a journal article, writing a thesis, penning a biographical statement, or putting together a conference abstract or grant proposal, our face-to-face or online academic writing consultations could be just what you need!

Schedule a meeting with us (up to two sessions per semester) at any stage of your writing project – in its embryonic stages, taking its first steps, or reaching its last hurrah. We’ll talk to you about the ideas you wish to convey and to whom, clarify the purpose of the text you are writing, suggest writing strategies for achieving this purpose, and guide you in your revisions.

These consultations are not a proofreading or copy-editing service: we establish a dialogue about your text that will help shape its development. Keeping your intended readership in mind, we start with the thought-processes and ideas behind your text, move on to its purpose and structure, and only then – in the final stages of drafting – on to the finer details of style and grammar. We not only give support for the current writing project that you have, but also foster the development of your English academic writing skills, helping you craft future texts more effectively.

How it works

●      You submit a request for a consultation on our Google form, including a brief description of the text you would like to discuss and when you would like to meet.

●      In advance of our first meeting we exchange emails. You send us an extract or outline of your text (up to two pages, a week in advance of the meeting), any relevant context (such as target journal, author guidelines, deadline), and an indication of what aspect of the text you would like to focus on. We may ask you further about your specific needs and expectations, or for further information that will help the meeting in person achieve a sharp focus from the outset. 

●      In the session you introduce and read the text aloud (or elaborate parts of the text if it is more an outline than a draft). We develop our initial impressions through questions about parts of the text that were not clear to us as your reader, and gauge how closely your intended purpose is realized by the text in its current form.

●      We may also identify and explain any English language issues. 

●      You leave the session with a clear idea of how to develop or revise your text. We agree how to follow up the meeting (a second meeting, or a further email exchange).

Consultation times

We offer two 30-minute consultation sessions per semester per faculty employee/PhD student. Each session also involves preparatory reading and analysis of the text by the consultant. The second of these sessions may be replaced by one email exchange in which you send a re-drafted text (of up to two pages) and we offer written feedback. If the set consultation times are impossible for you, an alternative time may be negotiated (but this is not guaranteed). 

Winter semester 2023

Andrew Goodall: 5:00 - 5:30 in Hollar, room 116

NB: In case current restrictions require it, video-call consultations may be offered in place of face-to-face meetings.

Request a consultation