ABSTRACT
Success on most foundation degree courses will depend, to a large extent, on the quality of the written material you submit. While presentations and other forms of assessment will, of course, play a part, if you look at your course handbook you will see that you are expected to produce written work in the form of assignments. Some may be professionally oriented, such as business and laboratory reports, accounts of field trips and book reviews; this mode of writing is designed to address the needs of your specific vocational situation. Other writing will be more academic, such as essays and dissertations, which aim to focus on debates about theoretical perspectives. Although each of these types ofwriting has specific conventions, what they have
in common is that they require you to develop a writing style that may be very different from that which you are used to. For your degree you will be expected to answer specific questions and to present your evidence in a logical sequence. You will need to dealwith conflicting arguments and take a precise and objective stance – quite a challenge for even the most confident and experienced writer. Everyone struggles with writing their first essay, so we will start here by
taking you through the process, step by step. We will also consider what a good writing style actually looks like, giving tips on what you should include and some pitfalls to avoid. Finally, we give suggestions for further reading. Discussion of other forms of writing such as reports and dissertations can be found in the following chapter. You will not be able to achieve an effortless academic writing style straight away; your tutors’ comments on your written work will help you to develop your writing over the course of your foundation degree. Indeed, when you look back over your studies you may find that your ability to write more effectively is one of your most significant achievements.
