Bridging the gap between high school and university: academic English made accessible.

This book features five theme-based units on cross-disciplinary academic English skills, focusing on the needs of first-year undergraduate students. Each unit covers academic writing, reading, and speaking skills. The units progressively take students through the steps needed to complete three common academic assignments: the essay, report, and tutorial discussion. These steps include searching for sources, note-taking, establishing a personal stance, synthesizing information from multiple sources, and structuring academic texts.

Each unit also includes opportunities for students to analyze texts, apply their critical thinking skills, try out what they have learned in productive tasks, as well as keep track of their progress. It is aimed at first-time university students. Many of the readings in the book are related to China and the broader Asian context. As such, this textbook might appeal to first-year university students in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Taiwan.