English Language Fellow Michael Giovacchini led a workshop entitled “Academic Writing” at the Shanghai American Center. The 40 participants in attendance consisted of Chinese professionals, including PhD students, doctors and lawyers.
Each participant brought a unique writing task as well as questions to ask throughout the workshop. Giovacchini provided strategies for beginning the writing process, including analysis in writing, and synthesizing chains of evidence into well structured claims.
Although each participant had their own writing tasks, they found similarities in the difficulties they encountered during the writing process. The diversity of the audience allowed for a rich exchange of ideas and suggestions for participants to improve their writing. Participants commented that they felt much more confident knowing that they now have actionable ways to improve their writing.