What Makes Writing Academic: Rethinking Theory For Practice, By Molinari, J. (2022)

Abstract

Julia Molinari’s book "What Makes Writing Academic: Rethinking Theory for Practice" questions the Popular view of academic writing in higher education. The book critiques the problematic nature of academic writing, as it is taught in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) as well as Rhetoric and Composition. Moreover, the book argues that academic writing is a complex and socioacademic practice that accommodates various forms, genres, and modalities, criticizing the tendency to view academic writing as a transferable skill and mechanical process.[1] Molinari presented a thought-provoking critique of conventional academic writing from a critical realist perspective. She delves deeper into the history of academic writing and how it has excluded diverse voices and knowledge systems as a privileged form of knowledge demonstration. Understanding this issue has resulted in significant changes in higher education pedagogy.