Academic Writing

Junior High / High School

Academic writing teaches students to develop and organize their thinking. Students require these skills for success in global classrooms at the high school and college level. Furthermore, these skills are imperative for strong performance on tests like the SAT and ACT. Therefore, equipping students with these skills, through academic writing curriculum, is the centerpiece of the Englist program.

Why is academic writing so important?

It builds stronger communication skills

Students who can write a convincing and structured essay can speak in a clear and structured way, and with confidence. Not only will these individuals write well, but they will speak and think using these same strategies.

It develops critical thinking skills

The ability to move from one idea to the next and to understand the connection seems straightforward, but it is surprising how few people ever actually train this capacity. Learning to write, however, teaches students how to reason. In other words, writing teaches students “structured thinking”.

It improves overall language skills

Academic writing is a synthesis of all other language skills. You need strong grammar. You need an academic vocabulary. You need to be able to listen to and comprehend instructions, and you need to be able to speak up to ask questions and assert your opinions. And most importantly, you need to have read an awful lot.

Our Academic Writing Classes

Writing Essentials

Writing Essentials introduces students to the idea of writing as a communication tool and as a method of developing deeper and more analytical thinking. Students will try different types of writing, including sentence and paragraph construction, summary, review, narrative, creative, and more practical forms like emails and blogging. Students will be challenged to explore ideas they encounter and learn to present their ideas in a convincing and clear manner. Students are also tasked with developing mechanical skills through rewriting edited work.

Basic Essay Writing

Essay Writing begins with a focus on the Simple Persuasive Essay (SPE), a teaching tool developed by Englist. The purpose of the SPE is to introduce students to each component of an essay, how to structure and connect these components to convey ideas, and the logical underpinnings of communication and academic writing. Students are also introduced to simple expository and narrative essays, as well as basic stylistic features like transitions and descriptive writing.

Writer's Practice

Writer’s Practice expands on the foundations of the Essay Writing course by teaching students the importance of conventions of the writing process. At this level, we expand the focus on research, prewriting, proofreading and editing, and multiple drafts. . Essays become a multi-week project as students learn to write more advanced essay forms. These projects include research papers, literary and theme analyses, personal statements.

Writing Projects

“Writing Projects” is a fully online, 18-week course that will help students develop skills for effective writing.

The course is structured around five main projects: a research essay, an explainer essay, a narrative essay, a personal statement, and a literary analysis essay. Through their projects, writers will learn the importance of connecting with their audience, writing about what they know and care about, and making their writing relevant and engaging. The course will also cover topics such as the thinking-reading-writing connection, the purpose and structure of essays, and the writing process: prewriting, drafting, and revising.

Additionally, students will learn to present their essays to the class in online sessions, create slideshows, lead discussions, and responsibly use AI tools to enhance their writing.

Taipei Teen Tribune is an Englist publication founded in 2015, and is written by Taiwanese students about their experience and what they think is important. They write about current events, culture, school, trends, and everything in between. All articles are written by Taiwanese students in their own words. These stories are theirs, and chosen because they reflect real opinions and real concerns.

Students in this class write researched articles and opinion pieces to be published in Englist’s online magazine, Taipei Teen Tribune. Students are only admitted to this class on an invite-only basis, after they’ve proven to be mature enough English readers and writers. Most of the students enrolled have studied at Englist for at least two years.

Customized lessons / Homeschooling

Many students who are homeschooled in Taipei come to Englist for supplemental instruction in English academic writing. If you are a homeschooled student, a parent/guardian to a homeschooled student, or would simply like to know more about how Englist can help you take charge of your child’s education and future, don’t hesitate to contact us.

How Englist can help you:

Provide information regarding homeschooling requirements in Taiwan
Guide you through the homeschooling application process
Place students in the most appropriate Englist course for their English proficiency level
Provide student progress reports that adhere to Taiwan government homeschooling regulations

In order to ensure students are placed in the most appropriate classes, all new students must undergo an assessment. Englist teachers will determine the course level that will benefit the student the most based on test results.

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Meet Our Students

LEARN MORE

Englist students have gone on to prestigious schools all over the world, including …

UC Santa Barbara

University College London

University of Toronto

東吳大學
Soochow University
Department of Law

政治大學
National Chengchi University

University of Miami

King’s College London

UC Davis

國立臺灣大學
National Taiwan University

Our classes are all-English, all the time.

Native English-speaking teachers

Our classes are all immersive English-learning environments because our teachers are native English speakers. This allows students to improve their language skills more fluidly and colloquially.

Small class sizes

Through group discourse and interaction with their classmates, students are encouraged to speak up and voice their thoughts and opinions. This cultivates their logical thinking and social skills.

Fostering critical thinking skills

Students are encouraged to express their ideas through question-and-answer sessions and think critically about their arguments. This helps them become independent thinkers and prepares students for more advanced levels of writing.

Our Teachers

Englist prides itself in the quality of our curriculum and teachers. All of our instructors are enthusiastic teachers and experienced educators.

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Teachers speak English at a native level

With fluent English speakers leading the class, students learn pronunciation and grammar in a much more natural way. This immersive English learning environment allows students to hear the language in the way it would normally be spoken among native English speakers.

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Livelier and more interactive classrooms

All of Englist’s teachers grew up in Western education systems and instruct students in a similar fashion. We aim to inspire engagement and independent thinking in our students, a departure from the rigid and rote memorization techniques common among many other after school programs in Taiwan.

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Rich teaching experience in Taiwan

Our teachers have all had years of experience teaching in Taiwan in various schools and institutes, instructing students of all ages from elementary through high school.

Meet Our Teachers