Abstract
This paper outlines an academic writing course that was taught in Japan to 100 students who took the course as a precursor to a study abroad program at the University of British Columbia, Canada. The steps taken to ensure that the students would be properly prepared for their academic life in Canada and their study abroad experience as a whole are also delineated. The results demonstrate that upon returning from an 8-month stay in Vancouver, the students showed a dramatic improvement in their writing abilities. Indeed, they displayed not only high writing abilities, but the ability to maintain solid grades in their other courses while in Canada. Finally, overall enjoyment of the course was deemed to be extremely high, further adding to the students' satisfaction with the program.

Keywords: Academic writing; preparation program; primary and secondary research.

Introduction
Teaching academic writing to Japanese EFL learners can be a tricky task: often neither the teacher nor the students are fully committed to it. Problems that exist in teaching academic writing to EFL university students include a general lack of knowledge of the requirements of writing research reports in English. This paper deals with some of the methods used to teach an academic writing course to 100 Japanese university students. Chiefly, this paper will address how to structure an academic writing course for learners who may not have the language skills and motivation to deal with a program of this nature. Although the course was conducted in Japan, it should not be considered exclusive to the Japanese setting. Indeed, the tactics employed here can be successfully used at other Asian universities.

The underlying reasons for teaching academic writing to Japanese students may be as varied as the techniques employed by teachers in such a course. The ones described in this paper were employed to benefit students going on an eight-month study-abroad program to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada, as part of their four-year degree program at a top-tier private Japanese university. The steps outlined in this paper can be utilized by teachers at other universities to ensure they approach teaching academic writing courses with their learners' specific needs and goals in mind.

Background
It is well known that reading and grammar are given more importance than speaking, listening and writing in Japanese junior and senior high schools (Aiga, 1990). This poses a problem for students when they enter university, as they do not have the necessary skills to cope with the writing courses that will be part of the university curriculum. In fact, due to the great emphasis placed on writing at U.S. and Canadian universities (Fujioka, 2001), the conduct of writing classes in Japan needs to be reevaluated. Most Japanese learners learn how to write in junior and senior high school from Japanese teachers of English by using grammar and translation-based methods (Hirayanagi, 1998); methods that later pose problems for students when they enter either a Japanese or Western university. What results is that learners are woefully unprepared for the rigors of conducting research and putting together a well-balanced piece of academic writing that would conform to the standards of Western universities.

True preparedness for a study-abroad experience at a university where English is the medium of instruction - the goal of an increasing number of Japanese high school and university students in recent years (Drake, 1997; Heffernan, 2003, 2005, 2006a) - means that our curricula should include courses on how to prepare an academic style paper in English. It is certainly not an easy task, but if done correctly can be an exceptionally rewarding experience for foreign language learners.

In order to adequately prepare our students for the rigors of a study-abroad program, or merely for the opportunity to learn how to write an academic style paper, writing courses at Asian universities should reflect this type of instruction. In fact, if students are to become fully proficient in the target language, they need to successfully acquire all four language skills (Brown, 2000).

A specific example
The students involved in the course outlined here were required to take an academic writing course in preparation for an eight-month study abroad program at UBC. While at UBC, the students were enrolled in regular classes with other Canadian students, studying the same courses, and evaluated in the same manner as their Canadian (and international) counterparts. In preparation for this, if the students wanted to be successful at UBC, they also had to perform at a high level in the pre-departure writing course. The students were chosen for the UBC program based on a number of factors: a lengthy application process that included writing an English essay on why each student wanted to participate in the program; an interview with both a Japanese and a native English-speaking teacher; and a TOEFL score of at least 500 on the Paper Based Test. In all, more than three hundred applications are received annually for the program. However, only 100 applicants are successful in making the final cut, thus progressing on to the actual academic writing preparation course. The stated goal of this writing course was to prepare students to write well-researched academic papers that could stand up to the scrutiny of the standards used by the instructors at UBC.

The course ran twice a week for two 90-minute classes over a fifteen-week semester. One of the requirements for passing the course (and thus participating in the trip to Vancouver) was that students had to attend 90% of the classes, successfully complete three expository papers and make one oral presentation on the topic of the final paper. The purpose of completing these tasks was to prepare students for two of the courses they would actually be taking at UBC that would utilize similar methods.

From the beginning, students were encouraged to think outside of the traditional Japanese style of organization while writing. This style is known as the ki sho ten ketsu style of writing, and has marked differences between writing in English and writing in Japanese. It is an inductive style of writing that reflects the way Japanese students think and write in Japanese (Kaplan, 1996): illustrations and examples are presented in a paragraph before the main idea (Hirayanagi, 1998). Further, the Japanese style of writing is quite ambiguous in nature (Takagi, 2001), and thus, quite hard to understand for native speakers of English.

Conversely, writing an academic English paper involves following an expository writing model which includes a thesis statement in the introduction, followed by paragraphs that start with topic sentences, and examples that support the thesis, which are then followed by a logical conclusion. Lastly, students were taught how to support their arguments by using correct referencing conventions. Stylistic rules followed the conventions of the American Psychological Association (APA), since this was the guide they would be using at UBC.

Structure of the class
Some of the most important elements of academic writing revolve around choosing a thesis and using a format that includes having unity, support and coherence. These are usually new terms to Japanese learners of English. These points must be stressed accordingly. In order to demonstrate unity, students had to ensure that all parts of the essay would work together to develop the main idea of the essay. The goal of any English essay is to support a single point or thesis with supporting points, followed by specific examples and evidence. Secondly, support means that the essay has specific evidence or examples to illustrate the main ideas. Finally, a convincing essay must demonstrate logic and organization in its arguments in order to be successful.

The course described here used methods that ensured learners would remember how to properly structure their essays. First, students were asked to select a topic that was of interest to them. Naturally, it is easier for writers to write about what they are interested in, so students were encouraged to choose a topic in this manner. Second, students were taught to limit their topic so that they addressed a suitable theme or problem that needed to be dealt with. Students were encouraged to narrow their topic sufficiently so that it would be an interesting and useful addition to the body of knowledge that already exists on that topic.

Teachers on the course faced challenges in guiding students toward selecting thesis statements. The criteria for doing so should be outlined by instructors so that students fully understand how to choose one that matches their topic. Specifically, students focused on thesis statements that were of interest to them and their target audience (their classmates). Some examples of thesis statements students in this course wrote were:

Third, teachers advised students to prepare a list of sources of information about their topics. In accordance with what would be required of them at UBC, students were encouraged to consult academic journals, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and of course, the Internet for sources of material for their work. Next, students were advised to do in-depth reading on their topics in order to make their point of view clear and concise. After organizing what they had read, learners started writing their papers.

Research methods
One key facet of teaching and learning academic writing is learning how to conduct both primary and secondary research. The former involves action research done by the students themselves. This entails designing, testing and administering a questionnaire and/or an interview to a number of people with the intention of testing an original hypothesis or thesis. The latter involves conducting research in a library or on the Internet of work that has been previously published. The point of both is to get students writing and researching in support of the thesis of their essay. When conducting either type of research, students were advised to be careful about the nature of information found on the Internet, as clearly, not everything one finds on the Internet is a reliable source. In the case of the course outlined here, secondary research was taught prior to primary research. If learners are capable of conducting secondary research first, they will be better prepared to carry out their own primary methods of research, which could then add some knowledge to their field of study.

The main elements in teaching how to conduct primary research included planning a questionnaire survey, selecting the survey sample, developing the survey design, constructing the questionnaire, and collecting and analyzing data. The learners on this course (and subsequent courses to it) needed to be given a step-by-step outline of how to perform the different types of research and the best method of analyzing the data collected from them.

Troubleshooting
Because of the inherent difficulties associated with teaching an academic writing course, teachers should be aware that problems are likely to arise. Strategies of eradicating problems can be formed before the course begins, so as to avoid causing confusion in class.

It is always advisable to be well organized in advance for a class of this nature. Problems can crop-up at any time and teachers are advised to prepare potential trouble spots in advance. For example, the learners in this course had difficulty deciding on a topic and thesis statement that was limited, unified and exact; narrowing the thesis statement; choosing materials that fit their topics and thesis statements; choosing support statements and examples; and using the correct methods of paraphrasing, summarizing, quoting and referencing. This last point is critical, as many Japanese learners are unaware of how to correctly paraphrase, summarize, quote and reference. Students in this course took a great amount of time in learning the finer points of how to accurately carry out these tasks. Teachers on the course noted that they spent quite a bit of class time actually practicing how to do each, giving the students specific examples and checking all work to ensure they fully understood these concepts.

Evaluation
Finally, students were required to give a 15-20 minute oral presentation on the topic of their third paper. The purpose of the presentation was to give students a chance to practice talking about the results of their study to an audience. Students were encouraged to give an organized and clear presentation on their findings, while using the usual array of visual aids if necessary.

The marking scheme for the course was based on attendance, the three essays and one presentation. Naturally, the students did numerous versions of each paper and had them all edited by the teacher, so the teacher was well aware of the amount of work each student put into the class.

At the end of the course, students demonstrated a clear improvement on their abilities to produce an academic style of writing. That is, the learners on this particular course showed their readiness for inclusion in the study-abroad program and academic life at UBC. Teachers on these courses repeatedly report that the learners are indeed capable of producing academic writing that conforms to pre-course expectations.

Results
Upon their return to Japan, student grades were obtained from UBC and discussed with the students in relation to their overall satisfaction with the program. This proved to be an interesting element of the program, as the learners did surprisingly well in their studies at UBC (Heffernan, 2006b). Indeed, 47% of the students who participated in the program maintained a B average in all of their courses while at UBC. Further, 36% of the students managed to achieve an A average, while 11% had a C average and 3% failed their classes. This final category included students who dropped out of the program midway through it, and students who admittedly did not give a full effort while in Canada.

Also upon their return to Japan, the students were given an exit interview. The purpose of the interview was to garner student attitudes toward the program and to measure their satisfaction toward the program. The interviews obtained some essential information on the workload expected of the students at UBC. Generally, the learners stated that the pre-departure writing course was very successful in preparing them for life at UBC. Most of the students were initially surprised to learn that writing academic papers was an integral element of all classes at a Canadian university. Since Japanese universities do not place a heavy academic burden on students, most of the students stated that although the preparation program gave them the necessary knowledge to get by in their life at UBC, they were still surprised by the amount of work at UBC. In fact, over 85% of the students in the program responded in this manner. This suggests that teachers should spend enough time preparing their learners for study abroad programs in order to better equip them for the rigors of academic life abroad.

Conclusion
Teachers in Japan - and indeed across Asia - who wish to conduct academic writing classes at their universities - must approach the task with the specific needs and goals of their learners in mind. As this course was a preparatory one for students going to study at UBC, it focused on how to write in an academic style and on primary and secondary research methods. This course overcame the specific problems encountered by the students, while adapting a step-by-step approach to teaching how to write in an academic style. It also centered on successfully preparing students for the complexities of living and studying in Canada alongside their Canadian counterparts. In the end, the program was a success, but there is always more work that can be done.

Finally, the students showed marked improvement in their writing styles and were successful during their 8-month stay in Canada. This implies that the preparation program was a qualified success; the goals of the learners were reached and they were satisfied with the outcome of the program.

Therefore, with the right amount of preparation, the end results can be rewarding, as students who have the motivation and willingness to learn about the form and process of academic writing will certainly benefit from competent, informative writing instruction.

References
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