This volume explores a number of themes of current interest to those engaged in researching and teaching academic genres: the social and cultural context of academic writing; differences between the academic and non-academic text; the analysis of particular text types; variation within and across disciplines; and applications of theory in the teaching of writing. The contributors include many of today's most influential scholars in the area of academic literacy, working in a wide variety of tertiary academic contexts in Britain, Finland, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, Australia and the United States. The implications will be of relevance to all those engaged in teaching academic writing to both native and non-native English speaking students in tertiary education around the world.