《英语写作向导》的两名作者袁义，杨瑞英都是具有丰富英语教学经验的教授，在中国和新加坡教过大量的中国学生。在近二十年的教学过程中不断看到中国学生重复犯下相同或相似的错误，因此在这里收集、整理、归类成册。在书中，他们引用这些真实的学生作文和语句，从词汇、语法、习惯用法、段落和文章各个方面逐步探讨中国学生的写作难点，并提供各种类型的练习题和答案供读者自我检查和提高。希望读者在了解了这些错误的根源之后能避免相同错误的再次发生并提高对英语的语言意识及写作水平。

Chapter 1 Working with Vocabulary

 Exercises

Chapter 2 Working with Grammar

 Articles

 Countable and Uncountable Nouns

 Noun-Pronoun Agreement

 Subject-Verb Agreement

 Verb Tenses

 Subordinating Conjunctions 'Because, So, Although, But'

 Parallel Structures

 Sentences--Run-ons and Fragments

 Sentences Relative Clauses

 Exercises

Chapter 3 Working with Sentences

 Negative Raising or Transferred Negation

 Semantics of Subjects

 Negative Interrogatives

 Position of 'Also'

 Use of Chinese Idioms

 Exercises

Chapter 4 Working with Paragraphs

 Why Do We Need Paragraphs?

 The Structure of Paragraphs

 Paragraph Development

Comparison and Contrast

Cause and Effect

Chronological Order

Process

Definition

 Exercises

Chapter 5 Working with Essays

 The Structure of Essays

 Ineffective Thesis Statements

 Lack of Supporting Details

 Inappropriate Use of Rhetorical Questions

 Lack of Coherence

The Organization of Ideas

Grammatical Cohesive Devices

Lexical Cohesive Devices

 Inconsistent Use of Pronouns

 Referencing and Plagiarism

 Exercises

Answers to Exercises

Glossary

Bibliography

Acknowledgements