Educational Tools · Free online tool
Oxford's iWriter and Academic Writer
Here is Oxford iWriter and Oxford Academic Writer to help you improve your English Writing keeping the good/formal structure
Oxford Academic iWriter
Academic iWriter help
Contents
1 What is the Oxford Academic iWriter?
2 Models
3 My Writing
4 Browser Compatibility
1 What is the Oxford Academic iWriter?
The Oxford Academic iWriter is an interactive tool designed to help you develop an academic writing style that is clear, precise and appropriate. It provides models of twenty-five different types of writing, and takes you through the key features of each one. It provides outline structures or frameworks for all the different types of writing into which you can add your own content. In addition to assignments such as essays and case studies, there are frameworks for each section of a dissertation, covering both the hard sciences and the humanities. The iWriter helps you to plan, choose vocabulary, write and check your own written work.
2 Models
Models menu
From the Home page, choose Models to view the menu of different models available.
As you point to or tap on the Information icon next to each title, an information panel will appear to give you some brief information about it.
Select the type of writing that you are interested in to open the model.
Guided tour
When the model opens, you will see a guided tour of the model. Clicking on or tapping the headings in the guided tour of the model will take you through some features of the model. As you select each heading, different parts of the model will be displayed.
The panel above the model will give you more information about what is displayed below. Sometimes you will see one or more checkboxes in the upper panel, which, if selected, will highlight the specific part of the text that is being referred to. You may need to scroll down to see the highlighted text. Deselect to remove the highlighting.
Choose what to show
You can choose which parts of the model you would like to show and hide using the coloured options displayed in the bottom left or when you select the lower tab next to the Guided tour of the model menu.
Select Show structure to display the outline structure or framework that was used to organize the piece of writing. This will always be displayed in red. It gives a brief description of each section of the piece of writing, and its function. Deselect to hide the structure.
Select Show notes to display the notes that the writer of the model took before starting to write. Notes will always be displayed in green italics. Deselect to hide the notes.
Select Show content to display the content of the model. Content will always be displayed in blue. Deselect to hide the content.
You can show and hide any combination of the three elements.
3 My Writing
My Writing menu
From the Home page choose My Writing to view the menu of the different types of writing available.
As you point to or tap on the Information icon next to each title, an information panel will appear to give you some brief information about it.
Select the title of the essay you are interested in to see the files that you can open for this type of writing.
If you have not practised this type of writing before, the only option available will be Create a new project. If you have already created some projects, their names and when they were created will be listed underneath. Select the file that you want.
Writing your own project
When you have chosen to create a new project or opened an existing project, you will see a list of headings that can be expanded to show checklists of what you should consider while creating your project. You can then use the suggested framework to structure the type of writing you have chosen. This will be displayed in the right-hand panel or when you tap the three horizontal bars in the top left. The framework will always be displayed in red. There will be spaces for you to add your own notes and then your own content. Notes will be displayed in green italics and your content will be displayed in blue.
Add text in the spaces by clicking or tapping in the box and starting to type. You can copy and paste between boxes.
What help does the iWriter offer?
Checklists
The iWriter offers help with planning, choosing vocabulary, writing, and checking your work.
The headings displayed when you open or create a project in My Writing can be expanded to see checklists of what should consider during each of these four stages. You can check off each point as you do it. To close a checklist, select the heading again
Tell me more...
In many of the checklists, you will see yellow tell me more... buttons. Click on or tap these buttons for extra hints and key words and phrases that you can use in the particular type of writing you are doing. To close a tell me more... panel, select X in the top right.
TIPS
In My Writing, the red frameworks will also include extra TIPS suggesting things to think about when writing particular paragraphs.
Highlight Academic Word List
When you have written some or all of your work, you can click on the AWL button above your piece of writing. This will highlight in yellow any words in the content of your writing that are part of the Academic Word List (AWL), as compiled by Averil Coxhead of Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
The AWL covers approximately 10% of all vocabulary in a well-written piece of academic writing. This means you should aim to have about the same percentage in your own academic writing, and you will be able to judge this when you see the words highlighted in red. The highlighting will also help you to spot whether you are using the same words many times, in which case you should look at the tell me more... panels, and in the dictionary itself, to find alternative words or phrases. Read more about the Academic Word List.
Choose what to show
You can choose which parts of your project you would like to show and hide using the coloured options displayed in the bottom left or when you select the lower tab next to the Checklists menu.
Select Show structure to display the outline structure or framework. This will always be displayed in red. Deselect to hide the structure.
Select Show notes to display the notes that you have written. Notes will always be displayed in green italics. Deselect to hide the notes.
Select Show content to display the content that you have written. Content will always be displayed in blue. Deselect to hide the content.
You can show and hide any combination of the three elements.
Saving your own project
You can save your work at any time by selecting the Settings menu on the top toolbar (on mobile you may need to tap on the hamburger button on the right to reveal it) and choosing Save or Save As. A modal window will appear where you can type your project name. Select OK to save.
Editing an existing project
There are three ways to reopen a project that you have already created.
You can select the relevant type of writing and then choose the name of the file from list of files that appears. Or, if you are already looking at a My Writing framework, you can select the Settings menu on the top toolbar and then select Load. This will show you all the existing projects you have for the type of writing you are looking at. Select a name to display the project.
You can also access a saved project from the home page by selecting Saved writing(s) and choosing the relevant project title.
Exporting a project
If you are using the iWriter on a PC, exporting a project allows you to save the text that you have written, excluding your notes, to your hard drive. This feature works best on a PC. Select the Settings menu on the top toolbar and then select Export. Exported files will be saved into your download location as a text file (.txt).
If you use the Export function on a mobile device, your text may be displayed in a new browser tab.
Deleting a project
To delete a project, open the My Writing menu and select the relevant title to see the files that you have created for this type of writing. Then select the red delete icon next to the name of the project you want to delete.
4 Browser Compatibility
The iWriter works on the latest version of the following Internet browsers:
- Chromium browsers (Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Opera, Brave, ...)
- Mozilla Firefox (in Private Browsing there're some issues)
- Safari (macOS, iOS, iPadOS)
Oxford iWriter Overview
The Oxford iWriter is an interactive tool crafted to enhance your English writing skills. It's packed with various writing models, guiding you through key features for each type. It's particularly handy for essays, providing structured frameworks that you can personalize with your content. It's like having a writing coach that helps you plan, pick the right words, write, and review your work.
Using Models in iWriter
When you start, you'll find a 'Models' menu. This is where you can explore different writing types. Each model comes with a brief description to give you a head start. When you dive into a model, there's a guided tour showing off its features. You can see the structure (always in red), writer's notes (in green italics), and the main content (in blue). These colors help you quickly distinguish between different parts of the model, and you can choose to show or hide these as you like.
My Writing Feature
'My Writing' is where your own writing takes shape. If you're trying something new, you'll start with 'Create a new project.' For ongoing work, just pick from your saved projects. Here, you'll find a framework for your chosen writing style, alongside checklists to keep you on track. These checklists cover planning, vocabulary choice, writing, and revising. Plus, there are extra tips and 'tell me more' buttons for additional guidance.
Saving and Editing Your Work
iWriter lets you save your progress anytime, ensuring you don't lose your hard work. Editing is straightforward too. You can reopen projects from the 'My Writing' menu or directly from the home page.
Oxford Academic iWriter Explained
The Oxford Academic iWriter is a step-up, tailored for academic writing. It provides models for 25 different writing types, including essays and dissertation sections. Like its counterpart, it offers frameworks and guidance for planning, vocabulary selection, writing, and reviewing, but with an academic focus.
Models in Academic iWriter
The approach to models is similar. You get a guided tour of each model with options to explore the structure, notes, and content. The color-coding system (red for structure, green for notes, and blue for content) is also used here for clarity and ease of use.
Working on Your Academic Writing
In 'My Writing,' you'll find options to start new projects or continue existing ones. The provided framework is designed to support academic writing styles. Checklists and tips are available for each stage of writing. A unique feature here is the Academic Word List highlighter. It marks words from the AWL in your text, helping you gauge the academic level of your language.
Saving, Editing, and More
Saving and editing functions are similar to the iWriter, with additional options like exporting your work as a text file, which is especially handy for PC users. There's also a feature to delete projects when needed.
Both tools are compatible with the latest versions of major web browsers, making them accessible on a variety of devices.
These tools are like having a personal writing assistant, guiding you through different writing styles and helping you improve your writing skills, be it for general or academic purposes.
