Competence in both spoken and written English is very important for all learners regardless of their hearing ability. Previous studies reveal that hearing-impaired learners face several challenges in their written English. These challenges affect their communication, which is likely to affect their education and career aspirations. The thrust of…

This contribution discusses problems of students' academic writing in Africa. It sketches the wide field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and argues that reference, coherence and complexity are key concepts for evaluating student writing at university level. It uses material from African corpora to substantiate this claim and to illustrate…