随着各层次、各类型研究生英语教学改革和高层次大学英语教学的迅速开展，英语写作课和英语写作教材也面临着越来越高的要求，《实用英语写作教程》则是为了适应这一新的形势而编写的。目的是帮助广大学生进一步提高学术和实用英语写作能力。
本教材具有以下特点：
1．在编写中吸收我们多年来在研究生、高层次大学英语教学和教材编写中积累的丰富经验，同时充分采纳国内外先进的英语写作教学理论和方法，力求有所继承又有所创新，使本教材成为具有实用性、创新性的新一代高层次英语写作教材。
2．本教材由学术性和应用性两大文体作文组成。涵盖各种题材、各种形式；囊括了自大学英语、硕士生至博士生的全部教学过程。各个章节目的明确，相互衔接，系统性强。同时，考虑到学生入学的英语起点不一，英语教学目的和要求也不尽相同，因此各辛节又相对独立，以利于教师在教学中根据实际情况灵活使用，既可以选择部分章节作为起点教材或后续教材，也可以使用全书。
3．本教材务求内容新颖，知识点全面。在每一章节里，选文和内容编写根据作文的规律，由浅入深地排列。同时，按照写作的知识点，以选文及样文为例，加以简要评述和知识点归纳。这些评述和知识点组合起来，

Chapter One Sentence Writing
1. Common Grammatical Mistakes in Sentences
2. Typical Weak and Ineffective Sentences
3. Ways to Improve the Effectiveness of Sentences
Chapter Two Paragraph Writing
1. Writing Topic Sentences
2. Writing Supporting Sentences
3. Writing a Concluding Sentence
4. Paragraph Structure and Development
5. Time Order
6. Space Order
7. Combining Space Order and Time Order
8. Order of Importance
9. Paragraph Coherence
10. Paragraph Unity
Chapter Three Essay Writing
1. Writing the Thesis Statement
2. Writing the Introductory Paragraph
3. Writing the Developmental Paragrap'
4. Writing the Concluding Paragraph
Chapter Four Patterns of Essay Development
1. Writing Descriptions
2. Writing Narrations
3. Writing a Process Essay
4. Writing an Example Essay
5. Writing a Classification Essay
6. Writing a Cause or Effect Essay
7. Writing a Comparison or Contrast Essay
8. Writing a Definition Essay
9. Writing a Data Commentary
10. Writing an Argument Essay
11. The Five-- Paragraph Essay
Chapter Five Practical Writing
1. Application Letter Writing
2. Resume Writing
3. Memo Writing
4. Report Writing
Chapter Six Research paper Writing
1. Steps in the Research and Writing Process
2. Discovering, Narrowing, and Focusing a Topic
3. Writing a Thesis Statement
4. Finding, Selecting and Evaluating Sources
5. Writing Abstract
6. Writing an Outline
7. Writing the Introduction
8. Writing the Body
9. Writing the Conclusion
10. Revising the Final Draft
11. Writing Effective Academic Proposal
12. Making an effective oral presentation