Abstract
Academic writing is an essential skill for learners of English writing, especially learners of English as a second (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL). This highlights the importance of paying more attention to English academic writing, particularly in higher education institutions. Hence, the research provides a general and theoretical background about English academic writing with reference to teaching writing to EFL students in the context of Saudi higher education institution. The study convers different topics and sub-topics, including the definition of academic writing, teaching approaches of academic writing, the nature of English writing, and the factor that influence academic writing. This study also discusses the theories related to English academic writing, which are: the contrastive rhetoric theory, social constructionism theory, and connectivism theory. Other topics discussed in this study are related to the issues faced by EFL students of academic writing, such as the linguistic issues, cultural and psychological issues, instructors' teaching practices, teachingmethods, learning environment issues, and issues related to the use of technology in learning academic writing.