An approach to teaching academic writing to foreign graduate students at the University of Florida is described. The course combines general and technical writing assignments to sharpen students' critical thinking skills while improving their organizational techniques and editing strategies. Assignments are designed to help students discover the links between their current academic interests and previous experiences. The class provides an environment in which students can explore several learning styles, and independent work is combined with peer editing and bi-weekly conferences in a form of Vygotskian tutorial. Several assignments are described to illustrate how combining papers on language learning and culture can improve subsequent drafts on research papers. (MSE)