In this article, the author draws on the findings of a previous study of the history of writing instruction at UWI, Mona, to argue that academics' attitudes to writing and its instruction throughout most of the six-decade history of the institution suggest that large numbers of "content" faculty may not readily address the component of Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) which requires them to be directly involved in students' writing development.

The ability to write effectively in biology is a persistent concern in the Department of Life Sciences of the University of the West Indies. Although writing skills, such as spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure, are generally sufficient, content, structure, and coherency fall below an acceptable standard. In this study, we used quantitative methods to determine whether specific writing tasks would lead to a change in biology students' perception of writing in science and the perceived value of and/or willingness to use writing as a component in their science learning.

Renewed international interest in Writing across the Curriculum (WAC) is testimony to a growing acknowledgement that writing plays an important role in all areas of the curriculum. However, not enough atention has been paid to the workplace where the writing skills of students find final application.