3.English for Academic Purposes

Aims:

• This course aims to help students whose main language is not English, gain an understanding of this language in the academic and cultural context of their university studies, so that they can participate in and benefit fully from their degree course. The course is designed for and around an academic context, in which students will use materials from their subject courses as a basis for developing the following skills:
• Reading academic texts and effective note-taking
• Seminar discussion and presentation skills
• Academic essay writing skills
• Research skills
• Grammar improvement

 

Learning outcomes:

• 1) Students know:
• reading techniques for gathering information from various academic sources
• argumentative debating and writing techniques

·2) Students can:

• read academic and gather information from various written sources
• take effective notes
• participate in seminar discussions with well-researched presentations
• write well-argued essays in an appropriately academic style
• research and plan and their dissertation
• write a research proposal

Course Plan:

 

1	Academic literacy: overview of skills	Lecture
2	Academic writing 1: essay titles and thesis statement development	Group work / tutorials
3	Academic writing 2: argumentative essays and planning an argument	Group work / tutorials
4	Academic writing 3: using reading in your writing, supporting arguments and acknowledging sources	Group work / tutorials
5	Managing writing 1: writing introductions, thesis statement and conclusions	Group work / tutorials
6	Managing writing 2: quoting and paraphrasing, citing sources, avoiding plagiarism, writing a bibliography /students to submit first draft of their essay /	Group work / tutorials
7	Managing writing 3: achieving text cohesion and signposting	Group work / tutorials
8	Managing writing 4: hedging and claiming	Group work / tutorials
9	Reading skills: identifying key themes, selecting & prioritising information, following & evaluating arguments /students to submit revised draft of their essay/	Group work / tutorials
10	Feedback session	Tutorials
11	Presentation skills 1: audience awareness, planning and introducing presentations	Group work / tutorials
12	Presentation skills 2: / students to make outline for 5-10 mins. presentation to give in week 13	Workshop
13	Students to give oral presentations / feedback	Workshop
14	Writing an abstract /Students to submit final draft of their essay/	Group work / tutorials
15	Feedback and reflection	Group work / tutorials

 

Bibliography (relevant articles will be available on Moodle, except free online resources)

• Bailey, S. (2006) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. London: Routledge
• Bowell, T & Kemp, G. (2014) Critical thinking: A concise guide. London: Routledge
• Cottrell, S. (2011) Critical thinking skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument. Palgrave Study Skills, London: Macmillan.
• Fisher, A. (2011) Critical Thinking: An introduction. Cambridge University Press
• Graff, G. (2010) They Say, I Say: the Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Norton: New York https://www.iss.k12.nc.us/cms/lib/NC01000579/Centricity/Domain/2741/They%20Say%20I%20Say%20Full%20Text.pdf
• Greetham, B. (2013) How to Write Better Essays. Palgrave Study Skills, London: Macmillan.
• Godfrey, J. (2013) How to Use your Reading in your Essays. Palgrave Study Skills, London: Macmillan.
• Lynch, T. (2004) Study Listening: A Course in Listening to Lectures and Note Taking, Cambridge: CUP
• Swales and Feak (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students. Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
• Vicary, A. (2014) Grammar for Writing. Study Book. Reading: Garnet