Module Identifier
EL17700
Module Title
PLANNING, PROCESS AND PRODUCT IN ACADEMIC WRITING
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Mr John D Morgan
Semester
Semester 1

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Semester 1.  Five short written assignments of upto a total of 1200 words (combined proportion 60% of semester). One essay on a subject proposed by the student of 1500 words (40% of semester).  50%
Semester Assessment Semester 2.  Two short written assignments of upto a total of 600 words (combined proportion 30% of semester). One reflective report on critical development of writing skills 800 words (30% of semester). One essay on a subject proposed by the student of 1500 words (40% of semester).  50%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

analyse and appropriately interpret writing tasks in their own subject discipline;

display a critical awareness of linguistic features of academic discourse;

organise a logical and coherent argument and apply an appropriate range of linguistic and textual features within a recommended format for an appropriate academic assignment;

critically evaluate writing processes in planning and drafting stages;

engage in critical discussions on writing issues and peer feedback techniques for the development of transferable skills (not assessed).

Aims

To enhance the ability for students to work over a full academic year, allowing them to reflect on critical issues arising from semester 1 assessment (in this and other modules) in the 2nd semester. Many students do not appear to be confident in their writing upon leaving EL11010, but having selected only one module may be reluctant or unable to change modules to take EL11110. It would make it easier to work with late entry international students who are referred to this module by their departments (commonly from International Politics, SMBA, Computer Science & IRS) upon finding unexpected difficulties with planning, drafting and submitting essays.

Brief description

The module covers all aspects of planning, drafting, redrafting, editing and submitting written academic work. It covers essays and due to the increase in other departments requiring undergraduate reports, this issue will be included to a greater extent as a comparative discussion and planning task.

Language development is facilitated through the focus on the students' specialist focus in essay writing, contextualizing language to immediate individual needs. This has proved a popular and effective approach over the past 4 years with many students responding enthusiastically to the module. It is also reflected through greater confidence in continuing academic work with higher levels of achievement among students who take it seriously.

Content

The content listed here is categorized into thematic areas and does not represent linear syllabus specification.

What is academic English? The notion of discourse communities and types of argument.
- The writer and reader interaction process: shared background knowledge.
- Working with essay questions. Building a profile of subject-specific vocabulary.
- The notion of problem. Topic analysis techniques.

Essay & report structures
- Comparative analysis of essays and reports
- Introductions and executive summaries.
- Choices available for structuring the main body of the essay.
- Writing conclusions; writing an abstract.

Avoiding plagiarism in paraphrasing, citing, referencing and writing a bibliography
- Identifying suitable case study material
- Critical analysis framework and methods of literature review.
- Referencing conventions and bibliography requirements.

Language development; e.g. functions of present and past tenses, active and passive voice, noun phrase sentence patterns and repetition of noun phrases.

Revision and redrafting of writing
- Punctuation, layout and other issues that relate to the final presentation of an essay.

Brochure Text

Refer to content

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Structuring and sequencing in essays and reports.
Communication 1) Groupwork within the module; 2) communicating ideas through sequence of graded tasks.
Improving own Learning and Performance Through all seminars and tasks; written identification through reflective report.
Information Technology Use of computer network for researching essays, identifying case study material, planning and writing essays. Some tasks will be submitted through Blackboard.
Personal Development and Career planning Through all tasks; written identification through reflective report.
Problem solving Identifying problems in seminar discussion, proposing solutions to writing issues that will be comparable to students' own situations in researching, planning and drafting essays and reports.
Research skills Independently proposing essay questions, researching subject matter related to essay, identifying suitable case study material, reviewing material.
Subject Specific Skills Rhetorical and linguistic analysis of subject specific text and tasks.
Team work Groupwork within module.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4