English - Academic Writing C2

In this course students write and revise essays of various genres including description, evaluation, explanation, argument and analysis, while learning how to evaluate and interpret written texts of others in regular workshop sessions.

After completion of this module, students have improved their ability to communicate clearly and powerfully in formal written English, become familiar with some common forms of expository writing, increased academic, professional and everyday vocabulary, developed regular habits to continue this learning process, and generally have increased their self-confidence with regard to written text production.

In addition, students can understand formal texts with increased ease, summarize information from different written sources, reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation; they can express themselves spontaneously very fluently and precisely, differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex situations.

Ability to begin work at the C2 level as evidenced by a placement test score in the range of 75 – 100 percent. (Please check current announcements as the exact percentages may vary each semester.)

In this workshop-style course we explore a range of topics through short readings and essay-length composition writing. Techniques for evaluating one’s own writing will be practiced, with opportunities to revise drafts. Oral and written peer evaluations will form a regular component of the class sessions including use of an online peer forum and online instructor feedback.

Text material, online platform with forum and text archive allow students to develop writing ability in a process-oriented manner.

Recommended resources:
Silyn-Roberts, Heather (2000) Writing for Science and Engineering: Papers, Presentations and Reports. Butterworth Heinemann Publishers. ISBN 0-7506-4636-5.

Oshima, Alice, Ann Hogue (2006) Writing Academic English 4th Ed. Pearson Longman. ISBN 0-13-152359-7.

Wiliams, Joseph (2000) Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace Addison, Wesley Longman Co. ISBN 0-321-28831-9.

Students will write at least 4 texts of 300 to 500 words in various genres. They will receive feedback on each draft and have multiple opportunities to revise in which they are expected to demonstrate a command of the conventions of each genre (e.g. in an evaluative essay they will be able to respond to readers’ needs for information, state a clear judgment, provide evidence for it, use appropriate strategies such as comparing and contrasting, citing sources responsibly, anticipating and acknowledging counterarguments, and adopting a credible voice).

In each essay, students will show that they are familiar with and can apply conventions of Anglo-American academic writing such as beginning a text with an introduction, supplying a transparent, coherent set of supporting paragraphs, and ending with a succinct conclusion. They will be able to apply conventions of grammar and mechanics consistently, and will demonstrate a sensitivity to readers’ needs by responding to feedback given by fellow students in workshops and by the instructor in consultations and in writing.

Students will also demonstrate the ability to produce texts spontaneously in a final in-class writing assignment. Duration of the final examination: 60 minutes. They will also participate in writing workshops in which they demonstrate an ability to analyze texts of fellow students and provide appropriate feedback.

The drafts of each text, as well as the final in-class assignment will count equally toward the final grade. Students may use dictionaries.