Overview

This course is recommended for international students who speak English as a second language and who are keen to improve their overall competence in written English for the academic context.

This single 10-credit module provides academic writing practice, with an emphasis on style, vocabulary use, and grammatical accuracy. Students will study for & produce an academic essay and/or a report, incorporating the use of relevant source referencing conventions.

The module is a practical course offering both thinking about and practice of writing in class, with group, pair and individual work during sessions. Students will carry out one extended writing assignment during the module with a timed-writing exam at the end of the module.

Academic writing - the essay and/or report writing. Academic writing style & text organisation. A review of grammatical structures as required. Vocabulary use in context. An introduction to source referencing.

Assessment Strategy

• Threshold (Grade D) - A student has achieved the minimum acceptable standard of competence in coursework and examination relating to the learning outcomes above. A student shows the ability to write a satisfactory essay with some awareness of acceptable structure, content, style and language accuracy, though there are a number of errors in grammar and vocabulary use which can impede understanding in places. A student will have shown evidence of limited use of sources for the directed essay/report, with basic competence only in referencing, citation and quotation.

• Good Grade (C-B) - A student has achieved a good standard of competence in coursework and examination relating to the learning outcomes above. A student shows the ability to write a good essay/report and demonstrates awareness of the need for a clear structure, relevant content, and suitable style. Grammatical accuracy is overall good; there are some minor errors in grammar or vocabulary use, but these do not often interfere with the communication of ideas. A student shows mostly appropriate use of sources for the directed essay/report and a generally good competence in referencing, citation and quotation is demonstrated.

• Excellent (Grade A) - A student has achieved an excellent standard of competence in coursework and examination relating to the learning outcomes above. A student shows the ability to write a very good competent essay/report with a logical structure, relevant content, suitable style and overall good language accuracy. There are very few errors in grammar or vocabulary use and any there are do not interfere with the communication of ideas. A student shows some very good use of sources for the directed essay/report, demonstrating an overall competence in referencing, citation and quotation.

Learning Outcomes

• To develop students' knowledge of English language for written production - specifically, grammar & vocabulary use.

• To develop students' knowledge of and competence in applying academic referencing conventions to refer to source reading in their writing.

• To develop students' understanding of the planning and structuring of an academic essay/ an academic report.