Academic writing 15-AW-11

One-semester academic writing course preparing for MA thesis. Students study and practise specialised aspects of academic language, textual organisation and rhetoric with an end to applying these skills directly to their own MA thesis writing

Course objectives / priorities:
1. Consistently portray MA Thesis as an argument (“thesis”), rather than an expository or balanced ‘for-and-against’ essay, a compilation of citations etc.;
2. Teach academic text organisation, in accordance with recommended, widely applicable rhetorical models and in keeping with WA BA/MA thesis organisation;
3. Develop / enhance students’ ability to integrate sources into their argument;
4. Inspect proper documentation of sources (WA Stylesheet and Template conformity);
5. Propagate and practise the use of ‘proper’ academic style.

Suggested organisation of the course (subject to modification):
1. Introduction + general awareness: social contextualisation of research (e.g. division into disciplines); research processes.
2. The form: MA thesis organisation: typical sections and rhetorical ‘moves’ (incl. comparing model BA / MA papers)
3. The form: WA stylesheet and template-based tasks.
4. Academic vs. non-academic language: academic vocabulary and grammar.
5. Academic style: Stance and hedging (may vary across disciplines, genres, part-genres)
6. Working with sources: handling the bibliography, summarising, paraphrasing, quoting (incl. stylesheet practice)
7. Synthesising sources: evaluative summaries, contrastive summaries (link to thesis)
8. Describing methods (likely to vary across disciplines)
9. Results and discussion (likely to vary across disciplines)
10. Methods, results and discussion – review.
11. Introductions.
12. Conclusions.
13. Discussing students’ text samples / one-to-one consultations.
14 Possible other topics, e.g. at students’ request.

Module learning aims

Course aims: 1. To prepare graduate students for active cooperation on their MA research project with their MA supervisors - by consolidating and extending the knowledge, skills and competencies required for critical understanding and effective presentation of theoretical and empirical contents in a scientific text. 2. To further students’ appreciation of scientific research and scientific text (inclusive of the MA thesis genre) as forms of academic argument dependent on an adopted thesis and on data analysis - as required by the convention, logic, rhetoric and style of expression in the context of graduate student work. 3. To consolidation or further development of the language skills essential for constructing, drafting and revising a scientific text, also in the context of the MA project (allowing for disciplinary variation if needed).

Information on where to find course materials

Facuty of English Moodle platform Novum Library

Major

English philology (All specialisations except: Conference interpreting, Translation.)

Course module conducted remotely (e-learning)

Some topics may be covered entirely or in part on the Moodle platform.

Student workload (ECTS credits)

3 ECTS (2 ECTS before the academic year 2017/2018)

Cycle of studies

2nd cycle

Module type

compulsory

Year of studies (where relevant)

Year 1

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences

(in Polish) Pomyślne przejście rekrutacji na studia 2. stopnia na kierunku filologia angielska, poziom biegłości językowej C1/C1+

Course coordinators

Term 2019/SL:

Term 2022/SL:

Term 2020/SL:

Term 2018/SL:

Term 2024/SL:

Term 2023/SL:

Term 2021/SL:

Przemysław Kaszubski
Magdalena Perdek

Learning outcomes

After completing the course, a student should be able to:
1. plan a longer academic argument;
2. successfully integrate external sources into the argument and/or organise a literature review;
3. clearly and effectively describe methodological details (as typical of their specialised discipline);
4. present and discuss the results of a study (as typical of their specialised discipline);
5. plan an effective introduction and conclusion to an MA thesis;
6. apply proper academic vocabulary, phraseology and style (in connection with the requirement of their discipline, if specific);
7. understand and apply the WA Stylesheet and effectively search for information in it;
8. effectively use the BA/MA template and apply its formatting features.

Assessment criteria

At the end of the course students receive an overall numerical grade (2-5). The skeleton criteria for the final assessment are:
4 : student performs all / most tasks on time / as required, and his/her performance is generally considered good
5 : a diligent student of top / above-average performance
3 : student copes but minimally OR has missed several deadlines / assignments.
2 : student's academic / research skills are not acceptable and / or he/she has been neglecting duties beyond acceptable measure.

Group teachers may develop more specific evaluation criteria depending on their detailed syllabus, particular task types and their weight, etc.

Bibliography

Carter, Ronald and Michael McCarthy. 2006. Cambridge grammar of English: A comprehensive guide. Spoken and written English grammar and usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [contains a dedicated chapter on academic grammar]
Hinkel, Eli. 2004. Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and grammar. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Hyland, Ken. 2006. English for academic purposes: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.
McPherson, Robin. 1994. University English. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne. [a good source of rhetorical expressions and patterns]
Jordan, Robert R. 1997. English for academic purposes. A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [provides a background overview of English for academic purposes]
Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. 2004. Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. (2nd edition.) Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. [main textbook, organised by various rhetorical functions and parts of academic texts]
Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. 2000. English in today's research world: A writing guide. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. [several chapters from this book complement the main textbook]
Swales, John M. 2004. Research genres: Explorations and applications. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Additional information

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 15-AW-11 in USOSweb