FF:AJL13001 Academic Writing - Course Information

AJL13001 Academic Writing

Extent and Intensity

0/2/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Taught in person.

Teacher(s)

Christopher Adam Rance, M.A. (seminar tutor)

Guaranteed by

Christopher Adam Rance, M.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts

Timetable of Seminar Groups

AJL13001/01: Wed 10:00–11:40 G23, except Wed 17. 4., Ch. Rance
AJL13001/02: Wed 14:00–15:40 G31, except Wed 17. 4., Ch. Rance
AJL13001/03: Thu 16:00–17:40 G22, except Thu 18. 4., Ch. Rance

Prerequisites (in Czech)

( AJ01002 Practical English II || AJL01002 Practical English II ) && ! NOW ( AJL11501 Spoken Fluency Practice )

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 60 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 28/60, only registered: 1/60, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 1/60

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 12 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

The overall aim of the course is to enable students to write acceptable texts in English to fulfil a range of academic purposes. That is, to enable students to write texts which are clearly-expressed, grammatically correct, correctly punctuated, well-structured and logically coherent. Subsidiary aims of the course are: 1. to raise students' awareness of the semantic and syntactic pitfalls of trying to 'sound academic'; 2. to emphasize the virtues of simplicity, explicitness and directness when attempting to express complex ideas; 3. to encourage students to remember the connections and disparities between speaking and writing - that is, "should I write as I speak, and vice-versa".

Learning outcomes

Students will be have an understanding of the structure of the paragraph and essay, will be able to compose topic sentences and thesis statements and write self-sourced reference papers using MLA/APA.

Syllabus

• The Writing Process – purpose, plan, draft, redraft, edit; The students experience of writing; Differences between English and Czech academic texts; Establsihing a thesis; The issue of coherence; Paragraph structure-single theme and topic sentence; Punctuation-commas, semicolons and colons; Paragraph Structure - topic sentences and links; Paragraph Coherence – using transitions; Paragraph Coherence – Order of Ideas; Paragraph Unity – Digression; Paragraph ‘smoothing’; Writing essays; Paragraph Unity – Unrelated Information; Parallelism: a) Using parallelism to increase coherence, b) Non-parallel sentence elements; Using Generalisations; Editorial issues - italicization; Dangling Modifiers; Punctuation - question marks, quotation marks, and apostrophes;

Literature

• AARON, Jane E. The little, brown essential handbook for writers. 3rd ed. New York: Longman, 1999, viii, 247. ISBN 0-321-04970-5. info
• ALEXANDER, L. G. Sixty Steps to Précis. 9. vyd. London: Longmans, 1965, 135 s. info
• COOPER, Charles R. and Rise B. AXELROD. The St. Martins guide to writing. 2nd ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988, xxvi, 726. ISBN 0-312-00283-1. info
• ČMEJRKOVÁ, Světla, František DANEŠ and Jindra SVĚTLÁ. Jak napsat odborný text. Vydání první. Praha: Leda, 1999, 255 stran. ISBN 8085927691. info
• FOWLER, Henry Ramsey. The little, brown handbook. Edited by Jane E. Aaron - Daniel Anderson. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2000, xxviii, 96. ISBN 0-321-07507-2. info
• LAAKEN, M. van der, R. E. LANKAMP and M. Sharwood SMITH. Writing better English :a multi-purpose model for advanced speakers. 3., herziene druk. Bussum: Uitgeverij Coutinho, 2001, 82 s. ISBN 90-6283-276-8. info
• ŠESTÁK, Zdeněk. Jak psát a přednášet o vědě. Illustrated by Hana Kymrová. Vyd. 1. Praha: Academia, 1999, 204 s. ISBN 8020007555. info

Teaching methods

lectures, peer correction of assignments, completetion of written exercises in class, homework assignments, whole-class analysis of written assignments, analysis of model texts

Assessment methods

To achieve course credit students must submit four written assignments. They must also achieve a high level of attendance. To pass the course they must achieve an average score of 50% or above for each of the four homework assignments. The maximum number of points for each component is as follows: Assignment 1 - 20% Assignment 2 - 35% Assignment 3 - 10% Assignment 4 - 35%

Language of instruction

English

Further Comments

The course is taught each semester.

Listed among pre-requisites of other courses

• AJL11501 Spoken Fluency Practice
  (AJ01002 || AJL01002) && !now(AJL13001)  

Teacher's information

http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=1972

• Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  
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