CJVA401 Academic Writing and Other Study Skills

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2019
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Joseph Lennon, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Abigail Mokra, M.A. et M.A. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Dana Plíšková (assistant)
Mgr. et Mgr. Petra Trávníková, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
Joseph Lennon, Ph.D.
Language Centre Faculty of Social Studies Division – Language Centre
Contact Person: Mgr. et Mgr. Petra Trávníková, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Language Centre Faculty of Social Studies Division – Language Centre
Timetable of Seminar Groups
CJVA401/01: Mon 12:00–13:40 U36, J. Lennon
CJVA401/02: Mon 16:00–17:40 U36, J. Lennon
CJVA401/03: Tue 14:00–15:40 U44, J. Lennon
CJVA401/04: Wed 16:00–17:40 U36, A. Mokra
CJVA401/05: No timetable has been entered into IS. D. Plíšková
Prerequisites
(( FAKULTA ( FSS )&& TYP_STUDIA ( MN ))||( OBOR ( MUSFSS )))&&(( ADAPT_B2 Adaptivní test B2 ))&&(! NOWANY ( CJVA402 Academic Presentations and Other Study Skills ))
Passing ADAPT_B2 Adaptivní test B2 with the result indicating that you are on the B2 level or higher.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is offered to students of any study field.
The capacity limit for the course is 70 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/70, only registered: 0/70, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/70
Course objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to
a/ use strategies to make their academic texts coherent and logically structured
b/ write clearly and in an attractive way
c/ edit their texts effectively, profiting from peer reviews
d/ identify individual moves in different sections of academic texts
e/ utilize multiple linguistic strategies and tools s.a. hedging, gender-neutral language, complex prepositions, complex noun phrases and clauses
f/ avoid the intrusion of the mother tongue („Czenglish“)

Apart from academic writing taks, students will also be given many opportunities to practice their reading, speaking and listening skills through intensive pair and group discussions, analyses, and individual work.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students will be able to • a/ use strategies to make their academic texts coherent and logically structured • b/ summarize texts effectively, accurately interpreting the author's argument and stance • c/ identify and effectively use five rhetorical moves in abstracts • d/ identify various functions in different sections of academic texts • e/ produce more academic texts, utilizing multiple linguistic strategies s.a. nominalisation, passivisation, hedging and using complex noun phrases and gender-neutral language • • Apart from academic writing exercises, students will also be given many opportunities to practice their reading, speaking and listening skills through intensive pair and group discussions and analyses in classes and through individual work both in class and at home.
Syllabus
  • LANGUAGE OF ACADEMIC TEXTS
  • Formal and informal register
  • LINKING
  • Paragraph structure, topic sentences
  • Sentence connectors
  • Editing
  • ESSAY WRITING
  • "Discuss", "Defend" essays
  • STRUCTURE OF ACADEMIC TEXTS
  • Analyzing and writing abstracts
  • Writing up research:
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
Literature
  • HEWINGS, Martin and Craig Thaine. Cambridge academic English :an integrated skills course for EAP : student's book : advanced. Course Consultant: Michael McCarthy. 1st pub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. 176 s. ISBN 9780521165211.
  • FOWLER, H. Ramsey and Jane E. AARON. The Little, Brown handbook. Thirteenth edition. Boston: Pearson. 921 stran. ISBN 9781292099477. 2016. info
  • SWALES, John and Christine B. FEAK. Academic writing for graduate students : essential tasks and skills. 3rd ed. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press. xiv, 418. ISBN 9780472034758. 2012. info
  • ŠTĚPÁNEK, Libor, Janice DE HAAFF, Alena HRADILOVÁ and David SCHÜLLER. Academic English – Akademická angličtina: Průvodce anglickým jazykem pro studenty, akademiky a vědce (Academic English: a guide for students, academics and scientists). Praha: Grada. 224 pp. ISBN 978-80-247-3577-1. 2011. info
  • MCCARTHY, Michael and Felicity O'DELL. Academic vocabulary in use. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 176 stran. ISBN 9780521689397. 2008. info
Teaching methods
pair and class discussions and analyses
individual (writing) homework tasks
peer review
using corpora
Assessment methods
Regular attendance (5 absences allowed)
Continuous assessment (five tasks in the IS Odevzdavarna, total 55 points):
a/ analyse four paragraphs from corpus in terms of their structure (due in week 4): 7 points
b/ write and peer review an essay of the 'discuss' type (due in week 7): 20+7 points
c/ analyze or write an abstract (due in week 8): 7 points
d/ analyse an introduction or a methods section or write one (due in Week 11): 7 points
e/ peer review another student’s work for the exam (due a week ahead of the exam): 7 points
Submit an exemplary academic text for the exam: 20 points
Discuss the academic text and its peer review at an oral exam: 25 points
Language of instruction
English
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
The course is taught each semester.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2019, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2019/CJVA401