AJ13001 Academic Writing

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2010
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)
Nicola Catherine Fořtová, B.A., M.A. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. David Konečný (seminar tutor)
Matthew Nicholls, B.Sc. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Pavel Reich, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Mgr. Marcela Sekanina Vavřinová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
James Edward Thomas, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Timetable of Seminar Groups
AJ13001/A: Wed 11:40–13:15 G31, N. Fořtová, P. Reich
AJ13001/B: Thu 15:00–16:35 G22, M. Sekanina Vavřinová, J. Thomas
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ09999 Qualifying Examination && !NOW( AJ11501 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 54 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/54, only registered: 0/54, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/54
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 6 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 connection between speaking and writing - that is, to ask "Would I say this?" when considering the naturalness of the structures and sentences they choose.
Syllabus
  • The Writing Process–purpose, plan, draft, redraft, edit; The students experience of writing; Differences between English and Czech academic texts; The issue of coherence; Paragraph structure-single theme and topic sentence; Punctuation-commas, semicolons and colons; Writing a project statement; 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; Thesis statements; Parallelism: a) Using parallelism to increase coherence, b) Non-parallel sentence elements; Writing a formal letter of application; 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 complete the course students must submit four written homework assignments and take a final written examination. The final examination takes the form of a timed essay. They must also achieve a high level of attendance. To pass the course they must achieve an average score of 67% (40 pts) for the four homework assignments and the final exam. The maximum number of points for each component is as follows: Homework 1 - Summary.............. 6 pts (10%) Homework 2 - Project Statement.... 9 pts (15%) Homework 3 - Essay 1.............. 15 pts (25%) Homework 4 - Formal Letter........ 12 pts (20%) Final Exam - Essay 2...............18 pts (30%) ______ TOTAL: 60 pts
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught only once.
Teacher's information
http://elf.phil.muni.cz/elf/course/view.php?id=1972
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 1999, Spring 2000, Autumn 2000, Spring 2001, Autumn 2001, Spring 2002, Spring 2003, Autumn 2003, Spring 2004, Autumn 2004, Spring 2005, Autumn 2005, Spring 2006, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Spring 2008, Autumn 2008, Spring 2009, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Spring 2011, Autumn 2011, Spring 2012, Autumn 2012, Spring 2013, Autumn 2013, Spring 2014, Autumn 2014, Spring 2015, Autumn 2015, Spring 2016, Autumn 2016, Spring 2017, Autumn 2017, Spring 2018, Autumn 2018, Spring 2019, Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Spring 2021.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2010, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2010/AJ13001