Bachelor
2021/2022
Academic English Writing
Type:
Optional course (Fundamental and Computational Linguistics)
Area of studies:
Fundamental and Applied Linguistics
Delivered by:
School of Linguistics
Where:
Faculty of Humanities
When:
4 year, 2, 3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Instructors:
Yulia Badryzlova
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
2
Contact hours:
20
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course is targeted at Bachelor students of linguistics, and is designed to guide them in writing their B.A. thesis proposals to be defended at the end of the course. Students’ level of proficiency in English is expected to be no lower than CEFR С1 (IELTS 7,0-7,5/ С1 Advanced Grades A, B, C) so that they can apply their foreign language competence for collection, critical evaluation and analysis of information, research, as well as educational and self-educational purposes.
Learning Objectives
- understanding, interpreting, and discussing academic texts in English
- breaking a large project of writing a research proposal into smaller manageable tasks
- developing a clear and coherent argument on research topic according to the norms and practices of academic English (stating the problem; creating a research space; writing an overview of the literature; describing methods, data, and results; citing sources)
- identifying and implementing the basic writing strategies and standards of English academic writing, including argumentation structure and data presentation, as well as compositional, rhetoric, stylistic, verbal, and grammatical devices
- identifying and correctly targeting the potential audience by choosing appropriate style, vocabulary, and level of formality
- developing efficient planning, pre-writing, drafting, and editing proficiency
- gaining familiarity with the APA style guide and bibliography format
- utilizing Zotero bibliographic manager to compile a customized collection of bibliographic sources and to generate in-text citations and lists of references
- using a variety of freely available online sources, including dictionaries, corpora, and academic writing / ESL resources
- peer-reviewing academic texts
- practicing the drafting, revising, and proof-reading techniques; self-editing academic texts and incorporating peer critique
Expected Learning Outcomes
- can defend their projects
- knows peer-reviewing techniques
- provides tentative list of bibliographic references
- writes the Abstract and the Conclusions section
- writes the Anticipated Results section
- writes the Introduction section
- writes the Literature Review section
- writes the Methods section
Course Contents
- Academic Writing: Doing it the English Way
- Writing the Introduction: Establishing a research territory and niche
- Writing the Literature Review
- Bibliography, citation styles, and references
- Writing the Methods section
- Writing about the Anticipated Results
- Writing the Abstract and the Conclusions section
- Putting it all together
Assessment Elements
- defenseThe grade for the defense of the Project Proposal. It is composed of two grades: the grade assigned by the academic advisor for the submitted text, and the grade awarded by the evaluation board for presentation of the project during the defense procedure. The two grades are distributed as follows: 0.4*advisor +0.6*presentation
- class participationThis grade cannot be retaken.
- written workWritten_work consists of the grades for the following written assignments: written_work = 0.12*project_proposal_outline + 0.12*introduction + 0.15*literature_review + 0.12*methods + 0.12*anticipated_results + 0.12*abstract_&_conclusion + 0.05*references_&_formatting + 0.2*final_text, where – project_proposal_outline is the grade for the preliminary outline of the Project Proposal at the early stages of the course; – references_&_formatting is the grade for compliance with the standards of the APA bibliographic citation style and the HSE formatting requirements; – final_text is the grade for the finalized version of the Project Proposal text; introduction, literature_review, methods, anticipated_results, and abstract_&_conclusion are the grades for the texts of the respective parts of the Project Proposal
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 3rd module0.2 * defense + 0.6 * written work + 0.2 * class participation
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Wallwork, A. (2016). English for Academic Research: Grammar, Usage and Style. New York: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=528290
- Wallwork, A. (2016). English for Writing Research Papers (Vol. Second edition). Cham: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1175370
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Wallwork, A. (2013). English for Academic Research: Writing Exercises. New York: Springer. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=528292