Bachelor
2021/2022
Critical Thinking and Academic Writing
Category 'Best Course for Career Development'
Category 'Best Course for Broadening Horizons and Diversity of Knowledge and Skills'
Type:
Elective course (Philology)
Area of studies:
Philology
Delivered by:
School of Philological Studies
Where:
Faculty of Humanities
When:
2 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies:
distance learning
Online hours:
10
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors:
Maria A. Krivosheina
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
5
Contact hours:
56
Course Syllabus
Abstract
This is a two-module course which develops and refines academic English skills of those students who specialize in Arts and Humanities, namely, philology. By combining the basics of academic style, punctuation, and grammar with critical reading and academic writing, this course enables students to gain an awareness and understanding of the key features of writing about their research. By the end of the course, students will be able to write a good academic essay in MLA style. Pre-requisites: to fulfill the requirements of the course students need to have a good command of written and spoken English (required CEFR language proficiency level is from upper-intermediate (B2) to advanced (C1)).
Learning Objectives
- To introduce students to the basic principles of critical reading and academic writing and to raise their linguistic awareness, comparing conventions in Russian and English writing.
- To prepare students for further academic activities in English as part of their HSE bachelor’s programme (i.e., disciplines in English, Academic English course in their final year of bachelor’s studies, MOOCs etc.) and in a wider English-speaking academic environment.
- To develop and practise students’ skills in the areas of academic essay writing, essay organization, citations, and research.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- Students are familiar with the stylistic conventions of academic discourse and employ them appropriately in their own writing.
- Students articulate and assess the author’s thesis, purposes, audiences, writing strategies, contexts, bias, and credibility; write a critical review essay according to the instructions given; demonstrate their professional skills and assess both their own writing and their colleagues’ writing through peer review; use electronic environments to draft, revise, edit, and share texts; use writing processes to explore, think, and learn.
- Students find and analyze academic texts to assess their relevance to their own research; synthesize appropriate source material from both print and electronic environments; signal and integrate basic quotes, paraphrases, and summarized ideas; avoid plagiarism; document and cite in MLA format accurately.
- Students recognize and apply the rhetorical conventions of academic discourse (i.e., paragraph structure, unity, coherence, argumentation); produce clear and appropriate topic sentence as well as supporting sentences; write a well-rounded paragraph conveying their argument to a general reader; demonstrate their professional skills and assess both their own writing and their colleagues’ writing through peer review.
- Students write an analysis essay according to the instructions given; produce clear and focused thesis statements supported by logical arguments; incorporate and document sources appropriately; demonstrate their professional skills and assess both their own writing and their colleagues’ writing through peer review; use electronic environments to draft, revise, edit, and share texts; use writing processes to explore, think, and learn.
- Students know the basic principles of English punctuation and the most important differences between Russian and English punctuation and employ these principles appropriately in their own writing.
- Students know the basic principles of English academic writing and the most important differences between Russian and English writing conventions; know and apply principles of critical reading; organize and adapt texts appropriately for audience, purpose, and type of task; identify the author’s main claims and supporting points; reduce the text to main ideas; evaluate arguments and evidence critically; use pre-writing strategies.
Course Contents
- Course introduction
- Paragraph structure
- Style and register
- Critical review
- Syntax and punctuation
- Finding, evaluating, and using sources
- Analysis essay
Assessment Elements
- Ungraded written assignments (free writing, exercises, peer reviews etc.)Active participation in in-class assignments is required during most seminars. Students should inform their instructor about their excused absences before the class (not after) by email, and provide the doctor’s notes and other documents about them. An excused absence is an absence due to a number of accepted reasons such as a medical or personal issue beyond one’s control, participation in a significant extracurricular university event, conference etc. If the absence is excused, the grade for in-class assignments will not be reduced. However, even if a student is absent, they are still responsible for home assignments; because they will have at least several days’ lead time, the due date for these remains the same regardless of one’s absence. Students should try and meet home assignment deadlines by all means. In case one’s home assignment is 1-2 days late, they lose 50% of their grade. In case one’s home assignment is 3 or more days late, it is not accepted or assessed – the grade is a 0. One’s home assignments should be either neatly handwritten or typed. Students should not discard any papers they produce during the year until they receive their final grade.
- Quizzes
- Critical review
- Analysis essay (exam)Plagiarism will not be tolerated. For each plagiarized sentence, the essay loses one point (for example, 8 → 7). If there are more than three plagiarized sentences in one’s work, the grade for the essay is a zero. For further information visit https://www.hse.ru/studyspravka/plagiat
Interim Assessment
- 2021/2022 2nd module0.29 * Analysis essay (exam) + 0.26 * Critical review + 0.16 * Quizzes + 0.29 * Ungraded written assignments (free writing, exercises, peer reviews etc.)
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Bailey, S. (2017). Academic Writing : A Handbook for International Students (Vol. Fifth edition). London: Routledge. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1650435
- Murray, N. (2012). Writing Essays in English Language and Linguistics : Principles, Tips and Strategies for Undergraduates. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=438550
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- MacDonald, S. (2010). Professional Academic Writing in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Vol. Paperback ed). Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois University Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=367965
- Murray, R., & Moore, S. (2006). The Handbook of Academic Writing : A Fresh Approach. Maidenhead, England: McGraw-Hill Education. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=234234