English Language Centre, Unit Catalogue 2009/10 |
EL10692: Academic writing for postgraduate research |
Credits: | 3 |
Level: | Certificate |
Period: | Semester 2 |
Assessment: | CW 100% |
Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
Requisites: | |
Description: | Aims: The aim of this course is to improve students' academic writing skills to enable them to write theses and other extended research papers. Learning Outcomes: Having completed this unit students will be better able to: * Plan and write an outline paper for a thesis * Understand how to structure a doctoral thesis * Identify and apply the discourse features of the different sections within a thesis * Take notes from and summarise texts * Critically evaluate texts * Incorporate ideas from source material, including direct quotations, without plagiarising * Adopt a position in relation to others' research and opinions * Refer to sources appropriately within the text and in the references section of a paper * Link ideas within and between paragraphs * Write objectively in an academic style appropriate to their level and discipline * Identify and correct errors in grammar, punctuation and style. Skills: Having completed this unit students will be better able to: * Analyse the requirements of a task * Plan a task * Think critically about the research or opinions of others * Communicate ideas through writing. Content: * Planning and writing a research proposal * Incorporating reading material and avoiding plagiarism * Referring to sources * Structure of a thesis * Addressing other tasks required by doctoral students, such as abstracts, literature reviews, transfer papers * Paragraph structure * Cohesion within and between paragraphs * Academic style - showing and avoiding personal commitment * Grammatical accuracy and punctuation * Proofreading and editing |