Overview

This module develops more effective postgraduate academic writing skills for overseas students to enable them to write up their own research effectively, appropriately and correctly.

Writing skills There will be particular emphasis on the structure of postgraduate writing texts with a focus on planning, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion and conclusion sections. Critical thinking and referencing skills, synthesis, paraphrasing, register, citation, proof-reading, editing and subject specific skills will also be included on the course.

Grammar skills Essential grammar skills for postgraduate writing will be reviewed including article use, connectors, sentence structure, noun phrases, subject verb agreement, preposition use, subject/verb agreement and relative clauses.

Reading Skills for Writing A wide variety of academic reading texts will be used to enhance reading, grammar and writing skills.

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -

-good -Pass - 50%: A student has achieved a good standard in English grammar and writing in coursework and examination relating to the learning outcomes above (equivalent to IELTS 6.5)A student shows the ability to produce good written English for a variety of purposes and in a variety of registers and has good awareness of structure, content, style and grammatical accuracy, although there may be some minor lapses in adherence to academic conventions and register. There are only a few errors in grammar and/or format but most are identified and self-corrected and do not interfere with the communication of ideas. Writing may be ambitious in terms of structure but this may not be fully fulfilled.

-excellent -70%: A student has achieved an excellent standard in English grammar and writing in coursework and examination relating to the learning outcomes above (equivalent to IELTS 7.0 or above).A student shows the ability to produce excellent written English for a variety of purposes and in a variety of registers and has very good awareness of structure, content, style and grammatical accuracy. Writing closely follows academic conventions with appropriate register. There is evidence of effective error identification and self-correction with accurate use of sophisticated structures in writing. The communication of ideas is clear and effective.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module, students will 1. Have increased ability to organise and write dissertations, theses and other forms of written academic assignments in correct and appropriate English. 2. Be aware of academic conventions in a UK university environment and be able to integrate these conventions into students’ own written work. 3. Have raised awareness of personal problem areas in postgraduate academic writing and grammar. 4. Have developed the skills of proof-reading and self-correction. 5. Be able to incorporate information from source materials effectively using enhanced referencing skills and avoiding plagiarism.