Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes I
Code: 106287 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2504212 English Studies | FB | 1 |
| 2504380 English and Catalan Studies | FB | 1 |
| 2504386 English and Spanish Studies | FB | 1 |
| 2504393 English and French Studies | FB | 1 |
| 2504394 English and Classics Studies | FB | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Jennifer Rose Ament
- Email:
- jenniferrose.ament@uab.cat
Teachers
- Jennifer Rose Ament
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
A CEFR C1 level of general English is required to be able to optimally follow the course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
"Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes I" is part of the subject "Academic Skills in English", along with "Speaking and Listening for Academic Purposes I", "Speaking and Listening for Academic Purposes II", "Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes II" and "Seminar on Advanced oral and written expression in English".
The main purpose of this course is to equip students entering the BA in English Studies with consolidated C1 level of English. Specifically, we target the linguistic and communicative tools needed to successfully follow the degree program. This is a foundational course, focused on developing students' formal academic written skills. A starting point of C1 level of English (CEFR) is assumed.
Specific course objectives
At the end of the course students should:
- Have a consolidated instrumental and academic use of the English language to a C1 level in order to later be able to succeed in attaining the core knowledge which constitutes the curriculum of the “Use of the Language” module.
- Produce argumentative texts of around 300-500 words that are formally well structured, linguistically correct, and have a depth of content appropriate to higher education.
- Understand authentic written materials from the fields of the Humanities and the Social Sciences. Reading for gist. Reading in detail.
- Identifying author's stance.
Competences
- English Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate skills to work autonomously and in teams to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
- Understand and produce written and spoken academic texts in English at an advanced proficient-user level (C1).
- Use written and spoken English for academic and professional purposes, related to the study of linguistics, the philosophy of language, history, English culture and literature.
- English and Catalan Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Make correct use of written and spoken English for academic or professional purposes, related to the study of language, history, culture and literature.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
- English and Spanish Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Correctly use written and oral English and Spanish for academic and professional purposes, related to the study of linguistics, history, culture and literature.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
- English and French Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams with the aim of attaining the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
- Use spoken English and French correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of linguistics, history, culture and literature.
- English and Classics Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate the ability to work autonomously and in teams in order to achieve the planned objectives in multicultural and interdisciplinary contexts.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Understand and produce oral and written academic texts with appropriateness and fluency in distinct communicative contexts.
- Use written and spoken English correctly for academic and professional purposes related to the study of English linguistics, history, culture, and literature.
Learning Outcomes
- Express oneself fluently, correctly, appropriately and effectively, both orally and in writing, in an academic environment.
- Express oneself in English orally and in writing in a formal register and using the appropriate terminology in relation to the characterisation of academic discourse.
- Modulate written and oral discourse in order to express oneself respectfully and ethically in a context of academic interaction.
- Plan work effectively, individually or in groups, in order to fulfil the planned objectives.
- Produce academic written and oral speeches at an advanced proficient-user level (C1) and adapting them to the conventions of the different genders.
- Produce written and oral academic discourses with a fluency and accuracy appropriate at an advanced proficient-user level (C1) and adapting these to the conventions of distinct genres.
- Produce written and oral academic discourses with a fluency and accuracy appropriate to Advanced User level (C1) and adapt them to the conventions of distinct genres.
- Produce written and oral academic discourses with a fluency and accuracy appropriate to proficient-user level (C1) and higher-proficient-user level (C2) and adapting these to the conventions of distinct genres.
- Produce written and oral academic discourses with a fluency in English at an advanced proficient-user level (C1) and adapting these to the conventions of distinct genres.
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of human and social sciences at an advanced proficient-user level (C1).
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of humanities and social sciences at Advanced User level (C1).
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of humanities and social sciences at an advanced proficient-user level (C1).
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of humanities and social sciences at proficient-user level (C1) and higher-proficient-user level (C2).
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of humanities and social sciences in English at an advanced proficient-user level (C1).
- Use appropriate metalanguage to describe the knowledge acquired in relation to the subject.
Content
The focus of this course is on written skills (reading and writing). In addition, relevant grammatical structures and lexis of a C1 level belonging to the formal and academic registers will be examined and discussed, either in class or independently, through assigned self-study materials.
- Characteristics of written academic discourse. Conventions, style and structure of formal academic texts in English. Academic English writing.
- The writing process. Brainstorming and generating ideas. The paragraph. Types of paragraphs. Building an argument and supporting ideas. The writing of argumentative essays of 300-500 words that are formally well structured, linguistically correct, and have a depth of content appropriate to higher education.
- Coherence and cohesion in discourse. Sentence fragments. Run-on sentences. Parallel structures. Agreement. Punctuation.
- Reading academic texts in Humanities (Linguistics and Literature). Identify main and secondary ideas. Reading forgist and reading for detail. Identifying writer's stance. Hedging. Textual analysis.
- Citing and referencing. MLA and APA style. Plagiarism. Appropriate use of AI tools.
- Gender-neutral language.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Guided exercises | 60 | 2.4 | 2, 3, 4, 15 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Supervised work | 15 | 0.6 | 2, 3, 4, 15 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Self-study. Exercises and assignments. Use of ICTs | 50 | 2 | 2, 3, 4, 15 |
The methodology will be based on the following activities:
- Teacher-led activities (33%)
- Supervised activities (10%)
- Self-study and Student led activities (40%)
- Assessment activities (17%)
Teacher-led activities (Theoretical and practical classes)
- Lectures using ICTs and group discussions.
- Practical activities in groups or pairs.
- In-class receptive and productive skills practice.
Self-study and student-led activities
- Language practice with the course books and other reference books.
- Completing reading activities.
- Writing argumentative essays.
- Participation in the reading circles.
- Practice with ICTs and Moodle.
Assessment tasks
- Grammar and vocabulary test
- Reading midterm
- Final reading exam
- Final writing exam
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academic reading circles / active participation | 8% | 5.5 | 0.22 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15 |
| Continuous assessment | 27% | 10 | 0.4 | 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 |
| Self-study | 5% | 3.5 | 0.14 | 2, 4, 15 |
| Written exam 1 | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 |
| Written exam 2 | 30% | 3 | 0.12 | 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15 |
The following criteria must be taken into account:
- Any non-submitted assignments will be graded with a 0.
- Students will obtain a “Not assessed/Not submitted” course grade unless they have submitted more than 30% of the assessment items.
- Since this is a course that assesses students' level of English, students will have to obtain 60% in each of the exams: Final reading exam and Final writing exam in order to pass the course.
- Only if/when students pass exams both exams with a 60% will continuous assessment marks and other evaluation activities be taken into account.
- Due to the practical nature of this subject, students are required to attend and participate in at least 80% of all in-class activities (text commentaries, tests, activities, presentations and oral debates, participation in class, etc.) in order to be evaluated for the 30% of the grade related to assessable practical activities that directly correspond to tasks carried out in class
- To pass the course students need to:
- pass exams with a 60% in each of them.
- a course average of 60%.
Single-Assessment Option
There is no single assessment option for this course.
Re-assessment
- Only the final exams can be re-assessed, provided that the mark in each is between 35% and 60%.
- If the average of either is lower than 35%, the student will not be allowed to re-assess that exam and will therefore fail the course.
- It is only possible to re-assess exams in the event of having a 30% of the continuous assessment tasks done.
- It is only possible to re-assess failed items.
- The maximum grade obtainable after reassessment is PASS (5 in sigma).
Evaluation activities excluded from re-assessment
The following continuous assessment activities are not eligiblefor reassessment:
- Essays, reading midterm, grammar and vocabulary test, reading circles.
Procedure for reviewing grades awarded
On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students (on Moodle) of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.
IMPORTANT:
- In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.
- Irregularities refer, for instance, to copying in an exam, copying from sources without indiacting authorship, or a misuse of AI such as presenting work as original that has been generated by an AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.
Bibliography
Course Text Books
Kennedy-Scanlon, Michael, Juli Cebrian & John Bradbury (2009) Guided Error Correction: Exercises for Spanish-Speaking Students of English. C1 Level, Book 1. Bellaterrra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Servei de Publicacions.
McCarthy, Michael & Felicity O’Dell (2016) Academic Vocabulary in Use (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hewings, Martin. (2023) Advanced Grammar in Use. (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Additional Recommended Resources
Baker, Lida, Robyn Brinks Lockwood & Kristin Donnalley Sherman (2018) Grammar for Great Writing. Boston, MA: National Geographic Learning.
Hewings, Martin & Haines, Simon. (2015) Grammar and Vocabulary for Advanced. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Powell, Debra. (2005) Common mistakes at CAE... and how to avoid them. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Other Complimentary Resources
Hewings, Martin & Craig Thaine (2012) Cambridge Academic English. An Integrated Skills Course for EAP. C1 level. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kennedy-Scanlon, Michael, Elisabet Pladevall & Juli Cebrian (2012) Guided Error Correction: Exercises for Spanish-Speaking Students of English. B2 Level. Bellaterrra: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Servei de Publicacions.
Swan, Michael (2016) Practical English Usage (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Recommended Websites:
English for Academic Purposes:
https://www.academic-englishuk.com/
https://www.eapfoundation.com/
Writing websites:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/index.html
Online dictionaries
https://www.ldoceonline.com (Longman Dictionary of Contemporay English)
https://www.merriam-webster.com(Merrian-Webster dictionaries on line)
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/(Cambridge dictionaries on line)
http://www.freecollocation.com/ (Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English)
https://www.lexilogos.com/english/dictionary.htm (A comprehensive set of resources for the study of the English Language)
Online Pronunciation Dictionaries
Other websites of interest
www.flo-joe.co.uk (Cambridge official examination practice)
www.pbs.org (American public television. Documentaries. American English)
Software
There is no specific program required.
Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 2 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 3 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 4 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 5 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 6 | English | first semester | morning-mixed |