Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes II
Code: 106289 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2504212 English Studies | OB | 2 |
| 2504380 English and Catalan Studies | OB | 2 |
| 2504386 English and Spanish Studies | OB | 2 |
| 2504393 English and French Studies | OB | 2 |
| 2504394 English and Classics Studies | OB | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Jennifer Rose Ament
- Email:
- jenniferrose.ament@uab.cat
Teachers
- Laura Jane Styles
- Gayle Marie Dalton
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Students enrolling in this subject are expected to have passed the subject Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes I.
The entry level for the subject is the C1.2 level (Advanced) in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment.
At the C1.2 level, the student can (i) understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognise implicit meaning; (ii) express themselves fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions; (iii) use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes; (iv) produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organisational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
It is also expected that students have consolidated knowledge of academic register and conventions.
Objectives and Contextualisation
"Writing and Reading for Academic Purposes II" 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 I" and "Seminar on Advanced oral and written expression in English"
Objectives:
- To strengthen and build the students’ instrumental and academic use of the English language to a C2.1 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.
- To fully understand real English texts, specialised and non-specialised.
- To argue naturally about a non-specialised topic without making basic grammatical mistakes and with a relatively wide range of vocabulary and grammatical forms.
- To understand materials of a variety of specialised and non-specialised topics.
- To write formal text types observing the structural and stylistic conventions of the genre and using a variety of relatively sophisticated vocabulary and structures.
Competences
- English Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Understand and produce written and spoken academic texts in English at advanced higher-proficient-user level (C2).
- Use digital tools and specific documentary sources for the collection and organisation of information.
- 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.
- 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.
- Use digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- 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.
- 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 digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- English and French Studies
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- 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 digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- 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.
- 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 digital tools and specific documentary sources to gather and organise information.
- 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.
- Locate specialised and academic information and select this according to its relevance.
- Modulate written and oral discourse in order to express oneself respectfully and ethically in a context of academic interaction.
- Produce academic written and oral speeches at advanced higher-proficient-user level (C2) and adapting them to the conventions of the different genders.
- Produce academic written and oral speeches at higher-proficient-user level (C2) and adapting them to the conventions of the different genders.
- Produce written and oral academic discourse with a fluency and accuracy appropriate to a higher-proficient-user level (C2) and adapting them to the conventions of the different genders.
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of human and social sciences at higher-proficient-user level (C2).
- Understand written and oral academic discourse in the field of humanities and social sciences at higher-proficient-user level (C2).
Content
Grammar and vocabulary:
- Advanced grammatical structures in English.
- Advanced vocabulary exercises.
- Error correction exercises.
- Development of awareness of academic stye and register.
Reading comprehension:
- Comprehension exercises and summaries based on real texts concerning a variety of different topics (general interest, literature, arts and humanities etc.).
- Note-taking and summary-writing of the key points of written text.
- Comparing author viewpoints.
Written production:
- Text planning and organisation exercises.
- Re-writing of texts and self-correction exercises.
- Exercises on the use of cohesion and argumentation elements.
- Argumentative essays (400-500 words) and summaries (250 words).
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| In-class practice | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Theory and practical classes | 30 | 1.2 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorial sessions | 22 | 0.88 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Reading and Studying - Exercises and essays - Using ICT tools | 76.5 | 3.06 | 3, 8, 9 |
The teaching methodology is based on:
- Teacher-led activities (30%, 1.8 cr)
- Supervised activities (15%, 0.9 cr)
- Self-study and student-led activities (50%, 3 cr)
- Assessment tasks (5%, 0.3 cr)
Teacher-led activities (Theoretical and practical classes)
- Lectures using ICTs.
- Class debates and 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.
- Writing argumentative essays and summaries.
- Practice with ICTs and Moodle.
Assessment tasks
- In-class précis (i.e. written summaries based on a written text), a midterm and a final exam (written).
- Completing a course portfolio.
Note: Students will be given 15 minutes of class time within the course calendar to fill in the teaching and subject evaluation form.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous Assessment | 30% | 1.5 | 0.06 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 |
| Final written exam | 50% | 4 | 0.16 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 |
| Midterm | 20% | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 |
- Continuous assessment (30%)
- Midterm (20%)
- Final written exam (50%)
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO PASS THE COURSE:
- To pass the course, students need to achieve 60% of the content of the final exam and the average of the course must be 60% or more.
2. Students need to achieve 60% on the final exam AND a minimum of 55% on each part of the exam (Reading, Use of English and Précis) to pass the final exam. Otherwise, they will have to reassess one part in which they have obtained less than 55%.
3. Only if/when students pass the final written exam with a 60% will continuous assessment marks and other evaluation activities be taken into account.
4. 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.
Reassessment
(i) To qualify for re-assessment, students need to have completed all the continuous assessment tasks, the midterm and the final exam, except for duly justified absences.
(ii) Students will only qualify for re-assessment if the mark in their final written exam average reaches 35%. If they reach less than a 35%, students won’t be eligible for reassessment.
If a student sits reassessment exams, they will get a maximum of 5 on SIGMA as a final grade.
No avaluable
Only available for those who have submitted less than a 30% of the course tasks/exams.
Single Assessment
This subject/module does not incorporate the single-assessment option.
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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 byan AI tool or programme. These evaluation activities will not be re-assessed.
Bibliography
Required Bilbiography
- Malcolm Mann & Steve Taylore-Knowles. Destination C1 & C2. Grammar and Vocabulary. Macmillan. 2007.
Recommended reference books:
- Michael McCarthy & Felicity O’Dell. English Vocabulary in Use: Advanced (with answers and CD) Third Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- Work on your Vocabulary. Hundreds of Words to Learn and Remember. Advanced. Collins, 2013.
- Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary or Oxford Dictionary English
- Michael Swan. (2005). Practical English Usage. Oxford University Press, 2005.
Recommended links:
- General practice
https://www.eltconcourse.com/learners/exercises/indexpages/grammarc1c2.html
https://agendaweb.org/
- Reading practice
https://www.flo-joe.co.uk/cpe/students/tests/
- Writing practice
https://writeandimprove.com/
https://www.grammarly.com/
- Reference materials
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ (includes pronunciation files, British English)
http://www.ozdic.com/ (collocations)
https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/ (corpus)
https://www.sketchengine.eu/skell/ (learner corpus)
Software
No specific software will be used.
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 |