AE4 (Academic Writing 2) Syllabus

Course books:
- University Foundation Study – ESSAY WRITING & RESEARCH AND REFERENCING
Output:
An evidence-based essay ( ~ 1000 words) supported by evidence drawn from appropriate
sources
Your essay will -

Discuss the effects of globalisation on (****** in) developing countries.

where the ****** could be any area in which you are interested, for example, automobile
industry, employment, education, marketing, health, technology, the media, indigenous
culture, the retail industry, architecture, diet, entertainment, law, etc.

Scheme of Work – 32 periods

Week Session 1 (Essay Writing) Session 2 (Research and Referencing)

1 Grammar review Features of academic writing style
Unit 1 Getting organised Unit 1 Why research?
At the end of this unit students will: At the end of this unit students will:
 understand more about the  understand the need to refer to
requirements of writing an other sources;
academic essay;  be able to strengthen the
 be able to produce a clear argument in their essays using
outline supporting points and evidence
2 Ss brainstorm the topic of their essay, to Ss carry out a cursory search for online
produce a schematic outline publications (google scholar) related to
Ss study the Scheme of Work, noting the their essay topic and amend their
various stages of writing/research schematic outline accordingly
3 Unit 2 Getting started Unit 2 The research process
At the end of this unit students will: At the end of this unit students will:
 be better equipped to start  be aware of a range of sources of
writing an essay; information;
 understand how to write a thesis  be able to identify the strengths
statement; and weaknesses of different
 have ideas on how to make the sources:
introduction interesting for the  be able to note down
reader bibliographical details for books
and Internet sites
Ss produce a draft introduction for their Ss carry out a more detailed search for
essay reliable and authoritative sources related
to their topic (to include academic
sources, e.g. published journal articles)
Ss must print copies of their sources
 4 Unit 3 The body of the essay Unit 3 Writing a bibliography
At the end of this unit students will: At the end of this unit the students will:
 have a clear idea how to  understand the purpose of a
structure the main part of an bibliography;
academic essay;  be able to produce a bibliography
 know how to plan and write using the APA system
effective paragraphs
Week 4 Ss produce draft topic sentences for their Ss review their compiled sources, to
Writing/Research essay identify appropriate evidence to support
Workshops their topic sentences
45 mins each For at least one of the sources they
intend to use, Ts should ensure that the
Ss have a) recorded appropriate
bibliographic data about the source, and
ii) highlighted (and, ideally, cut-and-
pasted e.g. into a Word document) some
of the key paragraphs/sentences they
intend to use as support in respective
paragraphs
5 Unit 4 Summaries and conclusions Unit 4 Referring to other sources in your
At the end of this unit the students will: essay
 have a clear idea of how to finish At the end of this unit students will:
an academic essay with a  understand how to decide
successful conclusion between citing and quoting;
 be able to cite and quote;
 be able to acknowledge their
sources in the body of their
essays.
Ss produce a draft conclusion for their Ss review the key information they have
essay identified in their sources, to determine
which paragraphs/sentences to cite
(summarise/paraphrase) and which to
quote directly
6 Summary writing Paraphrasing
At the end of this lesson students will: At the end of this lesson students will:
 Have learnt and practiced  Have learnt and practiced
appropriate techniques for appropriate techniques for
summary writing summary writing
Ss summarise a selection of paragraphs Ss paraphrase a selection of sentences
from their compiled sources, to use as from their compiled sources, to use as
support support
7 Unit 5 Academic style and register Unit 5 Plagiarism
At the end of this unit students will: At the end of this unit students will:
 be more familiar with the  understand what plagiarism is;
language of essays and able to  understand how to use sources in
identify some of the features of their writing;
academic style;  be able to recognise plagiarism in
 have practised using formal, a piece of writing
objective language
Ss complete their draft essay – checking Ss check their draft essay for plagiarism
for appropriate use of academic style (using Turnitin) – and take appropriate
and register remedial action as required
8 Unit 6 Guidelines for the future Unit 6 Using supporting arguments
At the end of this unit the students will: At the end of this unit students will:
 understand the editing and  be able to select relevant
 redrafting processes in essay information from their research
writing; notes;
 have a clearer understanding of  be able to support their
what lecturers expect from a arguments;
piece of academic writing  be able to acknowledge their
sources acceptably
Ss carry out a final check through their Ss submit their final essay for marking,
draft essay for common grammatical using APA style template.
errors => turnitin