Admission requirements
A pass for Language Acquisition 1 or an equivalent introductory course on academic writing.
Description
Academic Writing in Theory and Practice builds on the first-year writing and grammar course. In the first half of the course we will deal with topics in academic writing that were not or not fully dealt with in the first year, such as argumentation, clause grammar, cohesion, hedging, and paragraph development. The theory will be applied to short writing and editing assignments, which we will discuss in tutorial. Furthermore, students will be given guidelines on how to review each other’s work.
In the second half of the course, students will further perfect their editing skills. They will also cooperate in pairs to write three short academic papers (1000 words), which are peer-reviewed by two of their fellow students in short oral presentations. The student-authors then use the feed-back obtained from these peer reviews to rewrite one of the papers into a 2000-word academic essay.
Course objectives
Ability to write academic essays at CEF-level C1
Ability to edit and peer review academic texts
Knowledge of theories on academic writing and the ability to apply these theories
Timetable
The timetable will be available by June 1st on the website.
Mode of instruction
Choose from:
45-minute lectures until Reading Week
45-minute seminars
Reading List
Course Load
The course load of this course is 140 hours.
Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 9
Time for studying the compulsory literature: 30
Time to prepare for tutorials/the exam and/or write a paper (including reading / research): 101
Assessment method
Written test : questions and editing test: 30%;
Oral and written presentations: 20%;
Essay: 50%.
The essay grade should be sufficient (6.0) in orde to be able to complete the course.
Blackboard
This course is supported by Blackboard.
Reading list
Language Acquisition 6: Academic writing in theory and practice. [Texts and assignments on Blackboard]
Swan, M. (2005). Practical English usage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Registration
Students should register through uSis. Exchange students cannot register through uSis, but must see the coordinator of studies and register with her. If you have any questions, please contact the departmental office, tel. 071 5272144 or mail: english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Registration via Studeren à la carte
Registration via Contractonderwijs
Contact
English Language and Culture departmental office, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 102C. Tel. 071 5272144; english@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
Coordinator of studies: Ms T.D. Obbens, MA, P.N. van Eyckhof 4, room 103C.