Nepa School of Social Sciences and Humanities

Academic English II
Second Semester
Winter 2011 Session
Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences
Nepā School of Social Sciences and Humanities

 Instructor: Wayne Redpath

Course Description and Objectives

This course will build on the foundations of the first semester and continue the emphasis on creating a fluid and cumulative learning experience. Moreover, the second semester will also continue working from the Academic Word List, developed by Averil Coxhead at Victoria University of Wellington, to increase the students` working vocabulary. The course will become increasingly focused on all aspects of academic English language usage and advanced grammar and composition, and will run concurrently with the other course subjects by sourcing tasks and writing and reading exercises from these subjects. This will make it classes more realistic, practical and cognitively engaging for the students. A generative approach will be encouraged, where the students will consistently apply the English they are learning on a regular basis and incorporate the skills into their daily work. At the completion of the course the students will display the ability to write clearly, logically and fluently in academic prose and be able to critically analyse academic texts. Furthermore, they will be able to construct an argument and display proficiency in presenting their ideas and data in formal academic discourse that demonstrates a high level of competence in writing in a cohesive and coherent academic style.

Course Requirements:

Students should remember that the key to learning any language is practice, and therefore the course requirements for this particular course are strict.

Class Attendance and Participation: Classes will meet for 90 minutes twice a week. Students should be present and engaged in class every day. Participation in classroom discussions is mandatory, and in addition to attendance, accounts for 5% of the final grade. Students will be expected to give occasional presentations. The presentations scores will be considered part of each student’s participation grade. In addition, the students will have a mandatory supplementary tutorial once a week.

Writing Assignments: Students will receive one graded writing assignment a week which will account for 40% of the final grade.

Vocabulary and Grammar Exercises: Students will be provided with homework exercises to improve their understanding of important vocabulary and grammar structures in academic English. These exercises will account for 5% of the final grade.

Final Paper: A 6000+ word (exact word count has still to be decided) research paper will be due at the end of the semester and will be the accumulation of many weeks work that will be assembled into a final dissertation. Students work will be graded based upon their understanding and use of all previously taught concepts. The final paper will account for 40% of the final grade.

Note: Academic English Tutorial counts for 10% of the overall grade.

Detailed Course Outline

Week 1:

• Class 1: Introductory Orientation lecture: Outlining the course structure, goals, aims, and expectations, Writing: Critical Thinking & Academic Writing, Assignment of First Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 6 A
• Class 2: Grammar: Overview of English Academic Grammar, Student Critical Debate, Writing: Research & Essay Planning (Outlining) Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 6 B

Week 2

• Class 3: Writing: Academic Writing – Process and Product, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 6 C
• Class 4: Grammar: Nouns Phrases & Verbs Phrases, Writing: How to Avoid Plagiarism 1: Summarising, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 6 D

Week 3

• Class 5: Writing: Book Reviews/ Article Critiques, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 7 A
• Class 6: Grammar: Nouns Phrases & Verbs Phrases, Writing: Introductions and Thesis Statements, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 7 B 

Week 4

• Class 7: Writing: Cause and Effect Essays, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 7 D
• Class 8: Grammar: Prepositional Phrases, Writing: Body Paragraphs & Conclusions, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 7 D

Week 5

• Class 9: Writing: Classification Essays, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 8 A
• Class 10: Grammar: Subject Verb Agreement, Writing: How to avoid Plagiarism 2: Citations, Referencing, and Bibliographies, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 8 B

Week 6

• Class 11: Writing: Compare and Contrast Essays, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 8 C
• Class 12: Grammar: Adjectives in Academic Writing, Writing: How to avoid Plagiarism 3: Paraphrasing, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 8 D

Week 7

• Class 13: Writing: Critical Analysis Essays, Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary Review
• Class 14: Grammar: Adverbs in Academic Writing, Writing: Editing 1: Noticing, Vocabulary Review

Week 8

• Class 15: Writing: Critical Argumentative Essays, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 9 A
• Class 16: Grammar: Clauses & Conjunctions (Independent / Dependent Clauses 1), Writing: Editing 2: Cohesion and Coherence, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 9 B

Week 9

• Class 17: Writing: Research Proposals, Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 9 C
• Class 18: Grammar: Clauses & Conjunctions (Independent / Dependent Clauses 2), Writing: Editing 3: Sentence Level (Application of Grammar Rules), Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 9 D

Week 10

• Class 19: Writing: How to Write a research Paper (Dissertation), Student Critical Debate, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 10 A
• Class 20: Grammar: Grammar Review, Writing: Class Discussion on Student Research Topics, Assignment of Vocabulary List: AWL Sublist 10 B

Week 11

• Class 21: Writing: Research Papers (Literature Review), Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary Review (Homework)
• Class 22: Grammar: Verb Tenses, Lexical Verbs, and Gerunds & Infinitives, Writing: Hedging, Vocabulary Review (Homework)

Week 12

• Class 23: Writing: Research Papers (Methodology Section), Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary Review
• Class 24: Grammar: Lexical Substitutions, Stock Academic Phrases & Collocations, Writing: Sentence Transitions and Idea Connectors, Vocabulary Review

Week 13

• Class 25: Writing: Research Papers (Critical Analysis Section), Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary & Grammar Review
• Class 26: Writing: Presentation of Your Written Work (First impressions DO matter), Vocabulary & Grammar Review

Week 14

• Class 27: Writing: Research Papers (Abstracts), Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary & Grammar Review
• Class 28: Writing: Presentations, Vocabulary & Grammar Review 

Week 15

• Class 29: Submission of Completed Research Project, Writing: Exams, Student Critical Debate, Vocabulary Review
• Class 30: Writing: Mock Exam

Week 16

• Class 31: Student Presentations
• Class 32: In Class Wrap Up, Final Q & A, Assembling of all the sections of the research paper (dissertation)