Academic English Introduction

Course communications WeChat group QR code: Teaching materials: https://osf.io/8fawu/ Teacher email: rickyjeffrey@nenu.edu.cn The fastest way to contact me is through WeChat. You can write to me individually or in the WeChat group.

Course outcomes By the end of the course learners should be able to write a short academic journal article reporting a social science research review, in English write sentences in an appropriate style write paragraphs in an appropriate structure write different article sections (introduction, method, etc.) in an appropriate structure find appropriate sources and use them in their writing cite sources appropriately design and complete a review to an appropriate standard speak about their social science field, in English

UK Quality Code – Master’s degree (from QAA) Master's degrees are awarded to students who have demonstrated: a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study or area of professional practice a comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses. Typically, holders of the qualification will be able to: deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences l demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level. And holders will have: the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring: the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development.

In-class participation Assessment 10% In-class participation 65% Written assignment 25% Speaking test

Assessment 65% writing 25% speaking test 10% in-class participation 2,000 word assignment 25% speaking test At the end of the course Around 11 mins (similar to IELTS) 10% in-class participation Contributing in class Attendance

Hand in final written assignment Draft timetable  Week Topic Task 1 Introduction & noun-based writing   2 Academic style 3 Assignment & Performing a literature review 4 First 1-1 assignment tutorial Hand in research plan 6 19/10 Method 7 26/10 8 2/11 Speaking Hand in Method draft  9 9/11 Review of Methods writing, sentence structure, citations, Findings sections 10 16/11 Citation, synthesis of sources, connectors 11 23/11 Hedging, caution Hand in Results/Discussion draft  12 30/11 Introductions 13 7/12 Conclusions Hand in Introduction draft  14 14/12 Abstracts, summary 15 21/12 Second 1-1 assignment tutorial Hand in full draft 16 28/12 Speaking assessment Hand in final written assignment

Assessment: Written assignment process First tutorial At the start of the semester, the student will send an assignment plan to teacher. First one-to-one tutorial: Teacher will meet student to give feedback on assignment plan and answer any questions. Teaching Every few weeks, the student will send part of her written assignment (e.g. Introduction section, …) to teacher. Teacher will review the writing and make notes of common errors and strengths. Individual feedback will be written on student’s writing, and sent back to student. Errors common among several students will inform teaching in the following lessons. Second tutorial Towards the end of the semester, student will send a complete draft of her article to teacher. Teacher will review and write individual feedback on the draft. After several days, teacher will send this feedback to student. Student and teacher will meet one-to-one to discuss the feedback, how to improve, and any other questions the student has. Scoring A few weeks after teaching has finished, email final version of assignment to rickyjeffrey@nenu.edu.cn Teacher puts assignment through automated plagiarism check. (If clear evidence of plagiarism is found, teacher will recommend to faculty administration that the student receives 0 for the assignment.) Teacher scores assignments, using two evaluative criteria – language (vocabulary, grammar, discourse, presentation); non-linguistic quality (reasoning, depth of literature review, originality) – each on a scale of 0-5. In most cases, NENU students are expected to score from 2-5. Scores are adjusted proportionally to conform to the university’s 0-100 scale. These scores are submitted to faculty administration.

Reasons for the course Help you to use research evidence written in English. You can use this research evidence to do work in your other courses on your Masters do your Masters dissertation improve your teaching, when you are a teacher in future (evidence-based practice) prepare for a PhD in future ……. Improve English writing and speaking, which should be useful for your future career, generally Doing exchange overseas Doing a PhD ……..

Evaluation of this course Anonymous comments from students last semester, halfway through the course 9. What do you like about this course? Yes,I like this course.I think the materials are quite useful for me, even though sometimes I can not catch the class.I also enjoy the discussion environment,which can improve my reflection and thinking speed towards the questions. It's very practical and useful for me. It does not only provide chances to improve our academic writing ability, but also the speaking, logical thinking and even the strict training for doing research. Your teaching is interesting and student-centered. I can see that before offering this course, you've already well prepared for each step. I like to work in groups with people. It helps me to socialise with others and learn from them. I also like to speak English in this course. It helps me with my fluency. Systimatic literature review is also a powerful tool and ability in the academic career, so this course is definetly useful to me.

What will you review? 3 Options 1. All studies in a field 2. All empirical studies about practice in a field 3. All empirical studies about one particular practice in a field Match the two abstracts to the three types of review

How many articles should you review? Maybe 5-20

Lessons In lessons, no Chinese. Only speak Chinese if you want to learn how to say it in English, e.g. “How do I say 理论 in English?” If you come to class and speak Chinese, it is a waste of my time. Your promise: “I promise that I will speak only English during lessons on this course.” At the start of each lesson, your seating will be randomised, so you don’t sit next to the same people every lesson. This will give you chance to work with different people. I tend to use WeChat and the Internet a lot in lessons. You need to bring your phone with plenty of power. We don’t seem to have wifi in this room, so unfortunately you may have to use your own phone credit. If this is a problem for you, let me know.

Plagiarism No plagiarism. It’s a waste of your time and my time. It will be exposed. A homework found to be plagiarised will not be graded, and you will lose marks for participation. A formal assignment found to be plagiarised will result in you receiving 0 for the assignment, and so failing the course.

Resources These are some of the resources used on the course APA 2010 Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6th Edition Bailey 2011 Academic Writing A Handbook for International Students 3rd edition British Council 2017 ‘English grammar’, British Council website https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar Morley 2016 Academic Phrasebank Oshima and Hogue 2006 Writing Academic English - Level 4 4th ed Petticrew and Roberts 2006 Systematic Reviews in the Social Sciences A Practical Guide Swales and Feak 2012 Academic Writing for Graduate Students Wallwork 2011c English for Writing Research Papers Writefull 2017 Writefull software https://writefullapp.com/