ENGLISH
FOR THESIS WRITING (ETW) I
Fall
2007
Classes:
Tuesday & Thursday, 6th period (6:00 PM-7:30 PM)
Instructor:
Mohammed Ahmed (tel: x422; e-mail: mkahmed)
DESCRIPTION
This
course is designed for those second year students who are non-native speakers
of English. It is open to students in both schools.
The
course will help students develop their writing skills that can be directly
applied to the writing of their thesis during the fall term. All the writing
activities and assignments will be linked to this main goal.
The
course will focus on:
Ø Clear, accurate, and logical
writing style in the context of thesis/research report writing;
Ø the basic principles of
organization and development in academic writing;
Ø the general structure and
organization of a thesis;
Ø the use and documentation of
sources; and
Ø the avoidance of plagiarism.
The
course will also cover skills for:
Ø summarizing, synthesizing and
interpreting information from multiple sources,
Ø documenting sources (including
Internet sources) accurately and consistently, and
Ø presenting visual information
(tables, figures, etc.) accurately.
To
achieve these goals, the course will introduce relevant examples from:
Ø selected English language
textbooks;
Ø journal articles;
Ø theses by IUJ students;
Ø examples from other
sources.
In addition, GSIM & GSIR thesis/research essay writing guidelines will be looked at.
Within
a common framework introduced in the course, each student will engage in a
major individual writing project that will concern directly his/her thesis
preparation activity. Individual goals for this project will be set early in
the course, and all the written assignments will be linked to the project. This
will help a student to make further progress in his/her thesis writing or at
least get started with it.
Students
will review and discuss how language is actually used in research type writing.
The course will introduce selected examples from journal articles and other
articles that show the use of specific academic vocabulary and grammatical
features commonly used by academic research paper writers.
This
activity will help students identify relevant sources for their thesis/research
essay and help them document sources in an adequate and accurate manner.
If
necessary, the course instructor may consult the supervisors concerned to
provide more focused language support to the students taking the course.
Individual
tutorials will be held to provide specific feedback on writing assignments.
These tutorials will also help students to discuss his/her specific language
needs and concerns with the instructor.
Towards
the end of the course, each student will make one short oral presentation on
his/her thesis/research essay. This will provide opportunities to present one's
research work, practice skills for effective presentation of one’s research,
and get useful feedback from the instructor and peers.
These
quizzes, based on in-class reviews and discussions of language use in reading
materials, will help students develop skills for clear and accurate language.
ASSESSMENT SCHEME
Students
will be required to write a mid-term and a final paper. In addition, there will
be short writing assignments, vocabulary/grammar quizzes, and a “references
list” assignments. Students will also make a short individual oral presentation.
Participation will be included in the course grade. All the assignment will be
directly related to thesis writing activities.
More
details will be provided on the first day of the classes.
REQUIRED TEXT
Students
are required to buy the following text:
Academic Writing for Graduate Students:
Essential Tasks and Skills (Second Edition), by John Swales and Christine B. Feak.
The instructor
will also bring materials from other sources, including journal articles.
Any student who wishes to take this
course must have the consent of the instructor in advance in order to join the
course.