URCE-5103                                        Academic Writing                                                      3(3+0)

Academic writing is a formal, structured and sophisticated writing to fulfill the requirements for a particular field of study. The course aims at providing understanding of writer’s goal of writing (i.e. clear, organized and effective content) and to use that understanding and awareness for academic reading and writing. The objectives of the course are to make the students acquire and master the academic writing skills. The course would enable the students to develop argumentative writing techniques. The students would be able to the content logically to add specific details on the topics such as facts, examples and statistical or numerical values. The course will also provide insight to convey the knowledge and ideas in objective and persuasive manner. Furthermore, the course will also enhance the students’ understanding of ethical considerations in writing academic assignments and topics including citation, plagiarism, formatting and referencing the sources as well as the technical aspects involved in referencing.

Contents

1. Academic vocabulary
2. Quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing texts
3. Process of academic writing
4. Developing argument
5. Rhetoric: persuasion and identification
6. Elements of rhetoric: Text, author, audience, purposes, setting
7. Sentence structure: Accuracy, variation, appropriateness, and conciseness
8. Appropriate use of active and passive voice
9. Paragraph and essay writing
10. Organization and structure of paragraph and essay
11. Logical reasoning
12. Transitional devices (word, phrase and expressions)
13. Development of ideas in writing
14. Styles of documentation (MLA and APA)
15. In-text citations
16. Plagiarism and strategies for avoiding it

Recommended Readings

1. Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2017). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
2. Bailey, S. (2018). Academic writing: A handbook for international students. New York: Routledge.

Suggested Readings

1. Craswell, G. (2004). Writing for academic success. London: SAGE.
2. Johnson-Sheehan, R. (2019). Writing today. Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson.
3. Silvia, P. J. (2019). How to write a lot: A practical guide to productive academic writing. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Assessment Criteria:

Mid Exam= 30

Sessional= 20

Final Exam= 50