Effective Essays
What makes some academic papers so dull and hard to follow? Often it is the lack of a well-structured argument. Insights and ideas that emerge from research and discussion have to be ordered in a logical way so that others can grasp them and respond to them. Clear and persuasive argumentation is a feature of all forms of academic writing, but nowhere more so than in the academic essay.
The academic essay is an opportunity for you to really connect with your subject and develop the confidence to contribute to academic discussion in your field. Rather than simply conveying information, an essay aims to make the case for a point of view that you believe in and that you can support with evidence.
By the end of this course you will understand how to
• create an effective outline for essays and other writing tasks
• write academic essays in different styles
• develop an effective thesis
• apply the linguistic and structural writing conventions of the essay genre
• locate additional resources that may help you to continue to improve your writing skills
What does the course involve?
By planning and writing two short academic essays, you will come to grips with the fundamentals of the essay genre and develop your writing skills in English. Through a combination of in-class exercises, writing tasks and peer review, you will learn how to develop an effective thesis, present well-structured arguments and anticipate and deal with counterarguments. You also will learn the basics of text and sentence structure, and you will have the opportunity to work on grammatical and vocabulary issues so that your writing comes across as professional.
Teacher
The instructor for this course will be Lorraine Faulds. Lorraine Faulds is a communication coach at in’to Languages specializing academic communication and bilingual education. She works with undergraduates and post graduates who need to write a thesis, publish work or communicate with a wider audience. She also provides training for teachers and lecturers in secondary schools, colleges and universities who teach in English and require support to make their lessons just as effective in English as they are in their native language. As both an experienced English teacher and student of other languages, she understands the challenges of communicating in a second language and enjoys supporting and motivating her students to take their communication skills to the next level.
Schedule
The course consists of 4 sessions which will take place on Wednesday evenings between 18:30 and 20:30:
Wednesday 1 February
Wednesday 15 February
Wednesday 1 March
Wednesday 15 March