Academic Writing II

4 April 2014

Dr Jeanette Regan

Purpose

Writing in English is required for many doctoral students today, but as they progress in their research, they discover they would like more information about the rhetorical structure and related language found in academic articles. This one-day academic writing workshop is designed to help non-native English speakers with some experience to improve their writing skills in academic English by focusing on these key features.

Target Group

The workshop is aimed at doctoral students at CUSO universities whose mother tongue is not English, who have at least some writing experience, and who have reached the B2 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

To assess your level, please use the attached self-assessment grid based on the CEFR.

• Writing experience includes such activities as (co-)authoring a scientific article or having already written 2-3 chapters of a doctoral thesis.
• Students with little or no experience in writing in academic English should refer to the “Academic Writing I” workshop.

Learning Objectives

The main aim of the workshop is to support the further development of the individual writer’s skill, confidence, and ease when writing texts necessary to complete a doctoral program. By the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

• identify the rhetorical (‘move’) structure in introductions;
• address grammar (e.g. tense use) and lexical (e.g. specific vocabulary) questions related to various parts of an academic article;
• edit their own and others’ work with greater skill and confidence. 

Content 

The rhetorical shape of an empirical research article and language issues related to the introduction, methods, results, and discussion sections will provide the content of the workshop.

Preparation for the Workshop 

Participants will be required to provide two texts as a sample of their writing and an example of what they consider to be a 'model article' in advance of the workshop.

(1) Participants should use the template provided to prepare a brief written language biography and a one-page summary in English of their doctoral work or current research project. Texts should be provided in advance and at the very latest one week before the workshop, i.e. by 9 a.m., Friday 28th March 2014 (an email address will be provided to registered participants). Participants should bring their own copy of their texts to the workshop with them. 

(2) Participants should also send a file of what they consider to be a ‘model article’ (in English) in their specific field of research. This should be an article from a high-impact international journal and the type of study should ideally be similar to their own. Participants should also bring their own copy of this article with them to the workshop. They will use it as a source of stylistic and linguistic information during the workshop.

Form of the Workshop 

The workshop will have two forms. At times, input will be followed by brief opportunities for practical application, questions, and discussion. At other times, a kind of ‘circuit training’ will be provided so that individuals may work on specific areas of writing, such as text flow, editing, or paragraph organization. During the circuit training, the trainer will be available for individual questions.

Université de Fribourg COMPLET

Date: Friday, 4th April 2014

Schedule: 9:30 to 17:00

Location: Université de Fribourg

Trainer: Dr Jeannette Regan, Instructor and Learning Advisor to Adults, www.jeannette-regan.ch, and part-time instructor of academic English at the University of Fribourg's Language Center.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the town of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class).

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