XPX_ACAD Academic writing

Faculty of Economics and Administration
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 8 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Daniel Gerrard, M.A. (seminar tutor)
Ing. Petr Smutný, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
PhDr. Mgr. Libor Štěpánek, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
Ing. Petr Smutný, Ph.D.
Faculty of Economics and Administration
Contact Person: Mgr. Jana Nesvadbová
Supplier department: Faculty of Economics and Administration
Timetable of Seminar Groups
XPX_ACAD/01: Wed 14:00–15:50 S309, D. Gerrard
Prerequisites
A minimum of B2 level of the CEFR; the ability to actively participate in group discussions; some experience of academic writing.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Writing an MA thesis in English is a requirement in programmes taught through the medium of English. The goal of this course is to familiarize MA students with different approaches to academic writing and take their academic writing skills in English to a higher level. The course addresses firstly the context of academic writing to situate the styles of writing that MA students are working with. It will discuss aspects of clear and concise writing style, and lexical and discourse relationship patterns in academic text, along with functional perspectives for positioning and structuring information and argument in the wider scope of an MA thesis. The course takes the participants through different stages of the preparation and writing of an academic text with the aim to increase their chances of being successful in writing their MA thesis in English in the future.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, the student will be able to: - use academic and technical vocabulary; - read and analyse texts to make use of them in writing; - understand different genres and text types; - write successful titles, abstracts, paragraphs, and individual sections of a master's thesis; - evaluate strengths/weaknesses of written work.
Syllabus
  • 1) The writing process; 2) Introduction to academic writing; 3) Academic vocabulary; 4) Summary, paraphrase and quotation; 5) Referencing and plagiarism; 6) Paragraphing and cohesion; 7) Academic text types; 8) Writing week; 9) Reporting and commenting on research; 10) Writing a master's thesis; 11) Writing an introduction; 12) Writing an abstract.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BAILEY, Stephen. Academic writing : a handbook for international students. Fifth edition. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2018, xxx, 312. ISBN 9781138048744. info
  • SWALES, John and Christine B. FEAK. Academic writing for graduate students : essential tasks and skills. 3rd ed. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Press, 2012, xiv, 418. ISBN 9780472034758. info
Teaching methods
Group discussions; group and individual writing tasks; reading and text analysis; peer review; vocabulary study.
Assessment methods
Credit requirements: 1) Attendance (max. three absences) and active participation in online classes; 2) Weekly self-study/homework tasks in the interactive syllabus; 3) A portfolio of texts written during the course and submitted for evaluation.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2019, Spring 2020, Autumn 2020, Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/econ/spring2021/XPX_ACAD