VB037 Writing in English

Faculty of Informatics
Autumn 2020
Extent and Intensity
0/2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Antonín Zita, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Mgr. Eva Rudolfová
Language Centre, Faculty of Informatics Division – Language Centre
Supplier department: Language Centre, Faculty of Informatics Division – Language Centre
Timetable
Mon 16:00–17:50 C525
Prerequisites
VB001 English Exam
VB001
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 20 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/20, only registered: 0/20, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/20
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 55 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
This course is designed to teach students the necessary skills that will enable them to proceed from sentence construction and paragraph writing to essay writing. The students will be familiarized with the writing of topic sentences, thesis statements, and different types of paragraphs and essays. The students will practice these steps of the writing process via in-class writing, text analysis, peer assessment, editing, and writing of a draft of the final essay. While some grammatical aspects of English used in the academia will be touched upon in the class, the students are expected to study individually in case they find their levels of knowledge not sufficient for class purposes. Importantly, however, mastering the variant of academic English used in computer science writing is not the primary objective of the class, as the class focuses on becoming familiar with formal written English as a means of expressing one's thoughts clearly and coherently. Nevertheless, many of the writing guidelines can be applied for computer science writing as well.
Learning outcomes
Students will be able to construct a coherent and cohesive text written in standard academic English. They will be able to recognize that poor writing frequently results from a misuse of or over-reliance on certain language features, e.g. the passive voice, complex sentence structure, or nominalizations. Students will be then able to identify issues in a given text and suggest several ways of solving them. Finally, students will also understand that a text should follow a clear and well-organized structure, and they will also gain insight into drafting texts and their subsequent revisions.
Syllabus
  • Basic academic English guidelines; academic vocabulary
  • Paragraph writing - developing central idea, coherence, etc.
  • Introduction and conclusion, thesis statement
  • Writing your first draft
  • Mechanics and clarity of writing
  • Writing effectively
  • Writing the final essay
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BIZUP, Joseph and Joseph M. WILLIAMS. Style : lessons in clarity and grace. Eleventh edition, Pearson ne. Harlow, Essex: Pearson, 2014, ii, 226. ISBN 9781292039794. info
  • SWALES, John and Christine B. FEAK. Academic writing for graduate students : essential tasks and skills. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004, ix, 331. ISBN 0472088564. info
  • FOWLER, Henry Ramsey. The little, brown handbook. Edited by Jane E. Aaron - Daniel Anderson. 8th ed. New York: Longman, 2000, xxviii, 96. ISBN 0-321-07507-2. info
    not specified
  • Effective Academic Writing 3: The Essay Book. Jason Davis - Rhonda Liss. Oxford University Press, 2006. 184 s. ISBN 9780194309240.
  • MCCARTHY, Michael and Felicity O'DELL. Academic vocabulary in use. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, 176 stran. ISBN 9780521689397. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, reading, exercises, class discussion.
Assessment methods
Students write one short paper during the writing week which constitutes 15 percent of the final grade (3500-6000 characters incl. spaces) and an expanded version of the paper at the end of the course. The grade for the final paper, which is to have 5500-8.500 characters (spaces included), constitutes 35 percent of the overall grade and is split between two parts – the quality of the paper and the quality of peer-review feedback to other students’ essays. Active participation is expected and constitutes 20 percent of the final grade. As a part of this evaluation criterion, students will be sometimes required to read a page or two from the handouts (numbered 01 to 13) or other supplementary material in preparation for classes. The supplementary materials may contain exercises: you do not need to do these (they are included for your own practice); however, you are expected to be familiar with the text. Finally, timely submission of short written assignments makes up for the last 30 percent of the class. These assignments are divided into two groups: minor and major assignments. Minor assignments, taking place mostly at the beginning of the semester, are rated on a submitted/not submitted scale, while major assignments have a more comprehensive rating. Each assignment specifies whether it is a minor or a major assignment.
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2002, Autumn 2003, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2005, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2007, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2009, Autumn 2010, Autumn 2011, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2018, Autumn 2019, Autumn 2021, Autumn 2022.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2020, recent)
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