Course Syllabus

Teacher: James R. Hunt

email: hitjameshunt@gmail.com
Academic Writing 1

1. What is the course about?

1.1 Description
This course makes use of aspects found in the CLEAR educational research project at
Toyo University. The philosophy of CLEAR emphasizes student-centered
communication in English, encourages collaboration in learning, task-based projects,
life-long learning, autonomy and empowerment.

This writing course is the first part of the two-quarter Academic English Writing skills
course that aims to improve written English fluency, accuracy and communicative
ability while developing skills necessary for effective written communication in
academic situations. In real life, language skills are rarely used in isolation, and for this
reason this course will contain listening, speaking, reading, and vocabulary
development activities as well as writing practice.

Students will keep weekly writing journals in which they will practice creative writing
with a focus on quantity of output. Additionally, students will practice the writing skills
covered in class by submitting several paragraphs focusing on accuracy and correct
usage of the academic writing conventions introduced.

An enlarged vocabulary is important for effective writing, and as such students will be
required to actively engage in vocabulary training using the Word Engine software (and
by keeping vocabulary notebooks).

1.2 Content
To learn and practice how to write a basic paragraph with a topic and conclusion
sentence.
To teach students the fundamentals of academic writing.
To allow students to experiment with creative writing.
To progressively increase vocabulary size.
To learn how to present factual information.
To learn how to express stance, how to provide supporting evidence, how to hedge
ideas, and how to refer to someone else's ideas.

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 To practice and improve the writing of simple and compound sentences, relative
clauses, prepositional phrases, collocations, noun phrases, and determiners to
improve the quality of their academic writing.

2. How does this course contribute to my learning?

Specific Learning Outcomes Assessment Tasks Graduate Qualities

On successful completion of this You will be assessed on the Completing these tasks
course you should be able to: learning outcome in tasks: successfully will contribute to you
becoming

Communication in small groups 1 and 3 creative and analytical,

and to a large group empowered, knowledgeable, and
ethical

Develop capacity for critical 1 and 3 creative and analytical, engaged,

reflection and creative thinking and knowledgeable

Take advantage of learning 2 creative and analytical and

technologies empowered

Engage actively in learning while 1, 2 and 3 knowledgable and creative and

gaining knowledge and analytical
understanding from familiarity

Develop critical thinking skills 1, 2, and 3 creative and analytical,

and autonomy through empowered
experiential learning

Collaboration in small groups for 1 and 3 engaged, empowered,

a shared goal knowledgeable

3. How am I going to be assessed?

3.1 Grading Scale

S (outstanding), A (noteworthy), B (good), C (passing), D (fail), F or/ (insufficient for
consideration).

Note: A minimum of 4 Journal Notebook entries (see Assessment Task 1) and 5 Word
engine targets (see Assessment Task 2) are required for eligibility to be considered for a
passing grade in this course. Any students not meeting this minimum requirements will
receive a / grade, indicating failure of the course due to insufficient participation.

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3.2 Attendance Policy
Any student who is absent 2 classes during the quarter for any reason other than illness
confirmed by a medical practitioner will receive a / grade, indicating failure of the
course due to insufficient participation. Three late arrivals to class will be considered
one absence. Arriving 15 minutes after class begins or later will be treated as an absence.
Participation may be included in some task assessment criteria, however attendance
will NOT be a factor in determining the final grade.

3.3 Assessment tasks

Task Assessment Individual or % of Course Length or When to Where to
Number Tasks Group Grade Duration submit submit

1 Journal Individual 30% 1 page/week Lessons 3, In class

notebooks for 7 weeks 5, 7, 9, 11,
13 and 15

2 GINOS Individual 30% >150 Ongoing Online

vocabulary correct
training responses/
(WordEngine) week.

3 Academic writing Individual 40% 100-200 Lessons 5, In class

paragraphs word 8, 11, 14 and
paragraphs 16

Assessment Task 1: Journal notebook

Goal: To increase fluency and confidence writing in English. To develop creative and critical thinking
skills, as well as to practice writing in English on a range of topics/genres.

Product: One page of a B5 notebook, written in English each week. Seven pages written in Q1.

Format: Topics will vary but have previously included: writing a short story, describing a family member,
writing a diary entry. Topics will be provided in class each week.

Criteria: 1. Write at least one full page, single spaced, margin to margin.
2. Clarity and creativity.

Core Skills Organization, Communication.

Assessed:

Assessment Task 2: GINOS Vocabulary training

Goal: For you to increase your vocabulary size.

Product: An increased vocabulary.

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Format: To regularly access Word Engine, an online vocabulary training program. You will need get 150
correct responses per week by spending at least 30 minutes (and upwards of 60 minutes per
week) using Word Engine. The amount of time you actively engage with Word Engine will be
recorded by your instructor.

Criteria: 1. Attain the minimum number of correct responses per week to be eligible for a credit.
2. Engage with Word Engine for at least an hour a week every week to obtain the maximum
points for this task.

Skills Assessed: Applying Technologies, Organization.

Assessment Task 3: Academic Writing paragraphs

Goal: To practice the academic writing skills covered in class. To increase confidence and ability at
writing English for academic purposes.

Product: Five well-written paragraphs demonstrating an understanding of the writing conventions

necessary when writing English for academic purposes.

Format: Students will write a paragraph in response to a prompt provided in class. This paragraph should
demonstrate an understanding of the academic skills covered throughout the course.

Criteria: 1. Accuracy.
2. Clarity.
3. Understanding of academic conventions.
4. Evidence of research into the topic.

Skills Assessed: Organization, Communication, Information Literacy, Applying Technologies

(EAP - Oxford EAP, Pre-Intermediate/B1 textbook; AW -

Course Activities
Academic Writing paragraph task)

Lesson # What key concepts/content will I Directed Study Independent Study

learn? Activities Activities

1 How to complete the assignments for this Introduction of class Journal writing
quarter components Word Engine
What is journal
Overview of independent study writing?

2 Learning EAP p.8-11 Journal writing

Word Engine
Presenting factual information. Note-
taking

3 Learning - internationalization of EAP p.12-15 Journal writing

higher education Word Engine

Identifying factual information,

statistics and time-references

Present and past simple progressive

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 4 Learning EAP p.16-19 EAP p.20-21
Word Engine
Simple and compound sentences. AW paragraph - a
Identifying verbs and nouns descriptive paragraph

5 Symbols EAP p.22-25 Journal writing

Word Engine
Defining and explaining

6 Symbols EAP p.26-29 Journal writing

Word Engine
Identifying definitions and explanations in
a text

7 Symbols EAP p.30-33 EAP p.34-35

Word Engine
Writing definitions with relative clauses AW paragraph - a
and prepositional phrases. Collocations definition or
explanation

8 Ethics EAP p.36-39 Journal writing

Word Engine
Describing and explaining. Asking for
repetition and clarification

9 Ethics - Business ethics EAP p.40-43 Journal writing

Word Engine
Noun phrases

10 Ethics EAP p.44-47 EAP p.48-49

WordEngine
Using determiners. Writing descriptive AW paragraph - a
sentences. Writing a paragraph using descriptive paragraph
noun phrases. Collocations and
prepositions

11 Facts EAP p.50-53 Journal writing

Word Engine
Comparing and contrasting. Giving a
short presentation referring to visual
information

12 Facts - A comparative study of sport in EAP p.54-57 Journal writing

the USA and Malawi Word Engine

Identifying the language of comparison

and contrast. Expressing similarities and
differences

13 Facts EAP p.58-61 EAP p.62-63

Word Engine
Writing connected sentences comparing AW paragraph - a
and contrasting ideas. Using visual comparison
information in writing. Approximation. supported by visual
Presenting numbers. Writing a description information
of visually-presented information.
Antonyms

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 14 Environment EAP p.64-67 Journal writing
Word Engine
Expressing stance. referring to someone
elses views. Supporting evidence

15 Environment - Environmental Tobacco EAP p.68-71 Journal writing

Smoke Word Engine
AW paragraph - a
Identifying main arguments. Expressing discussion of a
and discussing stance current issue in the
news displaying
stance, supporting
evidence and hedging

16 Environment EAP p.72-77 Journal writing

Word Engine
Writing sentences expressing stance.
Hedging language

4. What resources do I need to take this course?

Youll need access to the internet for Word Engine.

You will need a B5 notebook for Journal and AW paragraph writing.

Smartphones may be utilized in the classroom from time to time, but are not required.

4.1 Prescribed Texts

Oxford EAP, Pre-Intermediate/B1 by Paul Dummett & Jon Hird. Oxford University
Press. ISBN: 978-0-19-400207-3.