Writing for Academic Success (1)
Course Description
This is an introductory college writing course that aims to equip students with understanding of and skills for English academic writing in preparation of more advanced writing courses. Topics to be covered are identifying sentence types; achieving parallelism, unity, coherence, and cohesion; using the dictionary and building vocabulary; befriending Grammarly; peer-reviewing; and respecting ethics in academic writing. The course will also help improve students’ sentential structures and idea development so that they will be able to self-evaluate their writing.
Course Objectives
Course Intended Learning Outcome (CILO)
The course adheres to the NTU educational goal for students to develop
CC 1: independent judgment and ability to innovate
CC 2: professional knowledge and skills
CC 3: communicative and team skills
By the end of this course, students should be able to
CILO 1: understand the nature and standard of academic writing. (CC 1 & 2)
CILO 2: learn the fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for English writing. (CC 1 & 2)
CILO 3: gain a vocabulary of elements with which to analyze and write a paragraph. (CC 1& 2)
CILO 4: communicate and collaborate with peers to improve and polish their work. (CC 1, 2 & 3)
Weekly Schedule
| Week 1 | Course Overview |
| Week 2 | Building Vocabulary & Using the Dictionary
Activity: Group-based collocation exercise Assignment: Building portmanteau words |
| Week 3 | Types of Sentences
Activity: Identifying different types of clauses and sentences Assignment: Writing sentences that contain the 4 types |
| Week 4 | Parallelism & Sentence Problems
Activity: Making it parallel Assignment: Finding faults |
| Week 5 | Connecting Words and Transition Signals
Activity: Adding appropriate connectors Assignment: Reducing transition signals |
| Week 6 | Analyzing a Paragraph I
Activity: Decoding the structure Assignment: Writing an outline |
| Week 7 | Unity, Coherence, and Cohesion
Activity: Finding faults Assignment: Making the text flow |
| Week 8 | Mid-Term Exam |
| Week 9 | Citation & Ethics in Academic Writing
Activity: No plagiarism |
| Week 10 | Strategies for Summarizing
Activity: Crafting a summary Assignment: Evaluating summaries |
| Week 11 | How to Paraphrase
Activity: Crafting paraphrases |
| Week 12 | Optimizing Peer-Reviewing
Activity: Using the peer-review sheet |
| Week 13 | Analyzing a Paragraph II
Activity: Collaborating for a paragraph Assignment: Peer-reviewing the paragraphs |
| Week 14 | “Academic” Writing: Some Key Features
Activity: Monopoly |
| Week 15 | Identifying Common Grammar Mistakes
Activity: Finding faults |
| Week 16 | Final Exam |
Others
**英文程度為（或不及）CEFR B1, TOEIC 590, TOEFL iBT 59, IELTS 5.0** (Required English language proficiency: CEFR B1, TOEIC 590, TOEFL iBT 59, IELTS 5.0 or below)
1. Class attendance is mandatory. Absences are excused only for good reasons.
2. There will be 5 pop-up quizzes.
3. There are in-class individual- and group-based tasks.
一、 Required Reading (Please list the reading on a weekly basis)
Oshima, Alice & Hogue, Ann (2020). Longman Academic Writing Series 4 (5th ed.). NY: Pearson/Longman.
Week 3: Chapter 9
Week 4: Chapter 10
Week 5: Appendix B
Week 6: Chapter 1
Week 7: Chapter 2
Week 9: Chapter 3; Appendix E
Week 10: Chapter 3
Week 11: Appendix F
Week 12: Chapters 11-13
Week 14: Chapter 3
二、Extended Readings (Please list the reading on a weekly basis)
LaRocque, Paula (2013). The Book on Writing: The Ultimate Guide to Writing Well. TX: Grey and Guvnor Press. (Week 3: Chapters 1 & 2)
Sword, Helen (2012). Stylish Academic Writing. Harvard University Press.
(Week 13: Chapter 13; Week 14: Chapter 1)
Zinsser, William (2006). On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction. Harper Perennial. (Week 3: Chapters 2, 3 & 4; Week 14: Chapter 5)
臺大寫作教學中心教材編輯小組。《活用學術字彙：跨出論文寫作的第一步》。台北：臺大出版中心，2010。 (Week 2)
Grading and Assessment
Pop-up Quizzes (25%)
Attendance (15%): No more than three absences are permitted.
In-Class Task and Participation (20%)
Mid-Term and Final Exams (40%)
