Unit information: Academic Writing in 2022/23

Unit name	Academic Writing
Unit code	LANG00006
Credit points	30
Level of study	QCA-3
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Ms. Vanttinen-Newton
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	IELTS: minimum 5.5 overall; minimum 5.0 in Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing components or equivalent
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	LANG00010
Units you may not take alongside this one
School/department	Centre for Academic Language and Development
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Unit Information

Academic Writing is a 30-credit unit within the International Foundation Programme, which is designed to prepare international students for undergraduate study in the UK. The unit is one of a number of complementary units whose overall aims are to improve the language, academic literacy and subject knowledge required to succeed at a British university.

Academic Writing aims to introduce and practise the process of planning, drafting, evaluating and editing written academic work. It explores a range of academic functions, features of academic style and organisation, and academic grammar and vocabulary in order to improve the students' overall academic literacy.

Your learning on this unit

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

1. Plan, write and revise a well organised multi-paragraph piece of writing in an appropriate academic style using a variety of academic functions with a level of linguistic accuracy sufficient to allow ease of reading and communication of message;
2. Evaluate their own learning based on a portfolio of evidence;
3. Edit written work effectively (self and peer);
4. Use key academic vocabulary from the New Academic Word List (Browne, Culligan, Phillips, 2013) in their writing.

How you will learn

Students will attend 5 hours of study per week. Learning is facilitated in small group sessions. Individual and group-based work is integrated as appropriate. In addition to a range of authentic texts, use will be made of appropriate e-learning technologies for self-study and self-assessment as well as work in class.

How you will be assessed

Formative assessment:

• Students follow a draft / feedback / re-draft process scheduled into the scheme of work and students receive tutor-led and peer-led formative feedback on their writing.

Summative assessment:

• Developmental e-portfolio consisting of 6 pieces of writing (100%) ILOs 1, 2, 3, 4.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LANG00006).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.