Course syllabus

SEMESTER 1, 2018
Course Information

• Course Coordinator 

Lizzy Roe - l.roe@auckland.ac.nz

Course delivery format

One 1-hr lecture and one 2-hr tutorial per week.
(Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online)
 

Summary of Course Description 

ACADENG 104 targets academic English skills to help Business students understand and express business-related concepts. Students develop effective strategies for reading, writing, and vocabulary-building by studying the language features of texts for academic style and communicative effect. Students will apply the process of research, writing, revising and editing to produce accurate texts with clear communicative purpose and leaning. 

AELR information: ACADENG 104 is an approved course for Business degree students who have not met the Academic English Language Requirement (AELR). The course is not available as an AELR course to students from other faculties.

Students from other faculties who wish to take ACADENG 104 as an elective course, i.e. not for AELR purposes, can do so if there are places available (priority for enrolment goes to AELR Business degree students).

Course outcomes

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

1. identify, learn and use academic and business-related vocabulary
2. read a range of texts relevant to academic business studies for overall understanding
3. select and use strategies appropriate to the reading purpose: predicting, surveying, scanning, skim-reading, close-reading, SQ3R, summarising, inferring
4. understand text organisation and language for academic text-types: expository, compare/contrast, cause and effect, argument/counter-argument/refutation, problem-solution-evaluation
5. use critical thinking to: distinguish key points from supporting evidence, separate fact from opinion, analyse and evaluate key ideas, synthesise information, argue with justification
6. write well-structured paragraphs that are clear and coherent
7. write researched, referenced essays/reports with ideas expressed in paraphrase or summary
8. use processes for effective writing (planning, drafting, revising, editing, proof-reading)
9. evaluate and edit own and others’ writing for content and expression

Weekly Topics

Each week has a focus on language, reading and writing.
Texts use ‘academic’ style and cover a range of disciplines. 

Week 1: Academic vs. business culture/genre. Informal and academic text types
Week 2: Business/paragraph structure, academic/business vocabulary
Week 3: Reading strategies, writing an outline and summary. Critical thinking
Week 4: Reading to remember. Compare & contrast text. Reading graphics. writing evaluatively
Week 5: Cause and effect text. Language analysis. Paragraph coherence. Editing for accuracy
Week 6: Test revision: Reading comprehension, language analysis, writing
Week 7: Process of writing:brainstorm, plan, outline, research skills. Evaluating sources
Week 8: Argument essay features. Assuming a viewpoint. Logical reasoning
Week 9: Integrating sources. Citation,referencing,avoiding plagiarism: paraphrase/summarising
Week 10: Rewriting for clarity: revising, editing, proofing
Week 11: Report writing for business. Writing to accompany graphics
Week 12: review and exam preparation: Problem-Solution-Evaluation-Recommendation

Prescribed Texts: textbook provided for enrolled students

Workload:

The University of Auckland's expectation on 15-point courses, is that students spend 10 hours per week on the course. Students manage their academic workload and other commitments accordingly. Students attend 1 1-hour lecture and one 2-hour tutorial per week. This leaves seven hours per week outside the classroom to prepare for tutorials, assignments and the exam.

Deadlines and submission of coursework:

Deadlines for coursework are non-negotiable. In extreme circumstances, such as illness, you may seek an extension but you will be required to provide a doctor's certificate before the assignment is due. All late assignments without a pre-approved extension will be penalised 5% per day late.