Course syllabus

Course Aims

English Writing 101 helps you produce well-written and well-structured assignments, which address the question being asked in an appropriate way. The course focuses on the process of essay writing first, then covers the types of writing students are asked to produce in undergraduate assignments across different subjects and genres (e.g. comparison, critical analysis, argument, literature review, case study, report).

This is a content course with a strong skills-based component built into the tutorials. You will improve your writing through the practice done in tutorials. Because of this, you must attend at least 70% of tutorials to be allowed to sit the exam. 10% of the final grade is also based on tutorial preparation tasks - see the Schedule below and p. 3 of the Course Outline for details.  

English Writing 101 can be used to fulfill the Academic English Language Requirement (AELR), and is also a first year course for a major in TESOL.  

To be successful in this course, you need to be fluent in spoken and written English. This is NOT a course in English as a Second Language and the course does not focus on the vocabulary and grammatical structures that students with English as an additional language require. If this is your background, consider taking one of the credit-bearing Academic English Studies courses instead.

Lectures and tutorials

Timetable and room details can be viewed on Student Services Online                                            

Teaching Staff

Neil Matheson      nj.matheson@auckland.ac.nz   

Assessment Overview

Assignment 1 Paragraph                        5%       150 words                  

Assignment 2 Summary                        15%       500 words                         

Assignment 3 Argument Essay             30%       900 words                         

Aropa Practice Peer Review Tasks       10%      200-300 words              

Tutorial preparation tasks                      10%      variable lengths                             

Exam                                                      30%      3 hours duration                            

See the Course Outline and below for more details