This course is made up of the following one hour sessions:
SESSION ONE: Sentence structure (Part 1)
This session will examine one of the foundations of English writing: sentence structure. It will help students to identify the different parts of a sentence, such as the subject, verb and complement. At the end of this session, students will be able to recognise the different clauses in longer sentences, and by extension, sentence fragments, an error which commonly occurs in student writing.
SESSION TWO: Sentence structure (Part 2)
In this session, students will be taught four different sentence structures which are the building blocks of academic writing. At the end of this session, students will be able effectively compose simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. This session will also discuss the correct punctuation and conjunctions needed to build multi-clause sentences.
SESSION THREE: Compare and Contrast (Part 1)
In this session, students will explore the language used to compare and contrast. By the end of this session, students will be able to use comparatives and superlatives, modify comparatives, and use comparative language to discuss an academic text.
SESSION FOUR: Compare and Contrast (Part 2)
In this session, students will build on what was learnt the previous week by using linking/signalling words to clarify comparisons. Learning how to effectively use linking words adds to the coherence of a written text. The students will use linking words to note the similarities and differences in short and longer texts, and identify the purpose of linking words in academic texts. Additionally, different structures of comparative essays will be discussed.
SESSION FIVE: Cause and Effect (Part 1)
In this session, students will explore the language of cause and effect, and learn to use verbs and conjunctions to place emphasis on either cause or effect in piece of writing. Different strategies to understand cause and effect texts will be discussed, and students will practice writing with an academic tone to describe a cause and effect relationship.
SESSION SIX: Cause and Effect (Part 2)
In this session, students will build on what was learnt the previous week by reviewing and building cause and effect vocabulary, and using the vocabulary effectively to understand academic texts and essay structures. Students will also discuss when it is appropriate to use an active or passive voice in academic writing, and will practice constructing sentences in the passive voice.
SESSION SEVEN: Generalisations and Certainty (Part 1)
This session will discuss situations in academic writing when it is best to avoid using generalisations, and when it is best to use them. Students will learn to identify generalisations in longer texts, and then use generalisations to describe points of interest. Then students will progress to categorise degrees of generalisation, adverbs of frequency, and probability.
SESSION EIGHT: Generalisations and Certainty (Part 2)
In this session, to explore a different side of generalisation and certainty, the idea of using hedging language (sometimes called cautious language) will be introduced. Students will learn to identify hedging phrases and words, and will further use modal verbs, adverbs, and verbs to express degrees of certainty in academic writing.
SESSION NINE: Numbers and Data
In this session, students will acquire some general language/ vocabulary regarding the usage of numbers in a text. They will learn to use numerical phrases and general terminology to simplify numbers, figures and statistics. Language needed to introduce and comment on the main features of visual data will be introduced.
SESSION TEN: Paraphrasing
This session will be used to teach the important skill of paraphrasing. Paraphrasing, or using your own words to explain someone else’s ideas, allows students to not only better understand what they read, but also helps them to avoid plagiarism.
