Students

LING291 – Writing in English

2015 – S2 Day

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Credit points Credit points
3
Prerequisites Prerequisites
12cp
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description
This is a general education unit for students of any discipline who are concerned about writing, especially writing for academic, professional and other functional purposes. It aims to provide insights into the English language as a communicative system, and to foster a critical and informed attitude to language use in various kinds of written texts. Both in lectures/workshops and tutorials we analyse various principles of linguistic choice and organisation that produce successful written communication. By developing an understanding of what makes for successful communication in the writing of others, writers can also learn to develop techniques for writing successfully themselves.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

General Assessment Information

Assignments 1 to 5 will be submitted through Turnitin. The Turnitin submission is used for checking for compliance with the University's academic honesty policy requirements. We mark each assignments before you hand in the following assignment. One of the main aims of the unit is to give you formative feedback on your writing as you progress through the unit, so it is in your own interests to keep up to date with the assessments as they are due. 

Detailed information about things such as formatting will be made available to enrolled students in a more specifically targetted Unit Outline on iLearn.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Due
Synthesised summary task 10% Week 3
Cohesion analysis 15% Week 6
Writing to a Theme 10% 29/9/15
Readability analysis 15% Week 10
Argumentative essay 25% Week 12
Examination 25% During exam period

Synthesised summary task

Due: Week 3
Weighting: 10%

For this task you will be given a text to summarise. Your summary should  present the same content and point of view or views as the original but more concisely and in your own words. It should not read as an external review or comment on the original. The text to summarise will be given to you week 2.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose

Cohesion analysis

Due: Week 6
Weighting: 15%

For this assignment you will be given a text to analyse for cohesion.  In a short essay, you will be asked to discuss the main cohesion systems used in the passage, and their importance for communicating the theme. The text and full details for the assignment will be given in week 4.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Construct and maintain an argument

Writing to a Theme

Due: 29/9/15
Weighting: 10%

This will be a piece of “free” writing, aimed at getting you to demonstrate your ability to set up and maintain a theme on a certain topic. Full details will be given in week 6.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure

Readability analysis

Due: Week 10
Weighting: 15%

This assessment will require you to compare two texts from the point of view of readability. The full details of the task will be given to you in week 8.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument

Argumentative essay

Due: Week 12
Weighting: 25%

This essay assignment will require you to take a position in a debate. Details will be given in week 10.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose

Examination

Due: During exam period
Weighting: 25%

The topic for the exam essay will be given to you in advance, giving you a chance to prepare your response before writing the essay under exam conditions. Details will be given in lectures and tutorials in week 12, and will also be uploaded to iLearn.


On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

Delivery and Resources

GENERAL INFORMATION

For LING291 there are two hours of lecture per week. Tutorials are held weekly but do not begin until week 2 of the Session.  Attendance at tutorials is compulsory and tutors will keep a record of attendance. If misadventure or other circumstances cause you to miss a tutorial please notify your tutor or the unit convener. If you want to change your tutorial after the end of week 1 of Session, you email your request to the Unit Convener, Maria Herke. 

 Many of the lectures will run as a formal lecture for about 1.5 hours, followed by a half hour interactive workshop where we use a variety of texts to explore the issues raised in the lecture. Other lectures may move in and out of formal lecture format and text-based workshop format.

 

Teaching Staff:

Unit Convener: Dr Maria Herke C5A 412, ph. 9850 4249, 

Email (preferred method of contact): maria.herke@mq.edu.au

 

Lecturers: Dr Maria Herke  

 

Unit Webpage 

There is a unit webpage on iLearn. All printed materials (a detailed Unit Outline, lecture notes etc) will be uploaded to that site. In addition we use the site to make any necessary announcements during the semester, so students should check the site regularly.

 

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

Assessment Policy  http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

Assessment tasks

  • Cohesion analysis
  • Writing to a Theme
  • Readability analysis
  • Argumentative essay
  • Examination

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Assessment task

  • Readability analysis

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

Assessment tasks

  • Cohesion analysis
  • Writing to a Theme
  • Readability analysis
  • Argumentative essay
  • Examination

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

Assessment tasks

  • Synthesised summary task
  • Cohesion analysis
  • Writing to a Theme
  • Readability analysis
  • Argumentative essay
  • Examination

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Construct and maintain an argument

Assessment task

  • Argumentative essay

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

  • Select material, synthesise and summarise the main points
  • Plan a coherent structure for a piece of writing
  • Control detailed information in setting up a thematic discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure
  • Construct and maintain an argument
  • Understand and demonstrate the ways writers might need to modify writing style to suit a particular audience and/or purpose
  • Appreciate, explain and deconstruct interplay between form and function

Assessment tasks

  • Synthesised summary task
  • Cohesion analysis
  • Writing to a Theme
  • Readability analysis
  • Argumentative essay
  • Examination

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Assessment task

  • Argumentative essay

Changes since First Published

Date Description
21/07/2015 changed Sue Spinks as contact to Maria Herke