Students

ENGL1050 – Grammar and Writing

2022 – Session 1, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Lecturer, Tutor
Jimmy Van
jimmy.van@mq.edu.au
Contact via email
by appointment
Convenor
Geoffrey Payne
geoffrey.payne@mq.edu.au
Contact via email
by appointment
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Good grammar is often regarded as a sign of education and competence. Global research shows that 40% of graduates have their job applications rejected because of poor grammar, while 17% of firms are concerned about graduates’ lack of grammar skills. This unit provides you with the basic grammar skills that you will need for writing well in your assignments and job applications. We will show you how to recognise grammatically incorrect sentences that don’t make sense to your reader, then we will help you fix these. You will learn how to: paragraph for different purposes; structure and tailor your writing for various types of work; and edit and proofread your writing so that your work not only suggests intelligence and capability, but also attention to detail.

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:

  • ULO1: Identify sentences that are grammatically incorrect and analyse why they do not make sense.
  • ULO2: Implement knowledge of grammar to adjust poorly constructed sentences.
  • ULO3: Construct sentences and paragraphs that are grammatically correct and clear in meaning.
  • ULO4: Apply knowledge of different genres and audiences for academic and professional writing.
  • ULO5: Create texts for specific academic and/or professional purposes.

General Assessment Information

Please note that the University and the Faculty of Arts have launched a new assessment policy effective as of 1 July 2021. This new policy particularly affects LATE SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENTS.

The Faculty policy in relation to late assessment submissions is as follows:

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – 10 marks out of 100 credit will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted seven days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests, etc.

 

To be very clear:

  • Unless you have applied for special consideration and had your application approved, for each day your assignment is late, 10 marks will be deducted. For example, if you submit your assignment 7 days late, 70 marks will be deducted, which means you will fail that assignment.
  • If your assignment is more than 7 days late (including weekends), you will get 0 marks for your assignment.

These are serious penalties that will substantially alter your final grade and even determine whether you pass or fail this unit. Please make every effort to submit your assignment by the due date.

If you find you cannot submit your assignment on time, please apply for Special Consideration through AskMQ. Make sure you read Macquarie University's policy regarding Special Consideration requests before you apply: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/assessment-exams/special-consideration

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Participatory task 20% No Ongoing
Quiz 25% No Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 by 23.59 on Sunday
Writing exercises 25% No 23:59 10/04/2022
Major written work 30% No 23:59 05/06/2022

Participatory task

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 12 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 20%

 

Preparation of notes for class relating to set tutorial topics, and contribution to scheduled seminar discussions and exercises in class or online.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify sentences that are grammatically incorrect and analyse why they do not make sense.
  • Implement knowledge of grammar to adjust poorly constructed sentences.
  • Construct sentences and paragraphs that are grammatically correct and clear in meaning.
  • Apply knowledge of different genres and audiences for academic and professional writing.

Quiz

Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 by 23.59 on Sunday
Weighting: 25%

 

Online multiple-choice quizzes

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify sentences that are grammatically incorrect and analyse why they do not make sense.
  • Implement knowledge of grammar to adjust poorly constructed sentences.
  • Construct sentences and paragraphs that are grammatically correct and clear in meaning.
  • Apply knowledge of different genres and audiences for academic and professional writing.

Writing exercises

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: 23:59 10/04/2022
Weighting: 25%

 

Writing, editing, and proofreading exercises

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify sentences that are grammatically incorrect and analyse why they do not make sense.
  • Implement knowledge of grammar to adjust poorly constructed sentences.
  • Construct sentences and paragraphs that are grammatically correct and clear in meaning.
  • Apply knowledge of different genres and audiences for academic and professional writing.

Major written work

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 23:59 05/06/2022
Weighting: 30%

 

Students will complete a substantive piece of academic or professional writing, checked for grammar, spelling, proofreading, and formatting.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Identify sentences that are grammatically incorrect and analyse why they do not make sense.
  • Implement knowledge of grammar to adjust poorly constructed sentences.
  • Construct sentences and paragraphs that are grammatically correct and clear in meaning.
  • Apply knowledge of different genres and audiences for academic and professional writing.
  • Create texts for specific academic and/or professional purposes.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Delivery

For this unit, classes will begin in week 1.

Textbooks

There are no required readings for this unit. Instead, students who wish to go into greater depth or would like additional information should consult the following recommended reading list:

Tredinnick, Mark. The Little Green Grammar Book. 2008.

Truss, Lynne. Eats, Shoots & Leaves : the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Profile Books, 2003.

Graff, Gerald., and Birkenstein, Cathy. "They Say / I Say" : the Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. University of Illinois at Chicago. Third ed., 2014.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) 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 or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

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

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

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

Changes since First Published

Date Description
02/02/2022 Updated staff contact details + info re due time for quiz assessment tasks.
31/01/2022 Alteration showing the first week of classes

Unit information based on version 2022.03 of the Handbook