Students

LING2293 – Creating and Editing Professional Genres

2024 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-weekday, North Ryde

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Adam Smith
adam.smith@mq.edu.au
Hanna Torsh
hanna.torsh@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
40cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This is a unit for students of any discipline who are interested in creating texts that will be used for a professional purpose, especially writing for academic, professional and other functional purposes, or writing and editing texts that will reach a public audience. 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 and multimodal texts, with clarity of communication as a central skill to be developed. The unit will also help students develop a critical eye for details of correctness and consistency, as well as an understanding of layout and structural issues across diverse media that affect the readability of a text. 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:

  • ULO1: Select and apply a range of editing tools to edit for print and digital outputs
  • ULO2: Plan and manage detailed information in setting up a written discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure.
  • ULO3: Identify a coherent structure for a piece of writing for both editing and writing purposes.
  • ULO4: Identify and critically evaluate the needs of different audiences across a variety of media to adapt content appropriately

General Assessment Information

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.

How to apply for a late submission of an assignment

All requests for special consideration, including extensions, must be submitted via ask.mq.edu.au and provide suitable supporting documentation

Requesting an extension to assignment due date

On occasion, you may be in a situation when you aren't able to submit an assessment task on time. Extensions are only given in special circumstances, by completing a Special Consideration request. For more information on Special Consideration, see https://students.mq.edu.au/study/my-study-program/special-consideration

Late submission of assignments If you haven't been approved for an extension and you submit your assessment task late, penalties are applied. You should consult your unit convenor if you are in this position. Late submissions will receive a 5% per day penalty. If you submit the assessment task 10 days or more beyond the due date, without an approved extension, you will be awarded a maximum of 50% of the overall assessment marks. Weekends and public holidays are included.

Use of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies 

The use of AI technology for assessments in this unit is not permitted unless specifically stated in the assessment instructions.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Online publication 45% No Sunday November 3 (Week 13)
Editing task 20% No Sunday 1 September (Week 6)
Cohesive and thematic communication 35% No Sunday 29 September (mid semester break)

Online publication

Assessment Type 1: Practice-based task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 40 hours
Due: Sunday November 3 (Week 13)
Weighting: 45%

 

Students will source a range of material from a variety of media to create a coherent publication on a topic of their choosing. While no writing is required in this assessment, in designing their digital publication, students will need to apply the concepts of audience-appropriate communication covered in the unit.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select and apply a range of editing tools to edit for print and digital outputs
  • Identify a coherent structure for a piece of writing for both editing and writing purposes.
  • Identify and critically evaluate the needs of different audiences across a variety of media to adapt content appropriately

Editing task

Assessment Type 1: Case study/analysis
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Sunday 1 September (Week 6)
Weighting: 20%

 

Edit a short text and write a rationale (500 words) for the editing decisions made.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Select and apply a range of editing tools to edit for print and digital outputs
  • Plan and manage detailed information in setting up a written discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure.
  • Identify and critically evaluate the needs of different audiences across a variety of media to adapt content appropriately

Cohesive and thematic communication

Assessment Type 1: Qualitative analysis task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 25 hours
Due: Sunday 29 September (mid semester break)
Weighting: 35%

 

Students will analyse and discuss a text in terms of its cohesive and thematic strategies (1250 words)

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Plan and manage detailed information in setting up a written discussion, including managing the topical focus through manipulation of sentence structure.
  • Identify a coherent structure for a piece of writing for both editing and writing 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

The lectures in this unit will be delivered face-to-face and will also be available as recordings. Tutorials will also be delivered face-to-face.

Unit Schedule

Week 1             Writer to reader

Week 2             Written and spoken language 

Week 3             Genre and register 

Week 4             Editing skills: structure and language 

Week 5             Grammar for editors

Week 6             Cohesion in texts 

Week 7             Thematic progression in texts 

Week 8             Readability and Plain language 

Semester break

Week 9             Multimodal communication 

Week 10           Editing skills: medium, layout and legibility

Week 11           Argument and persuasion 

Week 12           Discourse structures and website recontextualisation 

Week 13           Analysing professional text types

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 connect.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 the Service Connect Portal, 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.

Inclusion and Diversity

Social inclusion at Macquarie University is about giving everyone who has the potential to benefit from higher education the opportunity to study at university, participate in campus life and flourish in their chosen field. The University has made significant moves to promote an equitable, diverse and exciting campus community for the benefit of staff and students. It is your responsibility to contribute towards the development of an inclusive culture and practice in the areas of learning and teaching, research, and service orientation and delivery. As a member of the Macquarie University community, you must not discriminate against or harass others based on their sex, gender, race, marital status, carers' responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, age, political conviction or religious belief. All staff and students are expected to display appropriate behaviour that is conducive to a healthy learning environment for everyone.  

Professionalism

In the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, professionalism is a key capability embedded in all our courses.  

As part of developing professionalism, students are expected to attend all small group interactive sessions. Some learning activities are recorded (e.g., face-to-face seminars), however you are encouraged to avoid relying upon such material as they do not recreate the whole learning experience and technical issues can and do occur. As an adult learner, we respect your decision to choose how you engage with your learning, but we would remind you that the learning opportunities we create for you have been done so to enable your success, and that by not engaging you may impact your ability to successfully complete this unit. We equally expect that you show respect for the academic staff who have worked hard to develop meaningful activities and prioritise your learning by communicating with them in advance if you are unable to attend a small group interactive session. 

Another dimension of professionalism is having respect for your peers. It is the right of every student to learn in an environment that is free of disruption and distraction. Please arrive to all learning activities on time, and if you are unavoidably detained, please join activity as quietly as possible to minimise disruption. Phones and other electronic devices that produce noise and other distractions must be turned off prior to entering class. Where your own device (e.g., laptop) is being used for class-related activities, you are asked to close down all other applications to avoid distraction to you and others. Please treat your fellow students with the utmost respect. If you are uncomfortable participating in any specific activity, please let the relevant academic know. 

Unit information based on version 2024.01R of the Handbook