An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for University Study (FutureLearn)

Offered by University of Reading,
An Intermediate Guide to Writing in English for University Study (FutureLearn)

Improve your academic English skills further, learning about critical analysis, using sources, avoiding plagiarism and more. On this course you will expand your academic English skills and learn the necessary extended writing and research skills for producing a thorough and high standard extended essay.

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You’ll get an introduction to research tools, writing critically and referencing, as well as learning more about the fundamentals like essay structure, proofreading and avoiding plagiarism.
Whether you’re a prospective undergraduate or postgraduate, or are currently undertaking university-level study - this course will build on your ability to research, write and reference essays and extended writing projects.

What topics will you cover?

Week one:

  • Differentiating between academic writing and other types of writing
  • Choosing the correct structure for an academic essay
  • Analysing essay questions
  • Activating what you already know about the topic

Week two:

  • Searching for information as a starting point to build your knowledge
  • Evaluating resources and reading academic texts
  • Annotating and surveying information from source texts

Week three:

  • Components of a paragraph and the notion of paragraph leader
  • Paragraph development and writing a paragraph

Week four:

  • Understanding how to use facts, statistics and research in your writing
  • Showing critical thinking through choice of citation type
  • How to incorporate appropriate evidence
  • Avoiding plagiarism

Week five:

  • Writing a plan
  • Essay introductions and conclusions
  • Proof reading
  • Peer support in writing

What will you achieve?
By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

  • Assess the difference between academic writing and other types of writing
  • Identify the different features of an academic essay
  • Identify appropriate search systems to find reading texts relevant to your topic area
  • Apply critical reading skills to analyse and evaluate an academic text
  • Explain why most academic texts are organised into paragraphs
  • Produce a well-organised, coherent paragraph as part of an academic essay
  • Identify information from source materials and texts to include in your writing according to the appropriate academic conventions of referencing

Who is the course for?
This course is aimed at anyone interested in undertaking academic study in English, but it may be of particular interest to international students. You will require an IELTS English level of 5.5 and above.

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