Academic Writing
Debating the Issues
Wed. 2nd. Period Ritsuko Ohta
Keywords:
Academic English, Discussion, Intensive Reading, Research, Web Activities, Writing

完全オンライン/Fully online: This class will be conducted both live and on demand.

This class is designed to provide students with the opportunity to experience the intellectual challenges and satisfactions of writing an argumentative research paper on a topic of their choice in the field of EFL (or in other fields). Students choose a controversial issue on a subject area, for instance,  English education (e.g. Should English be taught at elementary schools?) and present/defend their point of view using the information gathered. Through this semester-long project, students become accustomed to the process of writing a research paper: Reviewing the techniques/rules necessary for academic writing (e.g. paragraph/essay development), using the library and the Internet to get necessary information, conducting a questionnaire /interview to support their position on the issue, and weaving the work of others into their own research paper in the APA style. At the end of this semester, students must submit a final paper (5 or more than 5 typed pages).  You also practice essay writing using the automated scoring system called Criterion. In this class, students interact a great deal with one another, so active participation in pair/group work is essential.


By the end of this semester, (1) students will acquire basic steps to writing an argumentative research paper, often a common requirement of many academic courses in English-speaking colleges/universities, (2) they will be familiar with the most frequently used format of references, APA, and (3) they will be aware of cross-cultural issues such as plagiarism.


Assignments: 20%
Final paper : 80%


1

Online 

Introduction Syllabus explanation (Homework 1 - possible research topics)

How to use Criterion (online writing system)

2

Online 

Finding/citing the material

Using the library/making note cards

3

Online 

Finding/citing the material

Avoiding plagiarism 1

Criterion (essay writing) homework 1

4

Online 

Finding/citing the material

Paraphrasing/summarizing

5

Online

Reviewing paragraph: 3 parts of a paragraph (Homework 2 - note cards)

Reviewing essay: 3 parts of an essay

Criterion (essay writing) Homework 2

6

Online 

Making an outline

(Homework 3 - outline)

 

7

Online

Working on the first draft

Avoiding plagiarism 2

Criterion (essay writing) homework 3

8

Online

Finishing the first draft
Understanding correction symbols 

 

9

Online

(Homework 4 - first draft)

Introducing references (APA style)

 

 

10

Online

Working on the final draft

Practicing references (APA style)

 

 

 

 

11

Online

More practice on APA styles

Conference on final draft

 

 

12

Online

Finishing the final draft

(Homework 5 - Final draft)

Peer feedback

 

13

 

 

 

 

14

 

 

15

 

 


This class is good for those (1) who are interested in foreign language education / acquisition (2) who want to prepare for academic classes at English-speaking colleges / universities and (3) who have NEVER taken this class before.再履不可

You may be asked to pay 1,000 yen (or less) for using Criterion, an online essay evaluation system in order to brush up on your basic writing skills.