week 1 - course requirements and characteristics of formal writing

7/30/2019 WEEK 1 - Course Requirements and Characteristics of Formal Writing

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Academic Writing Skills

ENG 305

Advanced Academic Writing


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ENG 305- ACADEMIC WRITING SKILLS I

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Students will develop their reading and writing skillsneeded for academic settings,

2. advance their competence and confidence in using the

English language form and function.3. summarize given short and long texts.

4. paraphrase sentences and paragraphs.

5. evaluate sources for relevance to their research topics.

6. apply research methods,7. apply referencing rules (APA style documentation)

8. Write a documented expository essay.


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ENG 305 Course Requirements

2 hours per week / 1 credit

6 hours of absence at most

PORTFOLIO!!!

Library Research


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ENG 305 - Grading

* MIDTERM: 20%

* PORTFOLIO: 45%

* FINAL : 30%* TEACHER ASSESSMENT & ORAL

PERFORMANCE IN CLASS: 5%


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ENG 305 - PORTFOLIO

TASK 1: Making an outline for a research paper(expository essay) (5 pts)

TASK 2: Non-documented expository essay (400-

500 words) (10 pts) TASK 3: Referencing, summarizing, and

paraphrasing library and online database sources(at least 4 sources) (10 pts)

TASK 4: Documented expository essay (a revisedand integrated version of task 2 and 3) (600-800words) (20 pts)

ATTENTION: Do not leave gathering your sources to the last

minute, choose your topic and hand in your sources in the 3rd

week.


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ENG 305 - COURSE BOOK

Academic English Survival Skills II

Glc, M., Glen, G, een, E., & Tokdemir, G. (2011).Academic English: Survival Skills II (4th ed.), Ankara:

Black Swan.

+ENG 305 Study Pack (available at the photocopy

room)

*Both materials need to be brought to the class eachweek.


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PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT POLICY

1) You are required to submit at least 2 drafts for a task.

2) Both the first and final draft will be evaluated seperately, and

the total score of the two drafts will be divided by two. For

example:

1st draft: 4 (out of 5 points)

Final draft: 5 (out of 5 points)

Your score for the task: 9/2= 4,5 pts

CANKAYA UNIVERSITY - OFFICE OF BASIC AND ELECTIVE COURSES- ENGLISH UNIT


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3) The first drafts need to be written in class. If you fail

to be in the class on the assigned portfolio day

without an official written excuse(e.g. a health

report), you will lose the half of the points assigned

to the task as well and you have to write your first

draft in the next writing lesson.

4) If you fail to be in the class without an officialwritten excuse again in the next writing lesson,

your score for that task will be 0.


PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

POLICY


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5) If you have an official written excuse for not

being in the classroom in the portfolio day,

you write your first draft in the classroom inthe next writing lesson. You will be able to

continue the process without losing points.


PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT

POLICY


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6) You have to type your final drafts on a

computer with the online document called

Student Assignment Sheet on top of each.Your final draft has to be double spaced and

typed in Times New Roman 12 point

characters.




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7) When you finish the final draft for a particular

portfolio task, you need to submit it to your

course instructor with the first draft of the task

attached.

Otherwise, you will lose the half of the points

youve got for the first draft and your finaldraft will not be marked.




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8) Late submission is possible only within 7 days

but you should know that half of the points

assigned that task is extracted from your grade.




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RESEARCH

Sources can only be obtained from printed library

materials or online databases.

Online databases can be accessed from ankaya UniversityLibrarys website:

http://library.cankaya.edu.tr/onlinevtabani.html

http://library.cankaya.edu.tr/onlinevtabani.htmlhttp://library.cankaya.edu.tr/onlinevtabani.html


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RESEARCH TOPICS

Engineering Departments and MCS

- Benefits of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) toGeneral Users of Computers

- The Areas Where Advanced RoboticsTechnology is used to Improve Life for

Humans

- Biometrics Applications


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PSIR and ECON

- The Dangers-Restrictions / Benefits EU Would

Bring Along

- Reasons/Results of a Possible War between

Turkey and Syria (Focus either on reasons or

results; not both)

- Leadership styles


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MAN IEINTT

- Factors That Lead to Good or Bad Reputationfor Companies (focus either on good or bad

reputation; not both)

- Leadership styles

- Advantages/Disadvantages of Working in aFamily Business (focus either on advantages

or disadvantages; not both)


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Specialist Topics for IE

- Production Planning and Control Techniquesfor Performance Improvement

- Operations Research and/or OptimizationTechniques

- Workplace Improvement Techniques forIncreased Productivity


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Specialist Topics for INAR

- Characteristics of an Architectural Style

(Gothic, Baroque, Islamic, etc.)

- Examples of Green Architecture

/ Benefits of Green Architecture

- Masterpieces of Architecture (in a specific

country or city)


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LETS START WITH THE COURSE...

(AESS II, p. 311)

CHARACTERISTICS ofFORMAL WRITING


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Whether youre a student, teacher, or

businessperson, academic writing skills arenecessary in todays world.

Essays, reports, presentations and research

papers are just some examples of documentswritten in the academic style.


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What is academic writing?

In brief, academic writing is 'structured research'

written by 'scholars' for other scholars (with all

university writers being 'scholars' in this context).

Academic writing is;

*factual,

*objective,and most importantly,

*FORMAL.


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What are the characteristics of formal

writing and informal writing?

Formal English is used mainly in

- academic writing, and

- business communications Whereas informal English is

-casual, and

-appropriate when communicating withfriends and family.


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Characteristics of Formal Writing

Formal Writing Informal Writing

Distant Language

-Personal pronouns areusually avoided.

-Passive voice is often

preferred.

Personal Language

-Personal Pronouns arecommon.

-Personal feelings and

views are expressed.

-Active voice is oftenpreferred.


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Formal Writing is ACCURATE:

-Precise evidence is presented.

-Facts are distinguished from opinions and

feelings.

-Sources are carefully used and acknowledged.

-Sentences are clear and constructed carefully.-Punctuation marks are accurately used.


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Structure and vocabulary are formal;

-Full forms are used (What have, cannot...)

-More formal, abstract words with Latin orGreek origins are often preferred.


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Yet informal writing is...

OFTEN IMPRECISE;

-A personal viewpoint is expressed.

-Statements are not necessarily accurate.

-Facts and opinions are not necessarily distinct.-Sources are used rarely and carelessly.

-Sentences are shorter, and not so carefullyconstructed.

-Dramatic punctuation marks (?, !, ...) are common.


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Formal writing is TENTATIVE;

-There are few definite statements.

-Quick conclusions are avoided.


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Yet in informal writing;

Structure and vocabulary are informal;

-Short forms and contractions (Ive, hes,

cant...) are often used.-Shorter, less formal language is preferred (e.g.

phrasal verbs, compound words, idioms, slang

and colloquial language).


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However, informal writing is

ASSERTIVE;

-There are often definite statements and

generalizations.

-Conclusions may be drawn from insufficient

evidence.


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Formal Writing vs. Informal Writing

Formal Writing Informal Writing

DISTANT LANGUAGE PERSONAL LANGUAGE

ACCURATE OFTEN IMPRECISE

FORMAL

STRUCTURE and

VOCABULARY

INFORMAL

STRUCTURE and

VOCABULARYTENTATIVE ASSERTIVE


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The First Draft (Study Pack p. 3-4)

The Short Research Paper

In an academic context, students are required

to write essays including references to other

sources to support their thesis statements and

main ideas.


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To support their ideas, they need to research

what authorities have to say about their

topics and include relevant support from

outside sources by

- summarizing,

- quoting,

- or paraphrasing it.


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However, you should always keep in mind

that no one elses words are as important as

yours!!!

As a writer, you use summaries, quotes, or

paraphrases from others only to strenghten

your own points.


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Your instructor wants to see that you have

researched authorities ideas and findings,

and that you have integrated those with your

own writing well.


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Doing Research(Study Pack p. 1-2)

CONCRETE SUPPORT

What is concrete support?

- It is information from outside sources, such as

- Books,

- Articles

- and Websites

that you insert into your essay to add weight to your

arguments and make them more convincing.


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Doing Research(Study Pack p. 1-2)

Guidelines for Choosing a Piece of Concrete Support

1. Carefully consider the source; use well known

newspapers and magazines you can aslo use

online versions of the well known ones.


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For Websites: Be extra critical and skeptical about the

credibility of documents on the Web.

Ask yourself these questions:

a. What is the source? If you cannot find it, do notuse the site.

b. If you can find the source, is it trustworthy?i. University publications are usually trustwothy.

ii. Government documents may or may not be.

iii. Blogs, which are often free, written discussions

of various topics, are not always reliable. Makesure the author is an expert in the field beforeusing his or her opinions.


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2. In general, do not use information that is older than

five years.

3. Choose a passage that directly supports ypur point.

4. Do not take a passage out of context.

5. Do not use more than two pieces of concretesupport in one paragraph. Most of the paragragh

should be your own words.

6. Do not choose a passage that is too technical or fieldspecific for your reader to understand (Above all,

you need to understand it well in the firt place).

week 1 - course requirements and characteristics of formal writing

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