815406 Research and Report Writing
*I am teaching this course this semester. Students who are currently enrolled in this course can visit this page for online information about the course and course outline.*
This is a multiple-draft essay-level writing course for graduate students enrolled in the Master’s Program in Translation for Education and Business (MTEB) at KMUTNB. Students are encouraged to write academic as well as personal essays for this course. For examples of blog posts that students in this course write, please visit http://815406.blogspot.com/.
Department of Languages, Faculty of Applied Arts
King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok
Program in Translation for Education and Business
815406 Research and Report Writing
Semester: 1/2012
Class schedule: Thursday, 1-4 & 6-9 P.M.
Instructor: Karnchanoke Wattanasin, Ph.D.
Room 408, Bldg 46
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description
This course focuses primarily on the development of students’ skills in writing in English. Students will be exposed to a myriad of writing practices, ranging from expressive to academic writing, as well as reading texts of their interests and those pertaining to translation research (TR). Major course activities include reading, class discussion, writing essays, peer review of students’ writing, and conferencing with the instructor.
Objectives
In this course, students will:
- Learn and practice writing skills that will help them to write;
- Read texts, and write to express their thoughts and to comment on the texts they have read; and
- Write multiple drafts of essays based on their reading and class discussions, and an essay summarizing and critiquing two translation research papers.
Evaluation
The assessment of this course is principally based on students’ on-line evaluation-free journals at http://815406.blogspot.com/, reading materials from http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com and discussions based on them, essay writing and submission, and class participation. Students will write at least 5 class essays for the entire semester, and are allowed to choose their own topics. Overall, class writings include:
- Weekly on-line journal entries, at least half an A4 page in length. All journal entries must be submitted 3 days prior to each class.
- Weekly response to another blog author’s post.
- One to three expressive essays (Essays 1 to 3): 1-2 double-spaced pages per essay, with accompanying coversheets.
- Two to four academic essays (Essays 4 to 5): 2-3 double-spaced pages per essay, with accompanying coversheets. For Essay 4 and 5, students are required to read and discuss translation research (TR) papers of their choice (1 for E4 and 2 for E5) and write a summary and critique of the papers. The essays must be accompanied by an abstract of each research paper being discussed. Essay 5 is also scored separately as course paper.
- One reflection essay (Essay 6) submitted with the portfolio: 1-2 double-spaced pages. This essay is a reflection on the author’s experience with writing in this class, a list of his/her writing problems and solutions, and comments and suggestions for further class structure and activities. No multiple drafts or a coversheet required.
The in-class writing activity allows each student to spend many weeks on one essay. It is suggested, however, that students revise and write further drafts and submit them after they receive feedback from the instructor and/or peers thereafter. Drafts are submitted electronically. Students are also required to make multiple hard copies for their classmates for peer review. During the last week of class, each student will submit his/her portfolio—a collection of written works he/she has completed during the semester, which includes all drafts of: their on-line journals and responses to classmates’ journal posts, in-class essays, and the reflection paper. There is no midterm or final examination. Evaluation is divided into:
| Attendance and participation |
15% |
| Submission of on-line journal entries/responses and essays and revisions |
35% |
| Essay and peer review quality |
20% |
| Translation research summary and critique |
10% |
| Portfolio |
20% |
| Total |
100% |
Suggested Readings and References
การเขียนอ้างอิง (American Psychology Association format [APA]). (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www.bcnspresearch.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=3&id=72&Itemid=85
AMA citation style: A concise guide. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://www.findlay.edu/NR/rdonlyres/DB5BCD1B-07AA-4BC6-A62B-3C962CBAA3CD/0/AMAStyleGuide.pdf
APA style essentials. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2007, from http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796
Carter, P. (2011). Academic writing: Approaches and expectations. Presentation at the Asia TEFL 2011 conference, Seoul.
Citation styles. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2008, from http://www.plagiarism.org/learning_center/printable_docs.html
Citing your sources. (n.d.). University of California Berkeley. Retrieved September 5, 2008, from http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/instruct/guides/citations.html
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Leeds, B. (2001). TWE and application essays. Korea: Academic Press.
Leeds, B. (2011). Use of tense in a dissertation to guide the reader’s interpretation of what you are saying: form follows author’s meaning and intention. Unpublished manuscript.
Leki, I. (1998). Academic writing: Exploring processes and strategies (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McCarthy, M. & O’Dell, F. (2008). Academic vocabulary in use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MLA citation style. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from http://www.library.cornell.edu/resrch/citmanage/mla
Paraphrasing. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2007 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/01/
Paraphrasing exercises. (n.d.). Graduate Student Instructor Teaching and Resource Center. University of California Berkeley. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://gsi.berkeley.edu/resources/conduct/exercises.html
Paraphrasing exercise 1. (n.d.). Kirtland Community College. Retrieved September 29, 2009, from http://www.kirtland.cc.mi.us/library/Plagiarism/module3g.html
QCC Library APA citation style in brief handbook. (n.d.)., Retrieved February 23, 2012 from http://qcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=201192&sid=1682400
Quick reference citation format for AMA Manual of Style, 10th ed, 2007. (n.d.) Retrieved October 27, 2010, from http://www4.samford.edu/schools/pharmacy/dic/amaquickref07.pdf
Resources. (n.d.). Writing Development Centre, Newcastle University. Retrieved August 4, 2009, from http://www.ncl.ac.uk/students/wdc/learning/
Spatt, B. (1991). Writing from sources (3rd edition). New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Swales, J. M. & Feak, C. B. (1994). Academic writing for graduate students. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Williams, J. M. (1990). Style. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Writers workshop: Writer resources. (n.d.). University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/citation/
Course Outline
|
Class/ Date |
Discussion Topic(s)*/ In-class Writing (ICW)/ Remark (RM) (*Topics with URLs are to be read before class time.) |
Assignment Due (AD)/Homework (HW) |
|
1 June 7 |
- Course orientation |
- What is writing?
(To read: http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/what-is-writing/)
- Questions and answers about writing in English
ICW: Essay 1.1HW
Start looking for 3 TR papers and write your journal on the blog.
2
Jun 14
- Generating ideas: Pre-writing activities I (Direct writing, brainstorming, branching, clustering, mind mapping, story map, freewriting)
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/direct-writing/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/brainstorming-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/branching-clustering-and-mind-mapping-pre-writing-activities/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/story-map-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/freewriting-a-pre-writing-activity/
- What kind of writer are you?
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 1.1
3
Jun 21
- Reading to write: Finding main and supporting ideas
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/main-and-supporting-ideas/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/main-and-supporting-ideas-part-2/
- Peer review of Essay 1.2
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 1.2
4
Jun 28
- Cohesion and coherence
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/cohesion-and-coherence/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/metalanguage/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/conjunctive-adverbs/
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 1.3
5
Jul 5
- Cohesion and coherence (cont.)
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 2.1
6
Jul 12
- Generating ideas: Pre-writing activities II (Wh- questions, using rhetorical styles, KWL, Talk about it!, beginning with a paragraph)
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/wh-questions-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/approaching-topics-through-rhetorical-styles-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/kwl-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/talk-about-it-a-pre-writing-activity/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/beginning-with-a-paragraph-a-pre-writing-activity/
- Peer review of Essay 2.2
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 2.2
7
Jul 19
Introduction to citation, reading techniques
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/citations-in-academic-writing-introduction/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/reading-techniques/
ICW: Your current essay
RM: You should have 2 TR papers by now.AD
Essay 2.3
Jul
23-29
No class (Midterm week)
RM: If you have not done so, start reading your TR papers now.
8
Aug 2*
- From reading to writing: summary writing
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/from-reading-to-writing/,
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/summary-writing/
*No class on August 2 (Public holiday)AD
Essay 3.1
9
Aug 9
- Writing for an audience: The writer’s two selves, the tip-of-the-iceberg phenomenon
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/the-writers-two-selves/
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/the-tip-of-the-iceberg-phenomenon/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/07/tip-of-the-iceberg-sample-essay/
- Peer review of Essay 3.2
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 3.2
10
Aug 16
- Writing from reading II: Quoting; paraphrasing; organizing and synthesizing
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/quoting/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/paraphrasing/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/citation-examples/,
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/synthesizing-information/
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 3.3
11
Aug 23
- Parts of an academic paper
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/parts-of-an-academic-paper/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/exercise-parts-of-an-academic-paper/
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 4.1
12
Aug 30
- Citation and styles
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/citation-styles/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/22/in-text-citations-and-references-examples/
- Peer review of Essay 4.2
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 4.2
13
Sept 6
- Language and style in academic writing
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/academic-writing/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/grammar-in-academic-writing/
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 4.3
14
Sept 13
- Language and style in academic writing (cont.)
http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/language-and-style-in-academic-writing/, http://eflwriting4life.wordpress.com/2010/05/23/vocabulary-in-academic-writing/
- Peer review of Essay 5.1
ICW: Your current essayAD
Essay 5.1
15
Sept 20
- Review
- Conclusion to course
Sept 25-Oct 5
No class (Final week)
AD: Portfolio
