Academic Writing and Research:
EAP6111
Summer 2014
MON 351
07/07/14 - 08/16/14
MW 09:35AM - 11:45AM
Instructor: Natalia Romanova, PhD
E-mail: romanova@gwu.edu
Office: PHILLIPS 216c
Office hours: Monday, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (by appointment)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Writing winning research papers, including the master’s thesis and the doctoral dissertation, begins
with establishing a solid foundation. This course is designed to help international graduate students,
establish such a foundation and work toward becoming effective writers in their disciplines. The
students are introduced to basic techniques of genre analysis, analyze the use of language for
academic purposes and research, learn rhetorical features of academic writing (the use of hedges,
evaluation, citation patterns, self-mention, transitions, etc.), the rhetorical structure of a research
paper, and develop critical academic skills (skimming, scanning, outlining, summarization, and
presenting their research).
There will be a needs analysis survey at the beginning of the course and two short assessments
before and after the course to measure students’ progress.
At the beginning of the course (after we discuss the issue of plagiarism) students will need to
complete a plagiarism recognition tutorial at the Indiana State University, take a test, and receive a
certificate of completion (https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/). Please note that I will not accept any
written assignments without this certificate.
LEARNING OUTCOMES/ COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the semester students exiting EAP6111 can expect to:
o Gain familiarity with the academic culture of the US and several written genres that are
common to graduate study;
o Learn about rhetorical differences in organization, language, content, and style in each genre;
o Learn about the characteristics of academic writing, including its purpose, audience,
organization, style, flow, and presentation, and the nature of academic argumentation
involving a claim, reasoning, evidence, and treatment of possible counterarguments;
o Understand the conventions and expectations of writing in their own discipline;
o Understand knowledge ownership, academic integrity, and how to avoid plagiarism;
o Learn to practice writing as a recursive process that includes planning, drafting, revising, and
editing;
o Become a more self-sufficient writer of English as a second language.
During the semester the students will
 Read, critique, outline, and summarize research articles;
 Plan, conduct, and report on a small research study, reporting their findings and presenting
arguments;
 Present their research orally; and
 Analyze the use of language and rhetorical features in their academic reading.
Students are also expected to demonstrate responsibility by
 Attending class regularly and punctually;
 Being prepared for class work;
 Submitting assignments in a timely fashion;
 Collaborating and interacting with others respectfully and effectively;
 Understanding and avoiding plagiarism;
 Knowing and following university regulations.
COURSE COMPONENTS
Assignments
o Outline
o Précis
o Portfolio (2 components)
o Textbook assignments
Quizzes
Participation in a BB discussion
Final Paper
o First drafts of five sections plus two revisions)
o Final draft of the full paper (edited and formatted)
o Individual oral presentation of the final paper
35%
5%
5%
20%
5%
10%
5%
50%
25%
20%
5%
Assignments
Besides textbook assignments assigned to practice particular points discussed in class and graded
for completion (Complete/Incomplete), there will be three graded assignments:
 an outline of a research paper,
 a précis of this paper, and
 an electronic portfolio, including two components:
o the language development project (option 1 or/and option 2) and
o the analysis of rhetorical features of research papers in your field of study.
The first two assignments require students to work with articles in the field of English for Academic
Purposes. These assignments are due by midnight on the due date listed in the weekly class
schedule. They should be done in MS Word (with the extension “.doc” or “.docx”) to allow me to use
the track-changes feature. If you cannot use MS Word, submit papers in “.rtf” format. Do not submit
“pdf” files.
You will be working on the third assignment, Portfolio, throughout the semester using the Blog tool in
BlackBoard.
Portfolio
Portfolio Component 1: Language Development Project (LDP)
A successful piece of writing, besides compelling ideas, a well-ordered organization, and an
awareness of one’s audience, involves an accurate and effective use of language. Writing should:
o be free of grammatical errors
o have precise, interesting word choice
o have varied, effective sentences.
The goal of this semester-long assignment is to help you become more aware of language use in
your reading and, in turn, in your own writing. However, rather than your instructor selecting
language points for you to study, this will be a self-directed assignment: you will choose one of two
options or you may combine both options if this works better for you. You can set up your weekly
journal entry in the form which makes most sense to you. There must be six entries during the
semester.
Option 1: Vocabulary Journal (Blog). Each week choose three words or phrases that you
have encountered in your reading (for academic purposes). These should be words that are new or
unfamiliar to you (including words you know but which are used differently in the text you read). For
each word, please record the following information:
o The word or phrase itself;
o Where you encountered it (the name of the textbook or article and a page number for the
word);
o A sentence from the text you read that includes this word;
o General meaning (check a dictionary if needed);
o Specific meaning in this text;
o Grammatical information (part of speech);
o A sample sentence of your own demonstrating your own use of this word or phrase.
Option 2: Style Journal (Blog). Each week select sentences or longer excerpts from texts you
read where the author’s style really catches your attention—either for good or bad reasons. Copy
these sentences into your style journal/blog. Note the sentence/excerpt and its source, and write a
brief analysis: what you noticed and think about the style and how it might inform your own writing (as
a strategy or tool to use or avoid).
Some elements of style to consider are:
o Author’s tone (critical, sarcastic, humorous, passionate, opinionated, etc.).
o Sentence structure and sentence variety (Does the author use short or long sentences?
questions?);
o Paragraphing (Does the author use one-sentence/short/long paragraphs? Do they have a
clear structure?);
o Formality or informality level (consider vocabulary choice, contractions, use of first or second
person [I / you], etc.);
o Use of punctuation (exclamation points, parentheses, dashes, ellipses, etc.);
o Use of tone (personal versus impersonal).
This list just provides some ideas of what to look for. You may think of other elements, and you may
only focus on one or several of these elements in each entry.
Vocabulary/Style Journal Combination Option: If you like both ideas—vocabulary and style
journals—you could combine them and keep a language/reading journal/blog. You might choose (for
example) to do four vocabulary journal entries and six style journal entries, or vice versa, or any
combination ( as long as it adds up to ten entries) plus your final reflection upon your experience of
analyzing vocabulary and style in this way. What (if anything) did you like or dislike about it? Did
increased awareness of vocabulary and/or style influence your reading experiences at all, and if so,
how? How might your analysis of vocabulary and/or style influence your own writing?
Introduction & Reflection Entries: In addition to your vocabulary or style entries, you will
begin your LDP journal/blog with an introduction of 200-250 words. In this introduction, you should
explain which LDP option you have chosen and why. For example, do you find one more interesting?
Are you aware of specific strengths and weaknesses in your own writing that lead you to this choice?
Has a teacher or other reader ever given you feedback (good or bad) about language usage in your
writing? What do you hope to gain through this LDP, and/or what goal(s) do you hope to accomplish?
For your final reflection, re-read your introduction entry and the entries you have completed. Write a
200-250 reflection on how this project went for you: was it useful, difficult, confusing, interesting, or…?
Were you happy with your project choice, or do you now wish you’d selected one of the other options?
Did you notice any heightened awareness of your language use while writing this semester? Do you
plan to continue working on your language development on your own?
Portfolio Component 2: Research Article Analysis (RAA)
For this assignment you will examine rhetorical functions and skeletal structures used to express
them in research articles in your field. You will receive questions and points to consider as we study
various elements of research writing throughout the semester. This assignment will help you discover
discourse conventions in your discipline to facilitate your entry into the discipline-specific academic
community.
Quizzes
There will be six graded quizzes throughout the semester: one quiz will check your understanding of
the syllabus and five quizzes will be based on the course material.
Discussion
You are expected to participate in one online discussion in which you will be asked to state and justify
your position regarding an issue and to respond to at least two classmates agreeing with one and
disagreeing with the other’s point of view.
Final Paper
For this project, you will write a research paper (about 5 pages long, without the references) reporting
the findings of your original study. The purpose of this assignment is to help you practice writing a
research paper—that is, the conventions for creating your research space, handling arguments and
evidence, and documenting research.
1. The topic of the paper is the rhetorical structure of research article/report introductions in
YOUR field of study.
2. You will determine your research question(s) and the method of data collection and analysis
(including how you will select the corpus of papers in your discipline to read).
3. For analysis, you will select 10 papers (reporting results of a research investigation) from your field
of study according to the criteria you will determine yourself and will analyze the rhetorical patterns
used in their introductions.
4. Based on the précis of the papers read by your fellow-students, you will write a literature review to
establish your research territory and to compare your findings with. You will cite these papers
appropriately with in-text citations and list them alphabetically in a References section of your paper.
5. Your paper should look like a legitimate research paper, in which you will use all the rhetorical
patterns (moves) that you will be learning. It must follow the standard structure and formatting
conventions (http://www.apastyle.org/ and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/).
6. You will be working on the final paper throughout the semester posting and revising your drafts
in MoPads (created for each section of the paper at https://etherpad.mozilla.org/) according to the
schedule.
7. You will present your paper to the class in a short presentation (the format to be determined).
8. The due date for submitting the paper is August 15 (by midnight).
GRADING
General Criteria for Assessment
The following provides general guidelines for what is considered A, B, and C, and F levels of work.
A
“A” work is exceptional, going above and beyond the stated requirements of the
assignment in terms of the clarity, organization, and presentation.
B
“B” work is above average. It goes beyond the minimum requirements of the
assignment but not to an “A” level; “B” work may excel in some areas while having
some problems in other specific areas.
C
“C” work is average. It meets the basic expectations of the assignment and
shows some degree of competency, but it does not go above and beyond the
assignment in any significant way, nor does it demonstrate intellectual
engagement with the relevant course material or assignment objectives.
F
“F” work is failing. It is below average, has significant shortcomings and as a
result fails to meet the most significant assignment’s requirements.
Grading Schema
The following grading schema is used in the course.
.
Grades Scored Between
95
92
89
85
82
79
75
70
65
0
% and 100%
% and Less Than 95%
% and Less Than 92%
% and Less Than 89%
% and Less Than 85%
% and Less Than 823%
% and Less Than 79%
% and Less Than 75%
% and Less Than 70%
% and Less Than 65%
Will Equal
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
CF
REQUIRED RESOURCES
Textbook
Swales, J. M., & C. B. Feak (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills,
3d Edition. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
ISBN: 978-0-472-03475-8
Computer
You will need to bring to class your laptops or tablets to participate in class activities. If you do not
have a laptop or a tablet or cannot bring them to class, please let the instructor know during the first
week of classes so that adjustments could be made.
BlackBoard
All the course materials, including readings, presentations, assignments, rubrics, and templates will
appear in our course on BlackBoard. To access the course, go to http://my.gwu.edu/ and select the
appropriate course link.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
This course does not have a specific textbook. All materials (readings, handouts, worksheets, etc.)
will be provided in class or on Blackboard throughout the semester. The following resources provide a
helpful overview of academic and scholarly writing.
1. Hacker, D. & Sommers, N. (2011). Rules for Writers (7th edition). Bedford: St. Martin’s
2. “Rules for Writers” Exercises for Writing, Grammar & Research
http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rules7e/#t_669460 (you must register!)
3. Purdue’s Online Writing Center: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
4. GW’s EAP Writing Support Program: http://programs.columbian.gwu.edu/eap/writingsupport
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The following books are recommended for students who would like to study English further on their
own:
1. Longman Language Activator: This is an excellent resource for writers searching for the exact
nuance of a particular word. While a bit time-consuming to use, it is an excellent resource for
expanding vocabulary.
2. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English: This reference helps students learn which
words tend to be used together.
3. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English: This grammar, instead of focusing on the
grammar that people are supposed to use, focuses on what native speakers actually do.
CLASS POLICIES
Attendance and Class Participation
Full participation is required for this course. You are allowed one class absence (for medical
emergency, religious observances, or "milestone" circumstances), after which each absence will
result in a one letter grade reduction in the final grade. Missing four or more class meetings will result
in failure of the course. Two tardies will count as one absence. Attendance after the first 30 minutes
of class will count as an absence.
Participation includes effective participation in class work, which means preparedness for class and
active engagement with the content, the instructor, and your classmates.
Email
Check your gwu email regularly for course announcements. Do not send me email from non-gwu
accounts. Do not submit assignments by email—you will do so on BB (via SafeAssignment or
by posting your blog entries and discussion posts).
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students should respect the GW Code of Academic Integrity. It states: “Academic dishonesty is
defined as cheating of any kind, including misrepresenting one's own work, taking credit for the work
of others without crediting them and without appropriate authorization, and the fabrication of
information.” For the remainder of the code, see: http://www.gwu.edu/~ntegrity/code.html
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The Writing Center
The Language Center offers a free, one-on-one, service for GWU students with non-English
backgrounds at Phillips Hall 210B. Tutors are available during any stage of the writing process. All
students must make at least one appointment by visiting the Language Center appointment website
to make an appointment: http://gwulceapwriting.checkappointments.com/#GWTigerScreen_1
University Policy on Religious Holidays
Students should notify the instructor during the first week of the semester of their intention to be
absent from class on their day(s) of religious observance.
Students with Disabilities
Any student who may need an accommodation based on the potential impact of a disability should
contact the Disability Support Services (DSS) office at 202-994-8250 in the Marvin Center, Suite 242,
to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. For additional information
please refer to: http://gwired.gwu.edu/dss/
University Counseling Center
The University Counseling Center (UCC) offers 24/7 assistance and referral to
address students' personal, social, career, and study skills problems. Services for students include:
- crisis and emergency mental health consultations
- confidential assessment, counseling services (individual and small group), and referrals.
For more information call 202-994-5300 or visit
http://gwired.gwu.edu/counsel/CounselingServices/AcademicSupportServices
Campus Advisories and Security
In the case of an emergency, if at all possible, the class should shelter in place. If the building that the
class is in is affected, we will follow the evacuation procedures for the building. After evacuation, seek
shelter at a predetermined rendezvous location. Check the university's website used for
communicating emergency preparedness and incident-related information to the GW community at
http://campusadvisories.gwu.edu/