In-sessional English language support

A-Z: Key aspects of academic writing

Available autumn and spring term; 8 week course for 2 hours per week.

The aim of this course is to provide you with broad knowledge and practice of the key elements of academic writing (see below for 4 week courses covering these points slowly and in more detail). If you have some experience of writing essays in English but want to review and enhance these skills within one term, this course will be useful for you. The course contains input on the following aspects of academic writing: the stages of the writing process, structure and organization, understanding essay titles, planning and drafting an essay, introductions, conclusions, taking notes from sources, paragraphing, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing, summarising, combining sources, references and quotations, using libraries, and using internet sources.

 

Essay structure and academic language

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

The aim of this course is to enable you to accurately interpret essay questions, plan and write essays of different types (including Compare/contrast, Problem-solution-evaluation, To what extent…?, and Discuss essays), and to use appropriate language to express your ideas fluently in your writing. This will include input on academic style, correct referencing and the use of vocabulary/phrases for essay functions such as defining and classifying, sequencing, comparing and contrasting, introducing arguments and counter-arguments, showing cause and effect, and hypothesizing.

 

Referencing sources and avoiding plagiarism

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

The aim of this course is to enable you to make effective use of published sources in your essay writing. This will include input on knowing how to find reliable texts relevant to your essay, a range of approaches to note-making, understanding the importance of summarising and how this skill can be used, different methods of reporting from sources, paraphrasing effectively, and combining sources effectively. The course will also focus on knowing what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, for which all of the above-mentioned skills will be useful.

 

Critical thinking for academic writing

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

The aim of this course is to enable you to take a critical and analytical thinking approach to writing. It will focus on understanding some of the key features of critical thinking, understanding how these features are used in academic writing, being able to distinguish between descriptive and critical texts, recognising strong and poor arguments, recognising persuasion though language or pressure, and detecting bias.

 

Advanced academic writing

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

This course is designed to meet the needs of students with at least IELTS 6.5 or equivalent in writing. It is designed for students confident in their basic writing ability but wanting a broader and deeper understanding of what is expected of students in academic essay-writing tasks. It aims to take an in-depth look at the features of good coursework essays including a focus on effective use of sources, effective critical analysis, clear structure, coherent and cohesive paragraphing, and appropriate style. The course will include analysis of example essays from the departments of History, Psychology, Management and Politics and International Relations. The course will be useful for students on both undergraduate and postgraduate taught master’s programmes.

 

Postgraduate dissertation writing: for postgraduates preparing a dissertation (this course may also be of use to PhD students)

Available spring term; 8 week course for 2 hours per week
Available summer term; 3 week course for 3 hours per week

This course is designed to meet the needs of postgraduate international students who are researching and writing dissertations. It is taught in a computer lab and aims to provide 'hands on' learning. You will be introduced to some of the key features of a dissertation through close examination of a range of authentic example texts. This will be followed up by practice writing activities that will enable you to manipulate the target language with confidence. By the end of this course you will have a clearer understanding of the organisation and purpose of the dissertation; acquired a range of effective language suited to extended writing; and developed the critical and organisational abilities to cope with such a major academic task.

Academic listening and note-taking skills

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for  2 hours per week.

This course aims to build your confidence in dealing with listening and speaking in an academic environment. In other words you will develop skills to help with listening to lectures and taking part in seminars/discussions. This is very useful for those with IELTS 6.0 or below in Speaking or Listening (or the equivalent in another English Language test). The course will use small group and whole class activities and it is supported by a range of materials on video, audio, and the university Virtual Learning Environment.

 

Presentation skills

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

This course aims to build your confidence in speaking in an academic environment. You will develop essential skills for giving presentations, such as planning, the ability to use key vocabulary, and delivery techniques. This is very useful for those with IELTS 6.0 or below in Speaking or Listening (or the equivalent in another English Language test). The course will use small group and whole class activities and is supported by a range of audio and visual materials.

 

Seminar and discussion skills

Available autumn and spring term; 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

The aim of this course is to develop the skills and language you need to participate in university seminars and discussions. It is designed to help develop your confidence to speak out in seminars through practice of participating in small group and whole class discussions. On the course, you will develop your understanding of what is expected of students in seminars and how you can become a better participant. You will also consider the importance of preparation; how to make stronger arguments; and how to express your ideas clearly in English.

 

Pronunciation 1: Building pronunciation skills

Available autumn and spring term; 8 week course for 1 hour per week.

The aim of this course is to help you improve your pronunciation of many English sounds, e.g. vowel sounds, like short ‘i’ and long ‘ee’, and groups of consonants, like ‘str’, ‘kt’ and ‘spl’. It also looks at how native speakers link their words together when they speak (one of the reasons why written English and spoken English can seem so different). This is useful for those who find it hard to make themselves understood here in the UK. The high level of class speaking practice time, and the opportunity to record your own voice, will help improve your awareness of how you sound when speaking English. 

 

Pronunciation 2: Pronunciation for presentations

Available autumn and spring term;  8 week course for 1 hour per week.

The aim of this course is to help build your confidence in speaking in front of an audience. Through presentation-style activities it will help you to understand how to use your voice more effectively by learning about word and sentence stress and intonation (the rise and fall of your voice) in order to express yourself clearly. It is useful for those who have completed the Pronunciation 1 course or who already have IELTS 6.0 in speaking; in other words, those who may be fairly confident in some aspects of speaking but are concerned about sounding confident when giving presentations. 

Grammar for academic writing

Available autumn and spring term; 8 week course for 1 hour per week.

This course examines aspects of grammar which are commonly found in academic writing. It focuses on sentence-level grammar, helping you to accurately produce more complex sentence elements, such as relative clauses, noun phrases and verb phrases. The course will include analysis of sentences and paragraphs from academic texts, and give you the opportunity to practise writing texts using the structures you have studied. Grammar for Academic Writing is particularly useful for students who have a writing score of IELTS 6.0 or below, or the equivalent in another English Language test such as TOEFL.

English through the media

Available autumn term only; 8 week course for 2 hours per week.

This general English course focuses on a particular theme each week using excerpts from popular television programmes and films to enable you to practise listening skills such as listening for gist and listening for specific information. Newspaper and magazine articles will enhance your understanding of the chosen theme and give you the opportunity to implement your reading skills. In addition, you will develop your vocabulary and have opportunities to discuss issues connected to the weekly theme.

 

British issues through the media

Available spring term only; 8 week course for 2 hours per week.

At a slightly higher level than ‘English through the media’, this course focuses on particularly ‘British issues’ by using stories in the news/media as a starting point. Students then develop their understanding of these issues through in-depth discussion.

One-to-one writing consultations for international students

Available autumn, spring and summer terms – N.B. there is a limited number of consultation times available.

If you would like to discuss difficulties with academic writing with a tutor one-to-one, RHI offers 30 minute one-to-one writing consultations.

Your consultation tutor will... 

• offer constructive and helpful learning support with your academic writing
• discuss strengths and weaknesses of one part of a draft (1000 words maximum)
• suggest activities and resources that will help you tackle language issues

• help you develop clear organisation in your writing

Please remember that the tutor has only limited time and that he or she will not proof-read your work, or simply ‘fix it’ for you in time for a deadline.

You may have up to 3 consultations in any one term.

Booking a consultation is easy 

Make a booking at least 24 hours before the consultation at the RHI Reception desk (IN008 in the International Building) during office hours.

When booking your consultation, you will need to provide a print-out of one part of a draft piece of work (1000 words maximum) that you need help with.

N.B. Some students may be ‘referred’ for writing consultations by their academic supervisor.

MN1001 SUPPORT COURSE : for 1st year undergraduates taking ‘Management and the Modern Corporation’ (MN1001)

Begins autumn term for 9 weeks with 2 hours per week and continues through spring term for 9 weeks with 2 hours per week.

This class is designed to meet the needs of international students who do not speak English as a first language. The class takes a blended learning approach (face-to-face plus online work) and provides essential practice in both language and literacy skills, closely following the content of the MN100 lectures and core reading texts. Particular attention is given to lecture comprehension; vocabulary building; reading with the aim of identifying key arguments and author’s attitudes; writing that is accurate and cohesive; and building oral fluency. If you register for this course, you may take up to 2 further hours of English language support.

 

Undergraduate dissertation writing support: for 3rd year management students (may also suit some other 3rd year HSS students writing dissertations)

Available spring term only as a 4 week course for 2 hours per week.

This course is designed to meet the needs of undergraduate international students who are researching and writing final year dissertations. It is taught in a computer lab and aims to provide 'hands on' learning. You will be introduced to some of the key features of a dissertation through close examination of a range of authentic example texts. This will be followed up by practice writing activities that will enable you to manipulate the target language with confidence. By the end of this course you will have a clearer understanding of the organisation and purpose of the dissertation; acquired a range of effective language suited to dissertation writing; and developed the critical and organisational abilities to cope with such a major academic task. This course has been designed with the School of Management’s 3rd year undergraduate independent project in mind, but other Humanities and Social Sciences undergraduates writing dissertations may also find this useful.

Writing skills for first year Economics

Begins autumn term for 8 weeks with 2 hours per week and continues through spring term for 8 weeks with 2 hours per week.

This class is designed to meet the needs of international students who do not speak English as a first language, and need to write answers for course work and exams in First Year Economics (especially those following EC1101 and EC1103).

Becoming an effective writer of Economics essays and shorter answers means developing your abilities to use material from your lectures and your core text books to write logically structured answers that show your understanding of key information and opinions in your own work. This course will support you in all aspects of the academic writing process. It will include input from lecture recordings and Economics texts, as well as academic writing and study skills resources, with a weekly in-class writing activity and language feedback from the tutor on each piece of writing. 

Postgraduate PIR academic writing

Five 2-hour sessions: Monday 27^th September, 9-11am; Wednesday 29^th September, 2-4pm; Monday 4^th October, 9-11am; Wednesday 6^th October, 2-4pm; Monday 11^th October, 9-11am

This class is designed to meet the needs of international students on taught master’s programmes in the Politics and International Relations department who do not speak English as a first language. The course provides an overview of what is required to write a strong post-graduate coursework essay. Areas of focus include overall organisation, paragraphing, using sources in writing, distinguishing between description and analysis, avoiding plagiarism, and improving written coherence and cohesion. The materials include examples and analysis of good postgraduate writing in the discipline.