English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
Instructor: Dr. Algirdas Makarevicius
Academic hours per week: 4 (lecture – 2 h/w; tutorials – 2 h/w)
The last week of classes is week 11.
Oral Exam (project presentation): Week 12
Written Exam: Week 13.
Course Description
The course focuses on giving presentations, listening to academic lectures, note-taking, participating in group discussions, comprehending academic texts and lectures, summary writing, citing techniques, developing the Internet and library skills, and writing a research project. Tutorial activities include discussions of lectures and helping students to find information in order to solve basic academic research problems.
Course Content
Part I. Note-Taking Skills
Basic methods of note-taking.
Getting ready to take notes; taking notes during lecture; revising notes after the lecture.
Noting key points with relevant additional details.
Abbreviations and symbols.
Reproducing key information and supporting details from notes in one’s own words; rejecting irrelevant information.
Developing attentive and critical listening skills; lateral thinking; active and passive listening.
Part II. Writing a Research Paper
Academic conventions of writing a research paper. Terminology and concepts of research: research proposal, thesis statement, bibliography, references, literature review, abstract, appendix, footnotes, acknowledgement, and table of content.
The process of writing a research paper: formulation of thesis statement; writing a research proposal; follow ordering of table of contents in accordance with academic standards.
Harvard system of referencing; select or reject a source based on difficulty level, relevance and currency; assess the reliability, objectivity and authenticity of a source; summarize, paraphrase and quote to avoid plagiarism. Citing Internet sources.
Editing and proofreading; rules of using a comma, parenthetical elements and the use of comma with numbers and quotations; the apostrophe, hyphen and dash; the period; semicolon. Consistency and grammatical correctness. Basic problems of scientific writing: analysis of common errors; case studies.
Part III. Conventions of Academic Research: Designing a Questionnaire, Interpreting Statistical Data and Conducting Interviews
Questionnaire: define objectives, select sampling groups; design questions using different question formats; conduct questionnaire; tabulate and graphically illustrate data; analyze results.
Interview: set goals, select interviewee; how to be aware of ethics, adhere to time restrictions, make tape-script, and summarize the main points of an interview.
Oral presentation of the research paper: outlining and organizing key points; preparing PowerPoint slides; handling difficult questions from the audience.
Objectives
The course aims to enable students to
• take lecture notes effectively and think critically;
• acquire basic research terminology and concepts;
• retrieve, assess, select and organize relevant data;
• formulate a thesis statement and write a research paper;
• organize a research paper following proper academic conventions;
• write a summary of a research paper;
• use proper citation methods in accordance with academic conventions;
• give an oral presentation of the research paper.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course the students are expected to communicate effectively in their academic environment. The students will be able to
• take notes effectively;
• acquire basic research terminology and concepts;
• locate, select and assess relevant data;
• write a research proposal and a research paper following proper academic conventions;
• deliver effective presentations in conformity to academic conventions.
Learning Materials
Handouts, websites, PowerPoint projector, microphone, books and journals recommended by the instructor.
Assessment (100 points)
• Note taking skills: 10
• Project proposal writing skills: 10
• Classroom participation: 5
• Project writing skills: 25.
• Written exam: 30
• Oral exam / project presentation: 20
Course Requirements
Each student must fulfill the following requirements of the English for Academic Purposes course.
1. Take lecture notes and actively participate in discussions on various topics by asking questions and giving short two-minute presentations or comments, whenever required by the tutor. Every student will be assessed for note-taking skills, from time to time.
2. The course English for Academic Purposes consists of lectures (2 hours per week, in a lecture theatre) and tutorials (2 hours per week, in small classrooms). Students are required to take notes during the lectures and discuss the topics of lectures during the tutorials. The aim of the lectures is to develop active listening and note-taking skills. The aim of the tutorials is to help students to develop their critical thinking skills and to provide with the basic research project writing skills.
3. Study regularly handouts, books, lecture notes and online materials. Use the learning tools and materials which are provided in the websites and as recommended by the lecturer during the lecture.
4. Self-study (average 8 hours per week) includes revision of lecture notes, preparation for discussion of lectures, collecting research materials for the chosen topic, formulating research questions, writing a research paper (a research project, or as advised by the tutor) on a chosen topic, writing a summary of the research paper/project, preparing to discuss the paper/project with the tutor and preparing an oral presentation of the topic. Self-study also includes all assignments given by lecturers.
5. Attend all classes regularly. If a student misses more than two classes without a clear reason she/he will not be allowed to continue the course without a special permission from the Dean.
6. Prepare and give at least one oral presentation. Handouts, PowerPoint, overhead projector or other devices can be used but a student is not allowed to read from a paper or from a computer. The presentation should last approximately fifteen minutes and the student will be assessed. An outline of the presentation must be handed in to the tutor (and copies to all the students if necessary). The outline of the presentation must be printed on one A4 size page and must contain the student ID number, the name of the student written in English (written on top of the A4 size paper), title of the topic, and the basic points of the presentation. The font size must be Times New Roman 12. The font size of the title must be Times New Roman 16.
7. Attend all examinations, lectures and tutorials. Cheating at examinations is not tolerated and students who are caught during examination will automatically fail.
8. Students are not allowed to walk or chat loudly with each other during the lesson without a teacher’s permission. If a student ignores the teacher’s remarks, uses offensive words or offensive body language, leaves the classroom early and without the teacher’s permission, is late for classes or insults other students and the teacher, behaves in an arrogant manner or in any other inappropriate way, the student will be severely punished including expulsion from the College. Expulsion implies that the student should not consider the College for further education.
9. Students are expected to comply with the college-wide requirements for academic integrity. The College is committed to academic integrity — the honest, fair, and continuing pursuit of knowledge, free from fraud or deception. This implies that students are expected to be responsible for their own work. Presenting another individual’s work as one’s own and receiving excessive help from another individual will qualify as a violation of academic integrity. Plagiarism is cheating. In this course, using another person’s words or ideas as one’s own without giving credit, producing a memorized piece (either one’s own or someone else’s), or having someone do any portion of his/her work is cheating. Students are expected to complete their own, original work by using their own words. A hand-written Statement of Originality, signed by the student, must be attached to the completed research project.
10. The Course Outline is the main document of the course and the topics which are given in the Course Outline must be discussed in class every week. The duty of each student is to conduct Internet and library research, study the handouts and prepare for class discussions. The Course Outline is handed in to each student during the first week of the semester.
11. Any additional questions or suggestions related to the above can be answered or discussed personally by the tutor during the tutorial, after the tutorial or by email. Each student who approaches the teacher by email must write his/her student number, name and the class number/section on the subject line. Anonymous emails will not be replied.
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