The aim of this course is to develop students’ academic writing abilities so that they will have authentic, relevant, cognitive and practical skills. This course aims to engage students in the production and analysis of effective academic writing.

The course is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, and it approaches critical thinking, reading and writing as complex and flexible processes for learning as well as communicating.

After finishing the course, the student:

1) will have knowledge of the conventions of usage, specialised vocabulary, format and documentation in his or her field;

After finishing the course, the student will be able;

2) to actively engage with primary and secondary sources in their field;

3) to produce coherent, effective writing in response to a range of assignments;

4) to use conventions of format and structure appropriate to different rhetorical situations;

5) to integrate their own ideas with those of others;

6) to demonstrate the ability to work to agreed timetables, manage workloads, and meet deadlines.

After finishing the course, the student:

7) demonstrates confidence in their abilities to communicate effectively in written contexts for a variety of purposes and to diverse audiences.

The course is taught through a combination of lectures and workshops, and it approaches critical thinking, reading and writing as complex and flexible processes for learning as well as communicating.

The course is examined through one written assignment (graded A–U for 3.5 credits) and one graded portfolio (graded A–U for 4 credits). The written assignment assesses learning outcomes 1, 2, and 5; the portfolio assesses learning outcomes 3 and 4; both assess learning outcomes 6 and 7.

The student must receive a passing grade in all examination elements to pass the course. Students who do not pass the regular course exams have the minimum of two re-sit opportunities. Re-sits follow the same form as the original exams, apart from re-sits for group work, which take the form of individual written assignments.

James, Henry, The Turn of the Screw, 2nd edition Norton Critical Edition, ed. Deborah Esch and Jonathan Warren (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1999)

Birkenstein, Cathy, and Gerald Graff, They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, 3rd edition (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Co., 2014)

Evaluation is an integral part of the course. A final written evaluation based on the learning outcomes is done at the end of the course. This evaluation is used as a starting point for an oral evaluation which includes a discussion of measures to be taken to develop the course. The result of the evaluation is summarized and made available in a report to be used as a basis for future courses.