Credit Points 10

Legacy Code 700198

Coordinator Richard Robinson Opens in new window

Description This unit is designed to introduce students to academic culture as a culture of critical debate and equip students with the academic literacy skills necessary to perform successfully in this culture. In particular, the unit aims to help students access the conventions of academic English by focussing on attitudes to knowledge, and the ways in which ideas are structured and presented in academic texts and speech. The unit assists students to comprehend academic texts, identify key ideas and concepts, and identify and use the rhetorical moves used in academic texts. It also aims to help students compare and contrast ideas across texts, improve grammatical skills that relate to academic writing, summarise and synthesise information, and understand why, when and how to reference information.

School Western Sydney The College

Discipline English Language

Student Contribution Band HECS Band 1 10cp

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Level Undergraduate Level 0 Preparatory subject

Equivalent Subjects LANG 0030 - English for Tertiary Study 1 (UWSCFS) LANG 0036 - Introduction to Academic Communication 1 (UWSCFS) LANG 0006 - Academic English 1 (UWSC) LANG 0031 - English for Tertiary Study 1 (UWSC) LANG 0037 - Introduction to Academic Communication 1 (UWSC)

Learning Outcomes

1. Define academic culture and explain the use of evidence to support an argument.
2. Employ effective listening strategies to identify main ideas and supporting evidence.  
3. Utilise appropriate reading strategies to comprehend academic texts.
4. Produce writing that successfully summarises and paraphrases the work of others.
5. Demonstrate a command of academic English, including grammar, phrasing, effective sentence structure, spelling and punctuation in a variety of written contexts.
6. Apply the conventions of academic presentations in written and oral formats.
7. Critically reflect on their own learning.

Subject Content

1. Academic culture as a culture of argument
2. Active listening and note-taking skills
3. Reading in an academic culture: the development of ideas
4. Reading in an academic culture: the relative importance of ideas
5. Reading in an academic culture: identifying arguments
6. Writing in an academic culture: academic language skills and grammar
7. Writing in an academic culture: paraphrasing/summarising and synthesising skills
8. Writing in an academic culture: comparing and contrasting ideas across multiple texts
9. Writing in an academic culture: research and referencing
10. Speaking in an academic culture: the structure of presenting ideas
11. Speaking in an academic culture: tutorial/presentation skills