Part-Time Academic English Courses

Students will practice speaking skills necessary for maintaining conversations and participating in discussions. Topics include effective small talk strategies, questioning and requesting, giving opinions, asking for clarification, and offering suggestions. Students will expand their intercultural awareness and learn basic strategies for holding respectful and appropriate conversations when interacting across cultures. Pronunciation features and common idioms will also be reviewed.

Students will gain insight into English pronunciation for the purpose of achieving greater intelligibility (how easily you are understood by others).  They will understand how individual sounds (vowels & consonants) are made and the role that stress, rhythm and intonation have in effective communication. Focused practice on specific high priority sounds and patterns will be done in class through conversations, discussions and role plays.  Students will also learn other communication skills and strategies to interact with others and to build confidence speaking English in various situations. The instructor will also suggest techniques for continued improvement after the course concludes.

Students will practice speaking skills required for participating in university seminars. The course will cover both informal impromptu speaking and formal presentations. Students will learn strategies to use in organizing information, expressing opinions, agreeing and disagreeing and asking and answering questions.  Students will practice these structures and skills through discussions and both formal and informal speeches.  Other communication skills such as body language and pronunciation will be integrated into lessons to help improve comprehensibility.  Constructive feedback on individual speech is provided throughout the course.

Students will practice communication skills used in graduate level studies for participation in academic seminars, discussions and collaborations.  They will learn strategies to comprehend the topics/issues being discussed, follow the conversation/argument, and then offer personal comment and insight.  The course will also include phrases for academic speaking, strategies for improving pronunciation, and non-verbal communication for the effective delivery of oral presentations, for leading seminars, and for interacting in informal and professional contexts. Constructive feedback on students’ speaking will be provided throughout the course. 

This course is an introduction to academic writing skills. Students focus on the writing process and develop skills to write organized and coherent academic texts. Pre-writing, drafting, editing and revision, paragraph and essay/document organization, an integration of quotations are discussed and practiced. Sentence level grammar, based on student needs, is an ongoing area of instruction throughout the course, along with review of common academic vocabulary and phrases. Constructive feedback will be provided by the instructor. (Peer-editing is not a significant feature of this course).

Please note: Graduate students wanting to develop more advanced writing skills should consider: ESLC 0210/0112, Research Writing for Graduate Students.

Graduate students will develop and refine advanced writing skills, including analyzing discourse patterns common in graduate level writing and in their discipline. Students will study a variety of academic genres to review structural elements (e.g. abstract, introduction, body, conclusion) and the skills required (summarizing, analysis, drawing conclusions/synthesis) to better understand and participate in research writing. Advanced academic phrasing and grammatical structures will also be examined.  Self and peer-editing skills will be developed throughout the course. Constructive feedback on individual writing is provided throughout the course. 

For graduate students only. 

In this 10-hour course, students will learn to connect practical reading and comprehension strategies to the essential academic writing skills of paraphrasing and summarizing. Students will learn and write different types of summaries and citations and extend these skills to the critical analysis of texts and providing synthesis. A review of writing structures, grammar and academic phrases for summary writing will be covered. Students will refine self- and peer-editing skills. Constructive feedback on individual writing and grammar will be given throughout the course. 

This course supports graduate students who are actively writing an M.A. thesis or Ph.D. dissertation (Ph.D. students are prioritized) and who have completed ESLC 0210 Research Writing for Graduate Students. 

Students will develop strategies for overcoming common writing challenges focusing on high priority grammar functions, academic language and phrases, and building cohesion and coherence in their writing. Students will learn and demonstrate techniques for peer review and self-editing written documents. They will develop written and oral communication skills for providing, explaining and receiving feedback.  

Each class has 2 hours of guided peer-review “workshop” sessions in which students work in small groups/pairs to share and receive constructive feedback on their thesis or dissertation. Self-editing skills are a prominent feature. The remaining 1 hour of class targets advanced writing skills through skills workshops, presentations, class discussions and lectures on topics specific to graduate level writing.

The course builds on the topics, knowledge and skills addressed in ESLC 0210 Research Writing for Graduate Students.  Students must complete ESLC 0210 before applying for ESLC 0298. 

Registration in ESLC 0298 is not guaranteed.  Students must apply and receive approval from the PTAEC Coordinator before registration and payment steps can be completed. 

Details here: ESLC 0298 Application Form 

Required Textbook:

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (2012). Academic Writing for Graduate Students. 3rd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.