English for Effective Communication II: Reading and Writing

Course Coordinator: Dr Vanliza Chow, B(phil), MA, PhD (University of Birmingham)

Course Developer: Philip Leetch

This is a middle-level course in several English-related degree programmes. It can be counted towards the 'free choice credit' component of most other degree programmes. Successful students will receive a certificate in addition to their credits. Alternatively, students may choose only to sit the end-of-course examination on a non-credit basis. Successful examination candidates are awarded a certificate. See page 14 for further information.

Students who have taken the foundation-level course ENGL E120 English for Effective Communication I : Reading and Writing will consolidate the reading and writing skills they developed in that course.

Aims
This course aims to help learners to:

• Analyse the structure of a range of written texts;
• Extend their ability to read and understand texts from academic and professional contexts;
• Develop their competence in using academic and professional styles of writing;
• Consolidate their general proficiency in reading and writing.

Contents
The course includes five units that draw on a wide and varied selection of academic, work-related and general texts to analyse and practise reading and writing skills. The course units are organized under the following topics:

• Explaining, describing and defining
• Comparing, contrasting and sequencing
• Causal reasoning
• Persuading
• Negotiating

Learning support
This course involves 150 study hours. There will be eight two-hour tutorials.

Assessment
There are three assignments and a final examination. Except for some designated assignments, students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Set book(s)
There are no set books for this course.