春季英语学术写作课

3月期间我们会再加设一个“学术写作”班，为有需要的同学们在春季学期中同步进行学习。

学术写作课

对于将来希望留学的同学们来说，把英文学术写作比喻成任何一门学科的敲门砖，是毫不夸张的，但遗憾的是，太多同学们都是到了来美国上高中上大学后才认识到这个问题，那时才不得不挤课余时间找我们来补课，搞得同学们学习压力很大很辛苦。这个问题也是美国各大高校对新生十分头疼的一个问题。

NYU纽约大学每年都强制性地要求所有专业的国际留学大一新生，参加半年到一年不等的学术写作课程，学费自理；叶教授所在的大学也是每个学期结束时，各个院系教授一起专门开会，讨论有什么新方法能加强学生的写作能力。

学术写作是真正渗入到留学生们每天日常学习工作中的，无论是美高还是美本，硕士博士那就更不用说了。无论是人文学科的阅读分析，理工科的实验报告，商科的presentation讲稿，还是大到课程或者毕业论文，等等，都是学术写作的一部分。

它是一门必不可少的技能，但又与记叙文性质的文学创作有着截然不同的要求和规范，并不是口语好，词汇量大，就会学术写作了，它需要专门的学习掌握。国内的一些国际高中，还会简单讲一下学术写作要求（他们更重视口语听力这些利于体现教学成绩的项目），而国内的普通高中，那更是提都不提，导致学生们对一些最基本的概念，譬如什么是thesis，都一脸懵圈。这确实让我们感到无奈又可惜。

中文不太好的美国长大的同学们，也可以参看以下链接的英文版课程介绍：

“Academic Writing” Course Introduction

Academic Writing is something that truly permeates into our daily studying and working, whether it's in high school or college, and especially in graduate or doctoral programs. Whether it's the analysis of academic articles, the reports of experiments in STEM fields, presentations in business courses, or even theses and dissertations, academic writing is a crucial component. Academic writing is an indispensable skill that has vastly different requirements and standards compared to narrative literature or creative writing. Moreover, having good oral presentation skills and a large vocabulary doesn't automatically translate to proficiency in academic writing; it requires dedicated study to master.

Academic writing is the key that unlocks the door to any discipline and majors in colleges. Unfortunately, many students only realize this after entering colleges, and then have to squeeze in writing classes into their tight schedules, making the learning experience stressful and challenging. This issue has become such a headache for universities and colleges that many of them, like New York University (NYU), mandate academic writing courses to all freshman students of every major, which ranging from six months to a year. At Messiah University where Professor Ye teaches, professors from various departments would convene at the end of each semester to discuss new teaching methods to enhance students' writing abilities.

Our "Academic Writing" course starts from the basics of academic essays, covering all the way from how to brainstorm, draft, revise, to finalize papers, detailing the entire process and framework. Then, we would delve into the critical thinking process involved in writing, the three major elements of academic essays, characteristics and differences of various academic essay genres, and specific writing techniques and tips. Lastly, we would discuss common academic bibliography styles such as MLA and APA, how to correctly cite others' work to avoid unintentional plagiarism, and the specifics of citation guidelines. These are all essential components of academic writing.

Below is the course outline for our "Academic Writing" course. The course consists of 30 hours in total, divided into 15 lessons, with each lesson lasting 2 hours.

15 Lessons	Table of Contents Total 4 chapters / 77 units
Lesson 1	Course introduction Document design: A gallery of models Sample e-mail message (PDF) Sample Résumé (PDF) Sample MLA formatting: essay (PDF) Sample APA formatting: essay (PDF) C1: Planning C1-a: Assessing the writing situation
Lesson 2	C1-b: Exploring your subject C1-c: Drafting and revising a working thesis statement How to solve five common problems with thesis statements Student writing thesis statement examples analysis C1-d: Drafting a plan
Lesson 2	Homework: EXERCISE C1-3 Purpose and audience EXERCISE C1-5 Thesis statements EXERCISE C1-7 Introductions
Lesson 3	C2: Drafting C2-a: Drafting an introduction C2-b: Drafting the body C2-c: Drafting a conclusion
Lesson 4	C5: Writing paragraphs C5-a: Focusing on a main point C5-b: Developing the main point C5-c: Choosing a suitable pattern
Lesson 4	Homework: EXERCISE C5-2 Topic sentences
Lesson 5	C5-d: Making paragraphs coherent C5-e: Adjusting paragraph length
Lesson 5	Homework: EXERCISE C5-4 Transitions
Lesson 6	C3: Reviewing, revising, and editing Nancy Somers on the Composing Process Video C3-a: Seeing revision as a social process C3-b: Using peer review: Revise with comment C3-c: Using peer review: Give constructive comments How to write helpful peer review comments Strategies for revising with comments C3-d: Highlights of one student's peer review process C3-e: Approaching global revision in cycles C3-f: Revising and editing sentences How to improve your writing with an editing log C3-g: Proofreading the final manuscript C3-i: Formatting the final manuscript
Lesson 6	Homework: EXERCISE C3-1 Conducting a peer review
Lesson 7	Writing guide: How to write a literacy narrative C3-h: Sample student revision: Literacy narrative C4: Preparing a portfolio; reflecting on your writing C4-a: Understanding the benefits of reflection C4-b: student writing: Reflective letter for a portfolio Writing guide: Reflective letter
Lesson 7	Homework: EXERCISE C3-2 Choosing an appropriate point of view
Lesson 8	A1: Reading and writing critically A1-a: Reading actively How to read actively (video 3：01) How to read like a writer A1-b: Outlining a text to identify main ideas A1-c: Summarizing to deepen your understanding A1-d: Analyzing to demonstrate your critical thinking How to draft an analytical thesis statement (video 3:15) How to draft an analytical thesis statement What is an analytical essay? (video 2:41) Writing guide: Analytical essay A1-e: Sample essay: Analysis of an article
Lesson 9	A2: Reading and writing about images and multimodal texts A2-a: Reading actively A2-b: Outlining to identify main ideas How to write a summary of a multimodal text A2-c: Summarizing to deepen your understanding A2-d: Analyzing to demonstrate your critical reading A2-e: Sample student writing: Analysis of an advertisement A3: Reading arguments What is a researched argument? (video 2:41) A3-a: Distinguishing between reasonable and fallacious argumentative tactics
Lesson 9	Homework: EXERCISE A3-1 Logical fallacies
Lesson 10	A3-b: Distinguishing between legitimate and unfair emotional appeals A3-c: Judging how fairly a writer handles opposing views A4: Writing arguments A4-a: Identifying your purpose and context A4-b: Viewing your audience as a panel of jurors A4-c: Establishing your credibility and stating your position
Lesson 10	Homework: EXERCISE A3-2 Evaluating arguments
Lesson 11	How to develop an argumentative thesis (video 2:45) How to draft a thesis statement for an argument A4-d: Backing up your thesis with persuasive lines of argument A4-e: Supporting your claims with specific evidence A4-f: Anticipating objections; countering opposing arguments How to address a counterargument (video 2:45) A4-g: Building common ground A4-h: Sample student writing: Argument Writing guide: Argument essay
Lesson 12	A5: Speaking confidently A5-a: Identifying your purpose, audience, and context A5-b: Preparing a presentation How to deliver a speech or presentation A5-c: Remixing an essay for a presentation
Lesson 12	Homework: Essay Assignment: Analytical and Argumentative Essay
Lesson 13	MLA: MLA Papers MLA-1: Supporting a thesis MLA-2: Citing sources; avoiding plagiarism
Lesson 13	Homework: EXERCISE MLA 1-1 Thesis statements in MLA papers EXERCISE MLA 2-3 Avoiding plagiarism in MLA papers EXERCISE MLA 2-7 Recognizing common knowledge in MLA papers
Lesson 14	MLA-3: Integrating sources Citation at a glance (MLA) MLA-4: Documenting sources
Lesson 14	Homework: EXERCISE MLA 3-1 Integrating sources in MLA papers EXERCISE MLA 3-5 Integrating sources in MLA papers
Lesson 15	MLA-4: Documenting sources MLA-5: Manuscript format; sample research paper
Lesson 15	Homework: EXERCISE MLA 4-1 MLA documentation: in-text citations EXERCISE MLA 4-4 MLA documentation: identifying elements of sources EXERCISE MLA 4-6 MLA documentation: works cited
Total: 15 lessons / 30 hours