Syllabus | EN 2204: Advanced Professional Writing

Writing skills: evaluate their own and other’s writing (10/05 hrs)
  • Self-evaluation and peer evaluation: design criteria for evaluation - Discuss in groups about what makes a good piece of writing? Whole class discussion. List criteria on the blackboard. The list should include the following:
- Content: relevancy to the topic/to the reader, interest, length
- Organization: logic in order of arrangement, coherence, unity
- Style: variety in sentences, precise vocabulary, appropriacy to purpose
- Language: correct sentence stricture/spelling/punctuation
- Appearance: neatness, layout, standard format (as in business letters)

Summary writing (10/05 hrs)
  • Focus: reading carefully to get the meaning, note down the important points. Note the length prescribed for the summary. Write the first draft in your own words. Revise, write the summary and provide a title
  • Language: should be written in full sentences, using the same tense as in the passage. Avoid examples/quotations/repetition/explanation or expansion/figures of speech
Informative, descriptive and expository writing (10/05 hrs)
  • Focus: form sentences and paragraphs which express connection between information and ideas precisely, e.g.cause and result, comparison
  • Activities: Expanding a variety of headlines into articles ( news, feature), writing speeches and reading them out.
Persuasive and argumentative writing (10/05 hrs)
  • Writing skills: balancing an argument/contrasting two different points of view - useful expressions: on the contrary, but, in fact, on the other hand
(Ref: Language in Use. Upper - Intermediate.Classroom Book.page 70)
  • Activities: Write arguments for and against to the following opinions.
e.g. Women and men now have equal opportunities in society
Doing military service makes young people better citizens.
  • Focus: develop logical arguments and cite evidence, use persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices.
Writing a newspaper page (10/05 hrs)
  • Generate topics and ideas by brainstorming and webbing, discussing topics, interviewing, etc.
  • Organize ideas by selecting and ordering relevant ideas and information
  • Drafting: contribute ideas and language for collaborative composition
  • Conferencing with the teacher, redrafting
  • Editing, proof reading and publishing
Analytic writing (10/05 hrs)
  • Reports based on notes/ questionnaires etc.
  • Design and use a questionnaire to write reports
  • Introduce the topic. e.g. Report about leisure activities
- build up words connected to the topic on blackboard
- design a questionnaire to find how people spend their leisure time (group work)
- collect information from classmates
- discuss and write the report
  • Introduce features of report writing: structure - introduction, middle paragraphs, and conclusion Reflect on the nature and significance of the subject matter, Organize ideas and information distinguishing between analysis and comment, Form their own view taking into account a range of evidence and opinions.
  • Language focus: In order to find out how people..., one surprising fact that emerged was..., The results of our survey suggest that...
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