Dates and topics: - Open University



Professional and Academic Communication in English (PACE)POSTGRADUATE WORKSHOPS ON ACADEMIC WRITING, READING AND PRESENTINGCo-ordinator: Dr Jackie Tuck, School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, WELS.For registration and further details, contact: Doctoral-PACE@open.ac.ukWho are these sessions for? These sessions are aimed at postgraduate research students who would like to develop their use of academic English. For example, you may be someone who feels unfamiliar or out of practice with academic conventions, you may be a user of English as an additional language, you may want to spend some time considering the specialist discourse and genres you are expected to use over the coming year. If so, come along to the sessions listed below.Where and when are the sessions held? The sessions are held in the Library Research Meeting Room (2nd Floor of Library) on Wednesday mornings, in the regular slot 10.30-12.30. (The final session is a mini-conference and will extend over a longer period.)BLOCK 1 - ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 1 (Jackie Tuck, Samantha Austen and Sarah Jane Mukherjee)The aim of these four sessions on academic reading and writing is to offer you the opportunity to practise reading and writing some specific academic genres; to identify key features of these genres and to consider your views on such genres; and to develop an awareness of specific aspects that you need to work on. The specific genres we will focus on as a group are summaries (for generalist and academic audiences), conference abstracts and literature reviews. However, depending on participants’ priorities, other genres - or elements of these - will be explored. Following each session you will have the opportunity to send some of your own writing for comment if you wish. For some sessions, you may be asked to bring along a short piece of your own writing (which could be in draft form).Wed 18th Oct 2017: Reading for research, academic genres, summaries and strategies This session will focus on the range of academic genres you are often expected to read and write within. As a group we will focus on writing summaries for both academic and non-academic audiences. Wed 1st Nov 2017: Strategies for reading academic texts and writing article abstracts (Change of Venue CMR01)This session will outline different strategies for reading different types of texts. In addition, we will explore the structure of article abstracts. As a group we will read and comment on a number of abstracts with a view to identifying key elements or ‘moves’. You will build on this knowledge to draft abstracts relating to your specific research field. Wed 15th Nov 2017: The literature review: issues of design, argument and voiceThis session will explore key features of literature reviews, including the use of citations to develop an argument rather than offering a descriptive summary. Wed 29th Nov 2017: Text structure and textual strategies in paragraph architecture This session will consider the importance of coherence in a long text such as a PhD thesis or Masters dissertation. We will discuss textual strategies in the literature review, and creating signposts at a chapter, section and paragraph levels.BLOCK 2 ACADEMIC READING AND WRITING 2 (Jackie Tuck, Samantha Austen, Sarah Jane Mukherjee)This second block of four sessions will continue the exploration and practice of reading and writing academic genres begun in the first block. Sessions will include an exploration of the language of argumentation, critical reading strategies and improving the structuring of texts at the paragraph level. All four sessions will draw on examples of writing from a range of academic disciplines, and will also encourage you to apply the ideas to your own writing. It is a good idea to bring along to each session some of your current writing (whether finished or still in draft form).Wed 10th Jan 2018: Identifying a writer’s viewpoint This session will help you to recognise when a writer is presenting their own opinion, rather than factual information. Through looking at the language used to signal how far a writer is committed to a particular viewpoint, the session aims to develop your ability to understand shades of meaning in a writer’s argument, and to express your own views effectively. Wed 24th Jan 2018: Information structure and using visualsIn this session, the focus is on how to organise your writing at the level of the paragraph. Using the basic principle that we tend to move from what is familiar to what is new, you will discover some strategies to help in critically reading and writing academic prose. Referencing recent research into multimodality in academic writing, we will present ways in which the thesis text in different chapters may be supported by different types of figures, for example models and graphs.Wed 7th Feb 2018: Dialogue with the readerThis session considers writing as a form of dialogue with an imaginary reader. It will help you to create a good argument by anticipating what readers may be thinking and by using appropriate language to persuade them along your own lines of thought. This approach will also equip you to read your own and others’ work more critically.Wed 21st February 2018: Critical reading, writing analysis and ‘from notes to drafts…’In this session we will continue to work on critical reading, we will explore techniques for moving from notes to a draft. We will explore how to write up the analysis and findings chapters and how to ensure the analysis links coherently to the thesis research questions, literature review and theoretical framework. BLOCK 3 ACADEMIC SPEAKING/ PRESENTATION SKILLS(Jackie Tuck, Samantha Austen, Sarah Jane Mukherjee) The aim of these four sessions is to develop and practise speaking and presenting in academic settings. Participants will be encouraged to prepare academic presentations on their specific area of research, as well as on topics of more general interest, and to present these to fellow students attending the workshop. Indicative programme:Wednesday 28th February 2018: Where is speaking used within research and higher education? This session will discuss the different ways speaking is used within higher education and draw on video stimulus to explore the effectiveness of different types of spoken texts. This session should be of interest to anyone who wishes to improve skills and confidence in spoken academic interaction in English. Wednesday 7th March 2018: Critiquing speaking texts and developing strategies for our own presentationsThe group will explore and critique different types of presentations - for example, lectures, online conferences and research group meetings. Participants will also be given time to reflect on specific forums they have participated in within their research studies and occasions they may be required to speak and present in the future. Strategies to prepare for these events will be discussed, and literature which may be of use when preparing for speaking events will be introduced. Wednesday 21st March 2018: Academic interaction This session will cover specific areas of spoken academic interaction, such as contributing to seminar discussions, supporting or challenging other people's ideas, and dealing with challenges to one's own work. Time will also be given to prepare and rehearse individual presentations for the mini-conference on the 11th of April. Wednesday 11th April 2018: Mini-conference (extended session timing to be confirmed)This will be an opportunity to rehearse a conference presentation in front of an audience who will be prepared to give you constructive feedback. The session is open to all (and in the past it has proved very useful to have a good participating audience!). ?PACE involves a number of activities aimed at developing people’s expertise and confidence in a range of academic writing, publishing and presentation practices. The activities are based on current research on academic communication practices. The PACE team currently comprises Jackie Tuck (Coordinator), Samantha Austen and Sarah Jane Mukherjee. For specific queries about PACE, contact Jackie at: jackie.tuck@open.ac.uk .The PACE TEAMTheresa Lillis is Professor in English language and Applied Linguistics at The Open University, UK. She has taught English as a second language at primary, secondary, adult and higher education levels as well as courses in academic writing and writing for publication, language studies, language and learning, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and English as a second language/bilingualism. Her principal research areas are the academic writing and literacy practices of students (primarily for assessment) and scholars (primarily for publication), as well as writing across academic and non-academic domains, particularly in the area of social work. Recent publications include Academic Writing in a Global Context (Routledge 2010, with Mary Jane Curry), The Sociolinguistics of Writing (Edinburgh University Press 2013).Jackie Tuck studied for an English degree before training as a teacher. She has taught English (Language and Literature), Communications, English as an Additional Language and English for Academic and Specific Purposes in schools, communities, colleges and universities in the UK, and also taught English in Spain. She is currently a Lecturer in English Language Studies and Applied Linguistics in the Centre for Language and Communication in the Faculty of Education at the OU. Jackie takes a particular interest in academic literacies and in 2013 completed a PhD with the Open University which explores the practices of academic teachers in the disciplines around students’ writing in UK Higher Education.Sarah Jane Mukherjee has been recently awarded her PhD at the Open University. Her PhD research is on children’s language choices in classroom role-play and a linguistic perspective on the learning opportunities in classroom role-play. Sarah is currently working as a research assistant in two funded projects. One project is a cross cultural study exploring children’s perspectives of play and learning, and the other is investigating the impact and effectiveness of academic literacy skills activities embedded in one OU module. Samantha Austen is a Staff Tutor in Applied Linguistics at The Open University. She has taught English for Academic and Specific Purposes in higher education institutions in the UK, Italy and Malta. In addition to teaching, she has worked as a Director of Studies and also as Director of English Language Programmes for Medical Foundation at the University of Malta.?Sam obtained her PhD from Cardiff University in 2016. Her research interests include the influence of a student's first language on second language acquisition in the form of Conceptual Transfer, Cognitive Linguistics, and how its principles can be applied to language teaching and learning.*********************************** ................
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