Sem 2 INTRODUCING ES1102

Welcome to ES 1102, English for Academic Purposes. This module aims to help you deal with your academic English language and study skills needs. These needs include
 

§  sourcing for and understanding academic texts;
§  synthesising and integrating information into your writing;
§  writing essays and other assignments;
§  acknowledging sources in essays using an accepted documentation style;
§  using grammar and other language conventions accurately in context.

 

This module adopts a reading-into-writing approach using themed readings as springboard texts for your writing and provides opportunities for analysing and internalising ways of organising academic texts.

ES1102 runs for 12 weeks with two two-hour tutorials a week.

 
a)    Learning Outcomes for the main skill areas

Reading

You should be able to understand the meaning and organisation of a text by
§  analysing the writer’s thesis, thesis-paragraph connections, and connections between paragraphs;

§  exploring strategies, including those from your first language, which can be effectively used to access the meaning of texts.

 Writing

You should be able to

§  extend concepts from your reading for organisation into your writing;

§  analyse and interpret essay prompts/examination questions;

§  develop a thesis, support it with evidence, acknowledge others’ opinions or views, and write with authority;

§  summarise and synthesise information from reading and integrate this into your writing;

§  practise academic integrity by using in-text citations and end-of-text references appropriately. 

 

Grammar
 

You should be able to

§  develop and demonstrate a clear understanding of grammar conventions;

§  develop an awareness of why you tend to make frequent errors in particular areas of grammar and work on rectifying the issues or words to that effect;

§  provide meaningful explanations of grammatical conventions for correcting grammatical inaccuracies in various texts.

 

b)   Mode of Learning

This module presupposes that with your tutor’s instruction and guidance, you should be able to take charge of your own learning. Therefore, while you will learn through in-class instruction, tutor feedback and tutor-student consultation, you are also expected to learn through class discussions, peer reviews of your writing assignments, grammar tasks, small group discussions, and online grammar exercises. Your active interaction within all aspects of the course is essential.

 
c)    Awarding of marks

While your work will be continuously reviewed and you will be awarded marks for your efforts throughout the course, you will also have an opportunity to demonstrate your learning at the end of it with a Final in-class Essay. The marks are allocated as follows:

Continuous Review	70%
Final Exam Essay	30%

           Total                                                 100%

 

The weighting of the Continuous Review components are as follows:

Component	Weighting
Reader Response	15%
Critical Reflection	10%
Problem-solution Essay -Essay Draft 2: 5% -Essay Final: 20%	25%
Online Grammar Exercises	10%
Interaction	10%
Final Exam Essay	30%
	100%

 

d)   Important Information about the Final Exam Essay and Final Course Grade

You must make sure you sit for the Final Exam Essay as there will not be any chance to re-do that portion of the course in the same semester. You will be required to re-take the whole module in the following semester if you do not obtain a “Pass”, i.e.  Grade “D” or above. You will not be allowed to graduate from NUS until you pass this module.

Semester 2, AY2013/2014     Final Exam Essay: 25th April 2014, Friday   The Registrar’s Office will announce the Final Exam Essay venue at the Examination Timetable  URL:   http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/event/examschedule-sem1.html

 

 e)    Course Policies and Expectations

Class Participation

Classes begin with the First Tutorial in Week 2.

 You are expected to participate actively in class.

 Participation includes accessing the course readings from the course website or from ES1102 IVLE Library e-Reserves workbin and completing the requested reading assignments before each tutorial. If you have not done this your interaction grade may be lowered.

 Participation does not include arriving late, doing work unrelated to ES1102 during tutorials, sleeping in class, or using computers or other electronic devices for matters unrelated to ES1102. 

 

Punctuality
Please take not that

§  you will be considered absent if you arrive more than 20 minutes late.  

§  you should not leave a tutorial before the class officially ends without notifying your tutor.  Your tutor may allow you to leave early if you have a valid reason for doing so.

§  classes will begin on the hour and end 25 minutes to the hour. For example, a class that is scheduled as 8:00 to 10:00 am will begin at 8:00 am and end at 9:35 am.

 

Excessive Absence

It is your responsibility to inform your tutor if you will be absent.  If you have two consecutive absences or a total of two absences or more, the Vice Dean of your faculty will be informed.

 Leave of Absence

If you apply for leave or attend university events for reasons considered valid by your faculty, you must complete your leave application at the Vice Dean’s office of your faculty and give your tutor an official notice of the approval and inclusive dates of your leave.

 

Withdrawal
It is your responsibility to handle the requirements for withdrawal from any university  

course yourself.  You must complete the full paperwork for your withdrawal with your faculty Vice Dean and the Registrar’s Office.  Your tutor and the ES1102 coordinators do not handle “Withdraw” and “Drop” matters.  The Add /Drop module guidelines are on the Registrar’s Office website.

 

IVLE ES1102 and Course Website

You must regularly consult the ES1102 website and your IVLE Workbin for ES1102 and other online resources assigned by your tutor, such as class blogs or Facebook sites.

 

NUS Email Inbox

Please check your NUS email regularly for course-related messages.

 

 Late Submission

Assignments which are submitted late will receive a deduction of 3 to 5 marks.

 Academic Integrity

Make sure you have a clear understanding of the following resources which provide information on academic honesty and plagiarism:

§  NUS Honour Code at http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/adminpolicy/acceptance.html

§  NUS online module on Academic Culture at http://emodule.nus.edu.sg/ac/
§  Turnitin at the NUS CIT site, http://www.cit.nus.edu.sg/plagiarism-prevention/

Plagiarism, collusion, other unethical text borrowing practices, and scholastic dishonesty are subject to university/faculty proceedings.

 

Make-up Assignments

 If you are going to miss any assignment for legitimate and foreseeable reasons, email your tutor at least one week before to request the opportunity to make alternative arrangements.  For legitimate and unforeseeable reasons, email your tutor no later than one week after the assignment to request the opportunity to do the assignment.  Your reason must be supported with written confirmation (e.g., medical certificate or official communication from the faculty Dean or Vice Dean). Otherwise, you will not be allowed to do a make-up assignment. 

 

Note on links to websites:   The URLs provided here may be updated by office webmasters, in which case you will need to conduct a web search, or look for the link at the Registrar Office's website (http://www.nus.edu.sg/registrar/) or the main NUS website (http://www.nus.edu.sg/).