campUAS

This is a hands-on course, designed to enhance your proficiency in academic writing in English. The curriculum is structured around the four key features of academic writing: referencing, objectivity, complexity and formal structure. Through a combination of theoretical discussions, practical exercises and writing assignments, you will develop the essential skills required for producing high-quality academic texts.

1. Referencing Skills

·       Avoiding plagiarism through proper citation practices

·       Paraphrasing and summarising

2. Objectivity Strategies

·       Utilising hedging and boosting language

·       Maintaining a balanced and unbiased tone

·       Recognising and avoiding subjective language in academic writing

3. Complexity in Writing

·       Mastering reporting and evaluative language, as well as formal lexis

·       Employing signposting for clear structure and coherence

·       Using appropriate language for recommendations and research implications

4. Formal Structure

·       Crafting effective introductions, conclusions and thesis statements

·       Constructing well-developed paragraphs

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

   - Understand the importance of ethical citation practices to avoid plagiarism.

   - Identify and eliminate subjective language from academic writing.

   - Enhance the use of language for reporting, evaluating, recommending, highlighting the implications of your research etc.

   - Create compelling introductions, conclusions and thesis statements.

   - Construct clear and focused paragraphs

   - Write reader-friendly research papers and dissertations in English, following the most up-to-date principles of academic writing.

Welcome to Communicating across Cultures! The sessions are planned for Thursdays in block 2 (10.15 – 11.45 a.m.), the venue is building 4, room 107 and the kick-off date is 27 October. 

This course is going to provide you with knowledge, skills and attitudes, without which optimally performing in a globalised world is nearly impossible. 

Communicating across Cultures is not a lecture. It is an interactive seminar, which implies that students’ attendance and active participation are pivotal to its success. The language of communication is English, but instead of addressing grammar, vocabulary and phonology issues, we’ll attempt to develop your cultural intelligence. This course provides a risk-free setting, where you can express yourself freely, with no fear of making mistakes or, even worse, of being penalised in any way for your language errors. 

What makes Communicating across Cultures special is its relaxed, informal atmosphere, together with a return to genuine, human-to-human communication, without any interference from technology. Instead of staring at PowerPoint slides, you’ll talk openly with your lecturer and fellow students, debate ideas, voice opinions and share your personal experiences – the ultimate goal being the acquisition of an essential life skill: effective functioning in any international setting.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Monica Hoogstad, Lecturer in Intercultural Communication

Communicating across Cultures is a language course designed to help you improve your presenting and writing skills in English, and – at the same time – acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes that increase your intercultural competence.

We are going to explore the main contributions to the field of intercultural communication, by delving into the ground-breaking work of several ICC pioneers. The theoretical models, which are the backbone of this course, will come to life through real-life case studies, intertwined with personal sharing sessions. We’ll address issues like communication styles, politeness, avoiding face-threatening acts, the perils of stereotyping – to name just a few.  

You will have the opportunity to practise English in a risk-free environment, fundamentally different from traditional language classes. Instead of dwelling on grammar mistakes and phonology drills, we’ll focus on helping you improve your academic communication skills, such as presenting effectively (opening & closing strategies, persuasive techniques) and writing (hedging, politeness strategies, formal & informal registers)

Course structure: 4 main chapters divided into a 14-session course

Teaching approach: experiential and discussion-based (e.g., self-reflection, case study analyses, group talks)

Focus: developing academic communication skills: presenting, writing

Assessment: reflection & analysis tasks, presentations (oral exam), polite e-mail writing (written exam)

Language of communication: English, CEF level C1

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

1: Understand how culture interrelates with and influences communication processes.

2: Present, share and analyse, verbally and in writing, information related to experience gathered in your own culture, as well as in foreign cultures.

3: Negotiate and resolve misunderstanding in communication through paraphrasing and explaining.

4: Use polite discourse conventions and understand own language practices as well as those of others.

5: Predict possible areas of miscommunication and mediate between different culturally based communicative behaviours.

6: Identify challenges arising from cross-cultural differences and learn ways to address them.