Introduction to Research Writing in English

Fall 2019
Course Syllabus

Instructor: Chester Hsieh 謝承諭 Email: chesterhsieh@mail.ntust.edu.tw

Class Time: 14:20-16:10, Wednesday Office Hours: Monday, 10-12
Classroom: IB-311

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course aims to provide EFL writers with an overview of the basic knowledge and skills
essential to science research writing in English. Topics including academic vocabulary, basics of
English writing, and principles of composing different parts of a research paper will be discussed in
class. Students will familiarize themselves with the content and relate it to their own academic
experience by reading materials, listening to lectures, watching videos, doing activities, engaging in
group work and accomplishing assignments.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of this course, students are expected to be able to expand their general academic
vocabulary, name the sections of a research article and the principles of writing these sections,
compose academically appropriate paragraphs for specific purposes, proofread and edit their peers’
writing, revise their own draft based on their peers’ and instructor’s feedback, and write a research
abstract in accordance with their disciplinary conventions.

TEACHING MATERIALS
1. Glasman-Deal, Hilary. (2010). Science Research Writing for Non-native Speakers of English.
London: Imperial College Press. (Downloadable from the NTUST library website)
2. Swales, J.M., & Feak, C.B. (2012). Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks
and Skills. 3rd Edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
3. Online resources and handouts

GRADING POLICY
1. Attendance and participation (15%)
2. Assignments (75%)
3. Quizzes (10%)

1
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
W Date Topic Assignments due Quiz
1 11/07 Course orientation In-class paragraph writing:
On-line resources for academic writing My Academic Interests
An introduction to academic writing (1)
2 11/13 An introduction to academic writing (2) A research topic
Structure of a research paper
3 11/20 How to write an introduction Three research papers related to Q1
An analysis of the introduction sections your topic
4 11/27 Citation and sources of information An analysis of the introduction Q2
Writing about methodology sections
5 12/04 Peer-review and proofreading A process paragraph Q3
Writing about results
6 12/11 Peer-review and proofreading A data description paragraph Q4
Writing the discussion/conclusion
7 12/18 Writing the abstract An abstract of your own

．Vocabulary quizzes: There will be in total FOUR quizzes based on the list of academic
vocabulary words provided by the instructor. In each quiz, the students will be tested on 15 items
from the word list. The quizzes will contain mostly multiple-choice questions and
sentence-making tasks.

．Writing assignments: Every writing assignment needs to be word-processed and double-spaced

(font type: Times New Roman; font size: 12-points). Students are required to email the file to the
instructor by the deadline and bring the file of the assignment to class on the due day.