UU114

English for Academic Purposes

COURSE OUTLINE

1. SEMESTER/YEAR: Semester 2, 2019

2. MODE OF DELIVERY/LOCATION: F2F
3. PRE-REQUISITES: None
4. COURSE CO-ORDINATOR: Dr Rajni Chand
5. TEACHING TEAM

Name: Dr Rajni Chand Name: Mrs. Olive Bryce

Office: H306; SLAM; FALE Building, Office: H326; SLAM; FALE Building
Laucala Campus Laucala Campus
Phone: 3232412 Phone: 323266
Email: rajni.chand@usp.ac.fj Email: olive.bryce@usp.ac.fj
Consultation Hours: Consultation Hours:
Tuesday: 11 am- 12 pm; Monday and Wednesday: 11 am – 12 pm;
Thursday: 11 am-12 pm Tuesday and Thursday: 10 – 11 am

Name: Mr. Nagin Patel Name: Dr Hannah Bogiri

Office: H 333; SLAM; FALE Building Office: Emalus Campus
Laucala Campus Email: Bogiri_H@VANUATU.USP.AC.FJ
Phone: 323238
Email: nagin.patel@usp.ac.fj
Consultation Hours:
Monday and Wednesday: 3 - 4 pm

Name: Mrs. Ana Heti Veikune Name: Mrs.Ebwa Mwakaea

Office: Tonga Campus Office: Kiribati Campus
Email: Veikune_a@usp.ac.fj Email: ebwa.mwakaea@usp.ac.fj

Name: Mrs. Shaleshni Prasad Name: Ms Ashmita Darshani

Office: Lautoka Campus Office: Labasa Campus
Email: Shaleshni.prasad@usp.ac.fj Email: ashmita.darshani@usp.ac.fj

6. TUTORIAL TIMES & VENUE: (Please see the Moodle page for your respective mode of
study). There are no lectures for the course. Instead, there are 2-hr tutorials held. F2F
groups meet twice per week while Print and Online groups meet once per week.

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7. EMERGENCY CONTACT

Name: Ms. Antoinette Parker

Phone: 3232214
Room: H316: SLAM Floor, FALE Building
Email: Antoinette.kafoa@usp.ac.fj

8. COURSE DESCRIPTION

By the end of this course, students will be expected to have achieved a proficiency in
academic writing, reading and speaking sufficient to support their language needs in
courses in the humanities, social science or sciences and in future professional tasks.
The course is designed with sufficient flexibility to cater for the practical language
requirements of students studying in all of the above areas. UU114 is one of the core
courses for undergraduate students admitted to studies from 2010 and is to be taken in
the first year of full-time study and before enrolling in 200 and 300-level courses.

9. COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course, students are expected to be able to:

1. Explain the linkage between writing and thinking with illustrative examples
2. Use writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking and oral communication in
academic contexts.
3. Assess perspective, meaning and tone in academic arguments using appropriate
research and comprehension skills.
4. Write a research-based essay including integrating ideas from sources with personal
views, formulating an argument and referencing according to accepted academic
conventions.
5. Undertake the different steps in the research process including researching, and
evaluating and synthesizing appropriate sources
6. Write for different academic genres, including the steps of composing, editing and
revising.

10. USP GRADUATE OUTCOMES

The USP graduate outcomes are as follows:

1. Communication: Graduates will be able to communicate ideas clearly and

persuasively in structured formats using language and other modes of communication
that are appropriate for context, audience and specific disciplinary conventions.
2. Creativity: Graduates will extend boundaries of current knowledge in a particular
discipline or profession.
3. Critical thinking and quantitative reasoning: Graduates will be able to evaluate
multiple perspectives and arrive at a reasonable independent judgement based on
evidence.

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 4. Ethics: Graduates will demonstrate a commitment to high ethical standards in
scholarly, professional and socio-cultural practices.
5. Pacific consciousness: Graduates will recognize the cultural heritage and diversity of
Pacific societies for sustainable development in a contemporary environment.
6. Professionalism: Graduates will demonstrate the ability to carry out tasks to
acceptable standards within their profession and occupations.
7. Teamwork: Graduates will work together in a respectful and collaborative manner to
complete tasks within teams to achieve an outcome.

11. COURSE CONTENT

Focus for Each Week (not in the order of teaching)

Introduction to academic skills- what do you
know; diagnostic test-testing your writing skills
15 step towards writing
15 steps towards writing cont.
15 steps towards writing cont.
Introduction to reading skills
Reading skills and critical thinking
Writing a critical review
Introduction to listening skills, practicing listening
skills
Other modes of writing-Compare and Contrast, and
Causes and Effect essay writing
Understanding nonverbal texts
Introduction to report writing, data collection
methods, analysis of data
Introduction to oral skills and seminar
presentations
Seminar presentations
Exam preparation
Study week
Exam week 1
Exam week 2

12. PRESCRIBED TEXT AND OTHER RESOURCES

 The Course Book: UU114: English for Academic Purposes

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 This contains all the teaching for the course and the steps and exercises. There are
several exercises whose answers will be given to you. Nothing prevents you from just
reading the answers BUT remember that the aim is to help you to learn a skill. If you
simply look up the answers without trying to do the activity, you have learned
nothing. The Course Book also contains all the longer readings, additional material and
the essay examples to help you.
(The e-copy of the text book is also available on the Moodle page)

13. ALIGNMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENT

The following table demonstrates the alignment of the course learning outcomes to
appropriate activities and assessments and the links to programme and USP graduate
outcomes.

Course Associated Assessment Programme USP Graduate Outcomes

Learning Teaching and Outcomes
Outcome Learning
Activities

LO1 Class practice Assignment 1: Essay Communication

of: Essay
Essay plan, Online quizzes
sentences,
paragraphs,
referencing and Report writing
bibliography Assignment 3:
Report
Class practice of
questionnaire Final exam
and interview
questions
designing
LO2 Practice on Assignment 1, Essay Communication and
presentations 2 and 3 Comprehension
Seminar
presentation
Report writing
LO3 In class practice Mid sem test Mid sem test Communication
on readings, in
class critical Online quizzes Critical thinking
review writing
LO4 Assignment 1 Essay Composition, Communication
and comprehension
Online quizzes
LO5 In class practice Assignment 1 Essay and Composition, communication
of essay and Report writing and comprehension
planning and Assignment 2
report writing –
designing and
analysis of data
LO6 In class practice Assignment 1 Essay Communication
of writing and
editing

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14. ASSESSMENT
14.1 ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO
TYPE OF ASSESSMENT
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT : 60%
Assignment 1: Essay
Assignment 2: Report writing
for F2F
Mid Semester Test: Critical
reviewing
Assignment 3: Oral
Presentation
Online quizzes and activities
Classroom attendance and
participation
UU114 Course Outline – Semester 2 2019
WEIGHT Comments/Rationale LEARNING
OUTCOME
10% Essay writing skills is crucial LO1, LO4
for tertiary studies. Thus,
learning, practicing and
assessment of essay writing
skills are important.
Students at tertiary level are LO3, LO6
expected to write for other
genres apart from essays.
Data collection, analysing,
and reporting the findings
are important aspects of
report writing. UU114 thus
introduces students to the
technique of report writing
and non-verbal information
15% interpretation.
Critical thinking is an LO2
expectation from educated
citizens in order to
differentiate between
assertions and assumptions.
The course introduces
10% critical thinking for the same
reason.
All tertiary students are LO3, LO6
expected to be confident
speakers. UU114 introduces
students to listening and
speaking skills as well as, to
the techniques of oral
15% presentations
Academic skills require LO1, LO6
students to express their
ideas proficiently. These
activities provide learners
the opportunity to practice
and improve their grammar
and mechanics of written
5% language
Students are expected to LO4, LO6
behave in a professional,
responsible and mature
manner. Participation in
classroom activities improve
learners’ confidence, ad
reflect their dedication as
5% F2F learners.
Page 5
 FINAL EXAMINATION : 40%
The final exam performance LO1
is an indication of the
Essay 40% writing skills that the
student has acquired over
the semester.

14.2 PASSING THE COURSE

In order to be awarded a pass in this course, students must:

 Achieve an overall mark of at least 50% in the course.
To pass the course, you must still have a combined continuous assessment and final
examination mark of 50 or more. Therefore, it is very important to complete ALL
assignments and the Mid Semester Test to gain as good a continuous mark as possible,
and you must get 16 or more in the examination.

Minimum pass mark: 24 for CW; 16 for Exam; 60% for Attendance.

14.3 GRADE DISTRIBUTION

A+ A B+ B C+ C D E
85-100 78-84 71-77 64-70 57-63 50-56 40-49 0-39

14.4 ASSESSMENT POLICIES AND REGULATIONS

For detailed regulations, please refer to the USP Handbook and Calendar.

Plagiarism, copying materials from other sources without proper referencing and
acknowledge of the source is a serious offence and will be dealt with severely. In the
Regulations Governing Academic Misconduct section of the USP Handbook & Calendar
plagiarism is defined as “the copying of another person’s creative work and using it as one’s
own – without explicitly giving credit to the original creator. Work copied without
acknowledgement from a book, from another student’s work, from the internet or from
any other source”. If lecturer is satisfied that plagiarism has occurred, they will report the
matter to the Head of School. They can reduce marks appropriately. If the matter is seen
as serious enough it can be taken to the Student Disciplinary Committee by the Head of
School.

15. IMPORTANT DATES

Activity Week Weighting (%)

Assignment 1 (Essay) Week 6 10%
Mid Semester Test (Critical Week 7 10%
reviewing)
Assignment 2 Report writing Week 10 15%
Assignment 3 Oral Week 12 15%
Presentation
Online Quizzes Weeks 2-11 5%
Attendance and participation in F2F sessions add 5% towards the Course Work.

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16. ADDITIONAL COURSE ATTENDANCE

University Attendance Policy, as passed by the Senate, 2011 (for F2F students)

To pass any course where tutorials and/or computer laboratories are required, students MUST
attend at least 60% of these to be eligible to pass the course. Students who do not meet the 60%
minimum attendance will fail the course under Clause 1.3(b) in USP regulations.
Students with valid extenuating circumstances for non-compliance MUST receive written approval
from the Head of School for exemption from this regulation.

17. TUTORIALS

UU114 does not have lectures. Instead, there are tutorials. F2F tutorial sessions are
held twice a week. Each session is for two hours.

18. ONLINE WORK

UU114 has compulsory activities that add towards the Course Work. Details for these can
be found under the Assessment portfolio on UU114 Moodle page.

UU114 has online activities that can be accessed to gain a better understanding of the
four macro skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) that the course focusses on.

19. STUDENT SUPPORT

Study Groups
Most people find it easier to study in a group or with a friend, at least for part of the
time. Working with others helps to motivate us. It provides a shared goal and
reduces feelings of isolation or boredom. Your local Campus or Centre will be able to
put you in touch with students doing this course and may help you get organised.

Library Services
Making good use of the library and its resources is vital for you to be a successful
student. Learn about library support and services and the importance of information
literacy at your Campus or Centre library.

20. ONLINE HELP & e-Learning INFORMATION

Moodle is USP’s learning management system and will be used to support learning in
your courses.
In case you face difficulties accessing your Moodle page, please contact your local ITS
student Helpdesk or email: moodlehelp@usp.ac.fj

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21. FACULTY STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT (SLS) SERVICES

SLS supports you through e-mentoring which is giving you learning tips and advice
through email.
You can email us at the following addresses:
Faculty of Arts, Law and Education: falesls@usp.ac.fj

PASS (Peer Assisted Study Sessions)

PASS is an academic support program that may help increase your academic performance.
You get the opportunity to be part of a friendly learning environment with your peers.
During the session, a high achieving student who has previously excelled in the course assists
you with the requirements of UU114.

Evidence indicates that students who are assisted by PASS have a better chance of passing or
attaining a higher grade. For instance, in Semester 1 2017, 33 UU114 students attended
PASS sessions regularly with 32 of them passing well.

As part of PASS, you get to enjoy 4 scheduled hours per week here at Laucala Campus. It is
strongly recommended that you attend these sessions as they will definitely assist you with
the required skills and eventually improve your UU114 grade.

Needless to say, this service of free of charge, so take full advantage of this valuable service.

For further enquiries, please contact the PASS Coordinators, Wilfred or Hilda
on wilfred.fimone(at)usp.ac.fj OR hilda.vukikomoala(at)usp.ac.fj , Phone 3232260 or just
drop into the FALE Student Learning Support Hub.

22. EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS

Student Responsibilities

Students are expected to:

 Spend enough time on Moodle and other activities required in the course
 Attend all lectures, workshops, team meetings etc. unless hampered by illness in which
case you must inform your course coordinator and team members.
 Arrange with the team members to work in their own times on the project.
 Maintain proper attire for the laboratory, clothing, shoes etc.
Facilitate the course coordinator with any proof that he/she was sick and unable to
attend classes or assessment at the earliest possible time to avoid getting a zero mark
for the missed assessment.

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 STUDENT WORKLOAD

TYPE Hours Comments

Writing skills 20-30 hours At tertiary level students are expected to write
per semester a lot. UU114 introduces students to academic
writing skills so that they can become confident
succinct writers.

Listening skills 6-10 hours Listening is part of studying. However, unless

per semester one utilises the appropriate skills, one may not
be able to differentiate between facts and
additional information.

Reading skills 15-20 hours One needs to read in order to interpret and
per semester compose. Additionally, one needs to think
critically what one reads. UU114 introduces
reading and critical thinking skills with this aim.

Speaking skills 6-10 hours To become a confident speaker, one needs to

per semester learn the speaking skills, practice and speak.
UU114 introduces speaking skills as well as the
tips for seminar presentation so that students
can become better speakers.

Editing, assignment 10-15 hours All written and presented work at tertiary level
preparation per semester need to be edited, presented well with evidence
of research. The course introduces these
aspects throughout the semester.

Research and referencing 10-15 hours All researched work need to be properly
per semester acknowledged and correctly referenced. The
course introduces the methods required to
read, rephrase and acknowledge other sources.

Moodle engagement 4-6 hours The course Moodle page includes up to date
per week information of the course, forums, assignment
submission criteria, activities and quizzes. It is
expected that students use Moodle for daily
updates, news, information, course content and
discussions.

Class attendance and 4 hours per F2F students need to attend and participate in
participation week discussions during these tutorial sessions.
Students enrolled by other modes may attend
tutorial held for Print mode at their respective
campus.

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TOTAL Approx. 130
hours

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