LANG1403 Academic English for University Studies

Writing Assignment 1 (W1) – Academic Blog Practice

This is a compulsory unassessed assignment. Your work will be used for in-class peer
evaluation in U2L5. Follow this guideline and your teacher's instruction to submit your
work after U2L4.

TASK
Produce a written academic blog post to summarize and critique ONE source. The main
purposes are to share one source which has helped you understand your project topic
substantially and practice your writing skills, particularly in synthesizing, organizing and
developing ideas coherently and accurately. Based on the group formed for Video Assignment
1 (V1), you need to work on your group’s chosen project topic and narrow it down to a specific
one for your research project. You can imagine that this academic blog will be published on
the HKUST website.
REQUIRED TYPES OF SOURCE TEXT
A magazine or journal article should be used. The article can be online or printed, must be in
English, and should be suitable for using as evidence or ideas for your university-based
research. This is an individual task, and your own source should be different from those of
your group members.
ORGANIZATON
When writing the blog, you should:
1. include an introduction that briefly provides context and purpose to your blog post;
2. summarize your chosen source (approximately 100-150 words);
3. critically analyse your source, including its suitability as a trustworthy source of
information (approximately 200-250 words)
4. include necessary and proper in-text citations and a reference list under the most
updated APA edition style
TARGET AUDIENCE & LANGUAGE STYLE
Your blog will be read by the public and academic audience including university students. Use
a neutral/semi-academic style, as appropriate for the audience.
FORMAT & LENGTH
Follow your teacher's instructions to prepare the assignment. Bring a soft / hard copy of your
blog post to the following class (U2L5). Your blog should be 400 words ± 50 words, excluding
the reference list.
TIPS FOR CONTENT
When reading and analyzing your source, consider the following questions to help you
summarize and critique the article:
 LANG1403 Academic English for University Studies

• What are the main ideas or arguments of the article?

• What is the purpose of the article?
• Are the author and information credible, reliable and authoritative? How do you
know?
• Which key ideas or details of the article that might be useful for the video assignment
later in the course?
• How are you inspired by the article? How can your reflection on the article be useful
for the video assignment?
• What else can be researched on to extend the knowledge on this topic?
You should focus on some of these questions and organize your answers in a logical order.
You can also address other important questions or aspects not mentioned in this list.
USE OF SOURCES

• How do I find suitable sources?

It may take some time to find appropriate sources; this is a normal part of the research
process. Remember that researchers often read many sources in the process of
identifying good ones to use. Make sure you have the right source types for your
source. Check out the following resources on Canvas to help you find suitable sources:
1. “Online Library Session” (Module)
2. “Extra Support” (Module) > “Referencing Tips”

• How do I reference my sources?

The most updated APA edition style should be followed when composing your
reference list. Your referencing skills will be assessed under Synthesis (SY). Study these
resources for correct referencing:
1. “Online Library Session” (Module)
2. “Extra Support” (Module) > “Referencing Tips”

• Using GenAI to help narrowing down a research topic

If you are thinking of using GenAI to help you to narrow down a topic for this research
project, you can refer to the “Guide for using GenAI to help narrowing down a
research topic for LANG 1403” found under “Extra Support” on Canvas.

WHY DO THIS TASK?

 LANG1403 Academic English for University Studies

Through this task you should be able to develop your critical thinking skills, academic
literacy skills and academic communication skills, which transfer to many other types of
tasks at university and the workplace in the future.
Your W1 assignment will be further developed into W2. Your research, analysis, and writing
in W1 can be used in W2 with appropriate revision and editing.