230338 Writing (S) (WiSe 2016/2017)

This course will help you to develop the writing skills you will need in your English studies at the university and in your personal and professional life afterwards. You will learn how to write well-structured paragraphs and to combine them to produce texts that present logically developed arguments expressing a coherent point of view. We will practice personal essays, summaries, and the type of academic writing required in your other English courses. You will learn how to cite your sources and avoid plagiarism There will also be an opportunity to learn how to write resumes and cover letters for job applications. Thoughout the course, you will be expected to be continually improving the accuracy of your vocabulary, spelling, punctuation and command of basic English grammar.

Requirements for participation, required level

You must have passed the departmental Entrance Test or one of the recognized equivalents to take part in this course. If you are assigned a place in this course, you must be there at the first meeting to claim your place or it will be given to someone on the waiting list.
It is recommended that you complete Grammar and Usage before taking this course, but you may also take this course parallel with the Grammar course.

Bibliography

Will be provided in class. You should also consult this very useful guide:

http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/(en)/lili/personen/pskorge/Auntie-Alligator-March-2016.pdf

Also useful for developing your writing skills is intensive reading of a wide variety of texts in English. Do as much reading as you can before the course begins: novels, short stories, magazines and newspapers. Reading will extend your range of vocabulary and help to familiarize you with how native speakers actually express themselves in all sorts of contexts.