This seminar aims to support students in strengthening their English writing skills. The capacity to express one’s thoughts in a well-structured, easy-to-follow and clear manner is a key competence for social scientists in all kinds of professions. During this seminar, students will learn how to (1) structure various types of academic writings, (2) think and write clearly and in appropriate style, and (3) systematically revise their own writing to improve its quality. For that purpose, the seminar will start as a reading class. The course introduces the basics of clear and beautiful writing, including the concept of genre, structure, and style. Students will learn about recommendations concerning the composition and revision process, paragraph and sentences structure, as well as precise language. Afterwards, the seminar turns into a writing class. Students will submit pages of their writing, and the whole class will discuss the writing, discussing aspects such as the structure of the overall text, each paragraph and sentence, as well as the clarity of the language and the appropriateness of the vocabulary. In a final set of sessions, we will discuss how language differs for various genres of writing students might have to write in their academic and professional life such as academic papers, abstracts, summary reports, research proposals, and letters of motivation.
- Dozent/in: Corinna Kröber