XENB0002 Academic Writing for Master's Students: Writing that Flows (2 cr)

Course description

How do you get an academic text to flow, so that it not only communicates to the reader what you want to say, but also provides an enjoyable reading experience? This course provides you with useful writing strategies to make your Master's thesis more readable and increase the flow that characterizes a good piece of writing. Key aspects of academic writing you will focus on:

• using metatext to guide the reader through your thesis
• connecting ideas between sentences and paragraphs by using cohesive markers
• using certain expected rhetorical moves in your thesis writing so that it is academically acceptable
• creating paragraphs which follow a predictable structure
• using pronouns and noun phrases more deliberately to link sentences and paragraphs
• using conjunctions and transitional words and phrases carefully to highlight the logic and sequence of ideas
• using sentences to preview and summarize the organization of a scientific text
• checking that lists in your text are parallel
• Using online tools to support the above.

On completion of the course, the student is expected to:

• Recognize and understand how the principles and strategies of cohesion and coherence affect the clarity, communicative effectiveness and social acceptability of an academic text
• Use expected rhetorical moves to deliberately highlight the logic and sequence of ideas in Master's thesis
• Create paragraphs that follow a predictable structure

PROFICIENCY LEVEL: C1

This course is recommended for students who have completed all their degree specific compulsory English courses at JYU, are at least at C1 (advanced) level in English, and are presently writing or starting to write their Master's thesis at JYU in English.