The course in Academic
Writing in English for Ph.D. candidates meets a strongly-felt need for developing
researchers' independent writing ability in English, for the purposes of
publicizing their work in international journals and at conferences. This
opportunity to communicate about their work in their own words allows them to
express their desired meanings more exactly, presenting an effective
alternative to the often-used translating services, which they find
frustrating.
The course offers the
opportunity for each student in the group to write about an aspect of his/her
own research work, at his/her own level of proficiency. This sample of writing
can range, depending on the level of English proficiency and on the degree of
advancement of the research, from a few introductory paragraphs or a tentative
exploration of bibliographical sources to a full-length article. Each student
receives individualized instructional feedback on his/her writing, which is
used as the basis for revisions, and which has a carryover effect to further
writing. This training is combined with class instruction in basic principles
of academic writing, using authentic models, as well as in a limited number of
grammar points which are chosen to meet the specific needs of academic writers.
In addition, students are given the opportunity to gain active knowledge of the
terminology in their specific fields, for which only passive knowledge has been
available to them so far.