Academic English - DS ST
Content
Throughout the academic year, the UHasselt doctoral schools are organizing several editions of the course 'Academic English' (taught by Prof. Eric Caers and Ms. Eva Cordery). This course seeks to familiarize PhD students with academic writing conventions and effective presentation skills.
The first session focuses on the features of academic and reader-friendly writing, and introduces the online e-learning module for assisted self-study covering functional grammar (tenses, linking words, quantifiers), academic writing conventions (displaying numbers and units of measurement) and the difference between British and American English.
The second session covers the different sections of an academic paper, information distribution (writing effective paragraphs, topic and stress positions), punctuation rules and paraphrasing techniques.
The third session is a scientific presentation workshop that also includes the use of graphs and charts, common mistakes and non-native structures. Example sentences relate to students' specific fields of study.
The fourth session provides personal counselling. Students are invited to submit first drafts or papers in progress for correction and error analysis beforehand. This closing session is also an opportunity for students to ask for extra e-learning feedback.
Basic knowledge of the English language is required upon the start of the course (preferably level B2).
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, you are able to...
- communicate scientific content in a structured way, both orally and in writing, thereby gaining a deeper awareness of text complexity and meeting the linguistic and stylistic demands of scientific communication,
- apply functional grammar with respect to tenses, modal verbs, conditionals, passives, quantifiers, linking words (discourse markers), adjectives/adverbs, singular/plural, topic and stress, and spelling to the writing process.
Competences
An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:
- academic research competences:
- publication skills
- interpersonal competences:
- presentation skills
- oral communication
- written communication
- intellectual competences:
- knowledge of languages
Practicalities
For whom?
- PhD students & postdocs of the Doctoral School of Sciences & Technology (priority will be given to PhD students!)
- 15 places available per edition
When and where?
- 1st edition - for DS ST
- January 17, 24 & 31 and February 07, 2025 - 09:00-12:00
- campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A54 (17, 24 & 31/01) & digital (07/02/25)
- 2nd edition - for DS BSH
- February 14, 21 & 28 and March 07, 2025 - 09:00-12:00
- campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A54 (14 & 21/02) & room E139 (28/02) & digital (07/03/25)
- 3rd edition - for DS HLS
- February 14, 21 & 28 and March 07, 2025 - 13:00-16:00
- campus Diepenbeek, building D, room A4 (14 & 28/02) & room A54 (21/02) & digital (07/03/25)
- 4th edition - mixed group (all DS)
- September 05, 12, 19 & 26, 2025 - 09:00-12:00
- campus Diepenbeek, building D, room tbd (05, 12 & 19/09) & digital (26/09/25)
Registration?
- 1st edition - DS ST: register here from October 3 until December 15, 2024.
- 2nd edition - DS BSH: register here from October 24, 2024 until January 19, 2025.
- 3rd edition - DS HLS: register here from October 24, 2024 until January 19, 2025.
- 4th edition - mixed group (all DS): register here from June 12 until August 10, 2025.
- Please register only if you can attend all four sessions.
- As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
- Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).
Please be aware of the following:
As part of this course, you will get access to an online module which can be used to make exercises at home. The access to this module costs 20 euros per person, paid for by the doctoral schools. However, in case of cancellation after these costs have been made, personal reimbursement will need to occur (except when participating in a later edition within the year). This is true regardless of the exact timing of the cancellation (i.e. ≥ or < 7 days).
Acknowledged as?
- DS BSH: category 'research management & communication skills' - workshop on communication skills
- DS HLS: category 'transferable skills' - compulsory elective course
- DS ST: category 'scientific & generic communication' - course on scientific and generic communication