Course Advanced professional writing and editing in English for natural sciences and technical sciences

The course N/T 614/05 Advanced professional writing and editing in English for natural sciences and technical sciences is being offered by the Graduate School of Natural Sciences/GSNS and Graduate School of Technical Sciences/GSTS, Aarhus University, 2027.

Important:
If you register for the same course in more than one semester, all duplicate registrations will be cancelled, and only the registration for the earliest upcoming course will remain active.

Prerequisites.
This course requires course participants to engage actively with their own and fellow course participants’ texts through writing-editing-feedback-rewriting processes to improve their own texts and writing practices. Each student may contribute to the course with at least two texts (e.g. one or more sections of a research paper; a poster and/or a conference abstract. The course is therefore intended for participants with work in progress.

No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like:
Contact hours: 16; 2.5 hour per contact hour for preparation, 6 hours for assignments: 40; grand total 62 hours

Criteria for participation:
Participants are expected to have a basic command of written English and some knowledge, including preferably their own experience, of English professional writing and editing English. This course requires course participants to engage actively with their own and fellow course participants’ texts through writing-editing-feedback-rewriting processes to improve their own texts and writing practices.

Each student may contribute to the course with at least two texts (e.g. one or more sections of a research paper; a poster and/or a conference abstract. The course is therefore intended for participants with work in progress. Course materials will consist of texts, slides, drills and a collection of exercises and answer keys for in-course use and post-course training of advanced English skills on a self-study basis via Brightspace

Aim:
This course aims to train the student’s general and disciplinary writing ability to enhance successful disciplinary writing and editing in conformity with contextual/situational, discoursal and genre- and text-type conventions and requirements of written academic English in natural sciences and technical sciences.

Learning outcomes and competences:

The advanced English professional writing and editing course with a particular focus on text production, peer feedback and advanced editing, wherefore outcomes and competencies are focused on abilities:

1. Ability to use existing guidelines and conventions governing the structuring of research papers in natural sciences and technical sciences.
2. Ability to analyse and describe typical structural and linguistic features of poster, abstract and paper and to produce said genres in contexts relevant to natural sciences and technical sciences
3. Ability to apply principles of cohesion and thematic structuring in own texts.
4. Ability to analyse and produce select text types.
5. Ability to trace and correct errors of composition and grammar in English-language texts within natural sciences and technical sciences.

Compulsory programme:
To achieve this aim, the student will take as their starting point previously acquired knowledge and abilities within the field of natural sciences and technical sciences, viz. 1) Knowledge about guidelines and conventions governing the structuring of research papers; knowledge of principles of cohesion and thematic structure in general and in research papers within the field of natural sciences and technical sciences in particular; and 2) ability to avoid common errors of syntax and grammar in English-language texts written by non-native English language researchers and scholars; and ability to produce structurally and linguistically appropriate posters, abstracts and papers

To achieve the aim of the advanced course, participants will acquire proficiency in 1) producing and revising one’s own and others’ academic texts to optimise their structure, form and conformity with existing conventions at the level of text genre (macrostructure), relevant text types (e.g. argumentation) and form (formality and grammatical correctness); 2) tracing and optimising non-academic language at paragraph, sentence and word level, including enhancing text cohesion; 3) tracing and correcting unidiomatic English.

Course participants are expected to attend at least 80% of lectures, show active participation in on-site or online discussions and complete at least two written assignments.

Course contents:

Day 1
Topics

1. Presentation of participants and course.
2. Conventions in quantitative and qualitative research dissemination in natural sciences and technical sciences
3. Writing and text targeting processes. Practice & training: pre-writing, drafting, feedback & revision of sample texts.
4. Building written proficiency, tools & techniques; including introduction to self-study materials, drills and answer key for the advanced English professional writing and editing course.

Day 2
Topics

5. Research paper, conference abstract, poster samples: language features. Practice & training: Determining macro-textual form from verbal clues; tools for establishing textual macro-structure using verbal and syntactical clues.
6. Text types:Production and optimisation of text types. Writing exercise: produce and optimise text types by applying writing steps (pre-writing, drafting, feedback/revision, evaluation).
7. Grammar: Cohesion, coherence and textuality. Exercise: Using pronouns to create coherence; developing theme structure in Introduction
8. Conference abstract: Conference abstract: structural and linguistic features. Writing exercise: Produce your own conference abstract using persuasive writing techniques. Swap for peer feedback.

Day 3
Topics

9. Grammar: Clause structure and challenges: Managing noun clauses, adverbial clauses, adjective clauses and participial phrases. Exercise:  Identify head nouns in clauses and sentences; establish concord in compounded and complex sentences.
10. Poster: Design and poster language. Writing exercise: Optimize your own poster or write a sample poster introduction or comment on sample poster language and presentation.
11. Research paper abstracts: Summarizing, paraphrasing and condensing. Exercise: Analyse structural and linguistic features of abstracts; revise own and sample abstracts. 

Day 4
Topics

13. Research paper I: materials & methods, results sections of research paper. Building paragraphs while maintaining focus; structure and language in typical descriptive subgenres (e.g. compare and contrast); use of conjunctions. Exercise: comment on sample texts; linguistic variation in comparison and contrast; typical pitfalls, and linguistic problems in sample sentences.
14. Research paper II: introduction and discussion sections of a research paper. Writing expository texts, rhetorical structure; presenting causal analysis and proposals; argumentation and discussion. Writing exercise: Comment on sample texts; produce and/or optimize your own introduction and/or discussion based on ongoing work.
15. Odds and ends & introduction to supplementary exercises for post-course advanced English professional writing and editing self-study.

Teaching methods: 
Activities and materials: The course will consist of a mixture of lectures and presentations, followed by exercises and discussions. Course materials will consist of texts, slides, drills and a collection of exercises and answer keys; students with work in progress are invited to have one or more sections of their texts commented upon by colleagues and course instructors.

Literature:
A compendium of texts, including slides and language drills, will be available on Brightspace

Instructors: 
Morten Pilegaard & Peter Steffensen

Venue:
Aarhus University, Aarhus

No-show/late cancellation fee
To pass a course, you must be physically present at least 80 per cent of the time. Homework, assignments etc. do not count as participation. (i.e. up to 20 per cent of absence is accepted).

As a rule, a no-show fee of DKK 1,200 (the price of one ECTS) will be charged if

• you are absent more than 20 percent of the time, or
• you cancel after the cancellation deadline

The only exception to this rule is registered illness, death of nearest relatives etc.

In case of late cancellation due to illness, we may require a doctor’s note from you.

You must notify the course secretary in case of absence due to illness no later than 9:00 on the day of the course.

(*For online courses, the no-show fee is DKK 500).

Registration:

• Participation in the course is without cost for PhD students from Aarhus University

Due to an Agreement between Danish Universities that came into force as of 1 January 2011, participants from other universities than Aarhus University will have to pay DKK 1,200 per ECTS. In principle this also applies to external parties, but exemption can be granted under specific circumstances. Please note that you will be required to provide payment details in the course registration module. Your registration will not be considered valid if this information is missing or incorrect.

Please be aware that your registration for the course not necessarily equals your admission for the course. You will receive an e-mail after the registration deadline regarding whether you are admitted for the course or if you are registered on the waiting list. Please note that seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

If you have any questions, please contact the course administrators at: courses.nat.tech.he@au.dk

Course dates:

• 08 April 2027 08:00 - 12:00
• 15 April 2027 08:00 - 12:00
• 22 April 2027 08:00 - 12:00
• 29 April 2027 08:00 - 12:00