75344 - Information Technology Laboratory and Academic Writing

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Asian Languages, Markets and Cultures (cod. 0980)

    Also valid for First cycle degree programme (L) in Foreign Languages and Literature (cod. 0979)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student has acquired basic skills and knowledge in the domains of computer software (word processing) and academic writing.

Course contents

The Academic Writing Lab is a course provided by means of an e-learning platform. Once students have entered the system, they have at their disposal a multifaceted system for self-learning which composed of eight teaching units. Overall, these units aim at strengthening students’ academic writing skills. Students will find further information on learning objectives and contents in the preliminary unit titled “Introduction to Academic Writing Lab”. Below we report the topics of each unit and lesson:

Unit 1 - Writing at university
Lesson 1.1 - Theses and the other academic genres
Lesson 1.2 - A thesis as an argumentative text

Unit 2 - Choosing topics, organising ideas
Lesson 2.1 - The topic and the thesis
Lesson 2.2 - Pre-writing techniques

Unit 3 – Searching for sources
Lesson 3.1 - Consulting the sources
Lesson 3.2 - Retrieving sources: books
Lesson 3.3 - Retrieving sources: articles

Unit 4 – Managing the sources: in-text citations and bibliography
Lesson 4.1 - Introduction
Lesson 4.2 - In-text citations
Lesson 4.3 - Citation criteria and bibliography
Lesson 4.4 - Notes

Unit 5 - Text planning
Lesson 5.1 - Text planning: what it is
Lesson 5.2 - Text planning: what it is for
Lesson 5.3 - From text planning to the table of contents

Unit 6 - Writing and thinking: paragraphs as tools
Lesson 6.1 - Paragraphs and text coherence
Lesson 6.2 - Paragraphs and text cohesion

Unit 7 - Back to school: basic components of writing
Lesson 7.1 - Style choices and lexicon
Lesson 7.2 - Syntax
Lesson 7.3 - Spelling and formatting

Unit 8 - Thesis formatting and revision
Lesson 8.1 - Before starting
Lesson 8.2 - Speeding up the work
Lesson 8.3 - Styles
Lesson 8.4 - Towards final formatting

Readings/Bibliography

Suggested readings:

  • Basile, G., Guerriero, A.R., Lubello, S. (2009), Competenze linguistiche per l’accesso all’università, Roma: Carocci.
  • Cerruti, M., Cini, M. (2007), Introduzione elementare alla scrittura accademica, Roma-Bari: Laterza.
  • Gatta, F., Pugliese, R. (2006), Manuale di scrittura, Bologna: BUP.
  • Pallotti, G. (1999) (ed.), Scrivere per comunicare, Milano: Bompiani.
  • Piemontese, M. E., Sposetti, P. (2014), La scrittura della scuola superiore all’università, Roma: Carocci.

Teaching methods

Each unit requires students to:

  • watch video recorded lessons;
  • study research materials (slides and, in some cases, downloadable attachments);
  • practise specific skills through relevant exercises and tasks.

Assessment methods

The final exam aims at assessing the theoretical notions and the skills acquired during the course, by means of exercises and tasks which are similar to the ones provided in the Academic Writing Lab.

The exam consists in a 30-minute computer-based test, which will take place at the School of Languages and Literature, Translation and Interpretation, in via Filippo Re 8.

There will be two exams per session. Students are invited to register for the exam using AlmaEsami [https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm].

Teaching tools

Besides video recorded lessons, slides, and exercises/tasks, the Academic Writing Lab provides students with a number of additional services: bibliographic and electronic resources, FAQ about the Lab contents and use, a bulletin board for teacher-students communication, a discussion forum for students only.

N.B. Students are invited to refer to the FAQ if they have questions about the course or the platform; the FAQs are located on the Lab homepage. In addition, they can ask their peers for advice using the student forum. If after these attempts problems persist, please contact the teacher and the tutor at lingue.labscrittura@unibo.it [http://] .

Office hours

See the website of Edoardo Balletta