Course detail

Academic Writing

FAST-VYA002Acad. year: 2025/2026

An introduction to the canonical sections of a scientific paper of the type found in international journals and proceedings (IMRAD, etc.).
Explanations regarding how to structure a text and divide it up into paragraphs, as well as how to cite correctly and declare one's sources.
Practice in writing abstracts and short scientific papers.
Information on how to use academic vocabulary and phraseology precisely.

Language of instruction

Czech

Number of ECTS credits

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Roger Turland, BA.

Department

Institute of Social Sciences (SPV)

Entry knowledge

Knowledge of general English at the B1 level according to the CEFR.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

Extent and forms are specified by guarantor’s regulation updated for every academic year.

Aims

Introducing students to the methods of scientific text in English (goals, methods, style), structure and referencing
The students will be familiar with the process of writing scientific texts in English and will have active command of the frequent phraseology used in English scientific texts.

Study aids

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

Academic Skills, Terry Wilson, London: Pearson Longman, 2006 (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BPC-VP Bachelor's 1 year of study, winter semester, elective

Type of course unit

 

Exercise

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Roger Turland, BA.

Syllabus

  • 1. CHARACTERISTICS AND TYPES OF ACADEMIC TEXTS: Students’ experience with academic writing – characteristics and genres of academic writing – register and style – abbreviations, initialisms and acronyms
  • 2. RESEARCH ARTICLES: FORMAT + WRITING PROCESS: Format of typical research articles – the process of writing articles – phrases for defining – relative clauses
  • 3. THE INTRODUCTION: Characteristics of an Introduction section – past simple vs present perfect simple – phrases for classifying – phrases for describing cause and effect
  • 4. THE LITERATURE REVIEW: Characteristics of a literature review – phrases for being critical – phrases for giving examples – referencing, quoting and paraphrasing
  • 5. VOCABULARY AND SPELLING: Academic vocabulary – confusable words – UK vs US English – dictionaries and corpora
  • 6. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Characteristics of a Materials and Methods section – the passive voice – passive vs active in research articles
  • 7. RESULTS: Characteristics of a Results section – phrases for describing trends – visuals – phrases for comparing and contrasting
  • 8. COHERENCE AND LINKING: Giving a text coherence and clarity – summarizing and previewing sections – linking words and when not to use them – avoiding vagueness and confusion
  • 9. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Characteristics of Discussion and Conclusion sections – phrases for describing quantities – modal verbs for deduction – hedging
  • 10. TITLES AND HEADINGS: Titles, headings and subheadings – capitalization – the definite and indefinite article
  • 11. ABSTRACTS: Characteristics of an abstract – conciseness (avoiding wordiness) – gerunds vs infinitives
  • 12. REVISING AND EDITING: Revising and editing – punctuation – subject-verb agreement