This course is designed primarily for ERASMUS and other exchange students who are studying Applied Linguistics, Translation, and similar subjects. It is worth 3 ECTS points. The CEFR Level of the course is C1. The course will most likely be held entirely online, via MS Teams, but there is the possibility of using a hybrid format (face-to-face teaching accompanied by live-streaming). The first few weeks will be offered as an asynchronous online learning experience while we explore the COVID-safety of potentially available rooms.
The course runs exactly parallel with group 3 of ”Written Expression” (Fachrichtung Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Anglophone Kulturen; Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon), so students in fact have two possible times to take my Written Expression course: Tuesday or Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The ”Written Expression” courses offered in Anglistik are designed primarily for non-exchange students, and are worth 2 ECTS points; most exchange students however need 3 ECTS points and therefore submit more work for assessment; gaining the extra credit point involves approximately one additional weekend’s work. The currently preferred arrangement is for all exchange students who need 3 ECTS points to submit all the weekly worksheets (which are purely voluntary for other students) and to correspond with the course leader by mail about them. There is no final examination; assessment is on the basis of the four writing tasks (all four must be completed, but the grade for the first task does not count towards the total grade), and in the case of Erasmus students who need 3 ECTS points, the worksheets as well.
The course begins with a genre-based introduction to functional linguistics and text production (up to 5 weeks of mini-lectures, reading tasks with comprehension questions, and introductory exercises on text analysis). This is followed by four writing tasks. The first, a factual description, is designed for practising paragraph structure and thematic development. The second task, based on a procedural text, involves switching between formal (nominalized) and informal style. The third task is an expository text — a persuasive essay. The fourth is a formal report with recommendations for action.
Before each writing task, we analyse one or more texts of the same genre to establish what the relevant ”text conventions” are. The day after each writing task is submitted, students receive their texts back with corrections and comments.
For further information, see:
http://www.spence.saar.de/courses/writtenexpressionERASMUS and other exchange students may also be interested in my ERASMUS course ”Exploring English Grammar: the world of clauses” (Monday 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.).
My B.A. course ”[spr] Phonetics with Listening Practice (British)” (Fachrichtung Anglistik, Amerikanistik und Anglophone Kulturen; Tuesday or Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.) may also be of interest to some Erasmus students, but the number of available places is limited, and preference will be given to students who have the necessary language level -- Erasmus students will have to pass an oral entrance test to be granted admission. The phonetics courses are worth 2 ECTS points, but exchange students who need 3 ECTS points can obtain an additional ECTS point by submitting two additional assignments.
