Academic Writing for Master's and PhD Students in Language and Linguistics

ECTS Credits

5

Level of Study

Master and ph.d.

Teaching semester

Spring.
Last time teaching spring 2022. Last time exam spring 2023.

Place of Instruction

Bergen

Objectives and Content

Based on text theory, argumentation and genre analysis, the course will introduce the student to the structure and language use in articles in linguistics, computational linguistics and the language sciences. Furthermore, the course deals with references, choice of title, and summaries. The course also focuses on linguistic terminology and appropriate scientific style in the language sciences. The course also covers efficient use and graphical representation of special text elements with special relevance for the language scienes such as linguistic examples with glosses and translations, flow charts, tables, tree structures, output from statistics programs, phonetic and foreign alphabets, computer programs and mathematical formulas.

The course is targeted at students at master's and PhD levels in linguistics and the language sciences.

Learning Outcomes

After successfully completing this course, students will be able to

• account for how a text is structured with respect to genre, language use and argumentation, in accordance with principles of text theory;
• structure a text with respect to correct genre, language use and argumentation;
• use text elements such as examples, figures and tables in accordance with usual practice in the language sciences;
• use a writing method that is suitable for linguistic articles, master theses and PhD dissertations according to text theory and traditions in the language sciences.

Required Previous Knowledge

None.

Recommended Previous Knowledge

EXFAC00SK or a comparable introduction to linguistics is recommended.

Access to the Course

Open to all who have been admitted to PhD studies, the master's program in Linguistics or another language related master's program at the University of Bergen.

Students at other programs than linguistics may have to apply to their own departments to be allowed to take the course as a part of their master's degree.

Teaching and learning methods

Interactive lectures with discussion and exercises, about 12 hours per semester. Students will:

• analyze texts and distinguish between appropriate and less appropriate structure, use of language, argumentation and visual representations;
• correct problematic use of language and linguistic terminology (Norwegian and/or English) in text drafts;
• structure a substantial text and build up an argumentation from a linguistic research question;
• choose a title and write a summary.

Students will efficiently represent and use the following elements in an argumentation:

• linguistic examples with glosses and translations;
• formulas and tables;
• tree structures, flow charts and other figures;
• computer programs and lists;
• phonetic and foreign alphabets.

For demonstrations of text preparation tools, computers and software supporting open formats for texts and bibliographies (e.g. LaTeX/BibTeX) will be used.

If fewer than five students are registered to a course, the department might reduce the teaching, please see the department's guidelines regarding this on "Mitt UiB". For courses where this is a possibility, the students get information about this at the beginning of the semester, and before the deadline regarding semester registration (February 1 / September 1).

Compulsory Assignments and Attendance

None.

Forms of Assessment

The students must hand in a portfolio consisting of 2 assignments. Contents and tasks for each assignment will be given during the course.

The size of the paper handed in for each assignment should be between 600 and 1200 words (not including possible data in appendix and references).

All assignments contribute to the final grade and are weighted the same. Grading will be done continuously during the term. All assignments must be passed (grade A-E) in order to pass the exam.

Examination Support Material

Texts from the reading list, library resources, and references and tools indicated by the teacher. All used support materials must be cited.

Grading Scale

A-F.

Assessment Semester

Spring and autum. Last time spring 2023.

Reading List

Scientific articles related to rhetorics and text analysis, a collection of short scientific texts and digital course notes, in total equivalent to about 150 pages.

Course Evaluation

Evaluation of the offered course will be carried out in accordance with the University of Bergen's quality assessment system.

Course Administrator

studieveileder@lle.uib.no