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Diploma in Higher Education Studies

Checking and improving your writing

HES 101 · English for Academic Purposes — Week 14 of 16

CourseHES 101
Week14 of 16
SemesterI
TutorOnline in the course chat

This week’s topics

Checking and improving your writing

  1. Formal style checklist
  2. Paragraph checklist
  3. Spelling and punctuation

What you will be able to do

  • 2.1 Construct a topic sentence and supporting paragraph.
  • 2.2 Use formal register and avoid colloquial language.

Activity

Edit a first draft using the checklists, then rewrite it.

Study materials

Further resources

  • Writing for Success, ch. 8.4: Revising and editing · PDF · Saylor (2012), checklists for style, paragraphs, spelling and punctuation; pp. 319–335 · for registered students
  • Writing Guide with Handbook, Handbook H3: Clear and effective sentences · PDF · OpenStax (2021); pp. 692–695 · for registered students
  • How to write clearly (10 hints) · PDF · European Commission (2016); hint 10 'Revise and check' · for registered students
  • Supporting learners' agentic engagement with feedback: a systematic review · Open-access article · Winstone et al. (2017), Educational Psychologist. Review of what helps students actually use tutor feedback: self-checking, action plans and dialogue. · for registered students
  • Student engagement with teacher and automated feedback on L2 writing · Open-access article · Zhang & Hyland (2018), Assessing Writing. Follows students revising drafts with tutor comments and automated grammar feedback. · for registered students
  • Students' preferences and teachers' perceptions of feedback on L2 writing · Open-access article · Liu & Wu (2019), Journal of Writing Research. Compares what feedback students want on grammar, clarity and content with what tutors think helps. · for registered students
Materials marked “for registered students” open in the student portal, which is set up as soon as you receive final acceptance.
Week 13Week 15
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Course plan
  • Week 1: How a non-fiction article is organised
  • Week 2: Reading for the main idea: skimming
  • Week 3: Finding information fast: scanning
  • Week 4: The parts of an academic article
  • Week 5: Formal and informal English
  • Week 6: Building a paragraph: the topic sentence
  • Week 7: Supporting your point with evidence and examples
  • Midterm: Midterm evaluation
  • Week 9: Linking ideas with connectives
  • Week 10: Listening to a short lecture
  • Week 11: Taking notes that work
  • Week 12: Summarising in your own words
  • Week 13: From lecture notes to a summary
  • Week 14: Checking and improving your writing
  • Week 15: Review and coursework completion
  • Final: Final assessment and submission
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