About this course: This is the first course of the English for Research Publication Purposes Specialization. The course is an introduction to what you need to know about academic discourse. You’ll gain important critical reading skills to help you develop as a self-critical scientific writer. You will learn practical tools and effective strategies for increasing your academic vocabulary and grammar so that you will write well-structured coherent academic texts.
Who is this class for: The course is intended for a wide-range of academic audience from graduate to postgraduate students, from novice to mature researchers whose first, or native, language is not English.
Created by: Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Taught by: Elena Bazanova, Director of the Language Training and Testing Center
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
| Basic Info | Course 1 of 5 in the English for Research Publication Purposes Specialization |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours per week. |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
MODULE I: THE READING–RESEARCH–WRITING CONTINUUM
This module will help you acquire critical reading skills so that you will develop as a self-critical writer. The module covers issues related to reading discipline-specific literature, which is indispensable from developing professional expertise in writing academic texts. The focus is on fundamental concepts of scientific writing, such as logical organization and argumentation.
11 videos, 7 readings, 4 practice quizzes
- Reading: Elena Bazanova
- Reading: MIPT
- Reading: LTTC
- Video: Welcome video
- Reading: Grading Policy
- Video: Introductory video
- Practice Quiz: Preview Test
- Video: Being Critical
- Video: Scientific Evidence
- Video: Critical Argument
- Practice Quiz: Preview Test
- Video: Starting Point
- Video: Research Questions
- Video: Formulating a Hypothesis
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Reading Literature
- Video: Interacting with Texts
- Video: Annotated Bibliography
- Practice Quiz: Practice 1
- Discussion Prompt: Forum
- Reading: Recommended readings and resources
- Reading: Takeaways
- Reading: FAQ concerning peer-review assignments.
Graded: Graded Quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: End-of-Module Test
Graded: Peer-graded assignment
WEEK 2
MODULE II : DEVELOPING ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
This module covers issues related to building academic vocabulary. The module clarifies word-formation processes, i.e., affixation, conversion, and compounding. The focus is on strategic language re-use and ways of dealing with new words. The module provides software tools for extracting frequently occurring vocabulary specific to an area of research.
10 videos, 3 readings, 3 practice quizzes
- Video: Introductory Video
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Building Blocks
- Video: Forming New Words
- Video: Nominalisations
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Noun Phrases
- Video: Strategic Language Re-Use
- Video: Dealing With New Words
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Treasure Store
- Video: Concordancing
- Video: Concept Mapping
- Reading: Recommended readings and resources
- Reading: Takeaways
- Reading: FAQ concerning peer-review assignments.
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: End-of-Module Test
Graded: Peer-graded assignment
WEEK 3
MODULE III : FUNDAMENTALS OF ACADEMIC GRAMMAR
This module covers issues related to the pragmatics of academic English. The module presents an overview of the English verb system, including most frequent tenses, three aspects, and two voices. The module highlights the use of correct punctuality, which is of immense help in meeting the goal of the writing process: to ensure clear communication of ideas. The module also explains the role of modality and register in academic writing. Another important issue discussed in module is the use of parallel constructionsfor words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs of an academic text.
10 videos, 2 readings, 4 practice quizzes
- Video: Introductory video
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Types of Verbs
- Video: Clauses
- Video: Verb Complements
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Verb Forms
- Video: Modality
- Video: Register
- Practice Quiz: Practice
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Using Parallel Structure
- Video: Revising Sentences
- Video: Sentence Combining and Punctuation
- Reading: Recommended readings and resources
- Reading: Takeaways
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: End-of-Module Test
WEEK 4
MODULE IV : ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
The final module looks beyond the sentence to the ways that grammar structures paragraphs and longer texts. The module covers issues related to the textuality ofacademic texts, i.e. cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality, andintertextuality. In particular, the module focuses on lexical and grammatical cohesion. The modulealso discusses the concept of paragraphing and what the topic sentence and the statement ofpurpose mean for effective academic writing.
10 videos, 3 readings, 4 practice quizzes
- Video: Introductory video
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Cohesion and Coherence
- Video: Types of Cohesion
- Video: Grammatical Cohesion
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Basic Guideline
- Video: Topic Sentence
- Video: Paragraph Structure
- Practice Quiz: Practice
- Practice Quiz: Preview test
- Video: Crafting the Purpose Statement
- Video: Developing the Rationale
- Video: Commandments of Research Writing
- Reading: FAQ concerning peer-review assignments.
- Discussion Prompt: Forum
- Reading: Recommended readings and resources
- Reading: Takeaways
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: Graded quiz
Graded: End-of-Module Test
Graded: Peer-graded Assignment
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
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Creators
Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Московский физико-технический институт (неофициально известный как МФТИ или Физтех) является одним из самых престижных в мире учебных и научно-исследовательских институтов. Он готовит высококвалифицированных специалистов в области теоретической и прикладной физики, прикладной математики, информатики, биотехнологии и смежных дисциплин. Физтех был основан в 1951 году Нобелевской премии лауреатами Петром Капицей, Николаем Семеновым, Львом Ландау и Сергеем Христиановичем. Основой образования в МФТИ является уникальная «система Физтеха»: кропотливое воспитание и отбор самых талантливых абитуриентов, фундаментальное образование высшего класса и раннее вовлечение студентов в реальную научно-исследовательскую работу. Среди выпускников МФТИ есть Нобелевские лауреаты, основатели всемирно известных компаний, известные космонавты, изобретатели, инженеры.
Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
Great Course
It was very useful for me. But there are two things that were not so good: quizzes required us to WRITE some of the answers and it was impossible to know what we have done wrong. Also, we asked questions on the forums which were not answered.
I think ti is a very interesting and well structured course.
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OG
Thank You for the course!