Coordinator: Dr. Joyce Stewart
Tel: (246) 417-4417
Fax: (246) 424-0634
Email: jstewart@uwichill.edu.bb

FOUN1001/FD10A English for Academic Purposes

This course is designed to (1) equip students with the study and research skills they will need in order to get the maximum benefit from all their courses at the University; (2) to familiarize them with the linguistic situation in the Caribbean and breakdown certain misconceptions they usually have about it; and (3) to introduce students to the rhetorical modes of discourse, concentrating in this course on expository discourse which is one of the two modes they will need most at University as well as in the world of work. The focus in this course is on critical analysis rather than on the writing process. Topics to be covered include:

Study and research skills: notetaking; summarizing, paraphrasing, quoting; library research; documenting sources; style manuals etc.

Essay writing: organization and structure, outlining, paragraphing etc.

Language varieties in the Caribbean.

Rhetorical modes: description, narration, exposition and argument.

Exposition - critical analysis

Exposition - writing expository discourse

FOUN1002/FD10B: Language: Argument

This course is designed to develop the critical analytical skills of the student in the area of argument (emotional and logical) since this is the other mode of discourse that the student will need to use and assess at the University and in the world outside of the University. As in UC10A, the main focus is on the analytical skills rather than on the writing process. Topics to be covered include:

• Logical argument: Induction
• Deduction
• Fallacies of argument
• Use of statistics in argument
• Emotional argument (persuasion): Advertising
• Religious and Political
• Writing extended arguments.

FOUN1003/FD10C Rhetoric I: The Writing Process

This course will focus on the writing process, specifically the development of writing for academic purposes. Emphasis will be placed on developing effective writing strategies through the process of generation/invention, practical application and revision in all the discourse modes with special emphasis on exposition. The course will also emphasize the development of resources for writing and strategies for effective revision, including peer and self editing. This course is specifically designed to equip Year I University students with the skills and strategies they need for effective writing in different disciplines. Topics to be covered include:

The writing process - overview of generation/invention, revision and editing techniques.

Developing the personal voice:- using the writer's resources: recall, observation, conversation and imagination.

The explanatory voice - writing to explain: comparing and contrasting, process analysis, cause and effect, definitions, dividing and classifying, synthesis.

The authoritative voice - investigation: writing from reading, writing from library research, documenting sources; strategies of summary including nutshelling (paraphrase) note-taking; avoiding plagiarism.

The academic voice - an overview of special kinds of analysis - e.g. critising literature, writing in science, social science courses, business courses.

FOUN1008/FD10H: Rhetoric II: Writing for Special Purposes

This course may be taken as an alternative to FD10B but at present registration is limited. Please consult lecturers at registration. Developments in technology and the business world in recent times have created a demand for people with the ability to write clearly, coherently and effectively in different discourse modes, but more specifically in technical and business formats. There is no one course at the University that offers the student scope for developing skills in technical, business and scientific writing. FD10H is designed to equip students across the disciplines (the Social Sciences, Law, Arts and Natural Sciences) with skills in the use and analysis of business, technical and scientific writing. This course is a second part to FD10C - Rhetoric I and it is designed to expand upon selected topics that were introduced in FD10C and build upon the abilities that were taught in FD10C. As in FD10C, the emphasis is on process. Course topics include:

writing effective arguments, writing problem solution arguments, arguing for action and proposing solutions

writing to persuade: subjective/objective viewpoints - use of logic versus emotive expression; methods of refutation

writing business, technical and scientific documents

describing and writing project proposals

writing from research in the field: designing and using surveys, questionnaires, interview schedules and so forth

understanding, analysing and using the language of business

technical innovations in vocabulary etc.