All year

Unit(s) of Assessment	Weighting Towards Module Mark( %)
One portfolio, to include short research-related writing tasks	20%
One research essay in Spanish (1500 words), end of Semester 2	40%
Two hour unseen examination, end of Semester 2	40%

This is a Level 2 module for Spanish. It is taught in the target language, over Autumn and Spring semesters, one contact hour per teaching week. Attendance is compulsory.

Successful completion of HE1 or equivalent

The module builds on the academic writing skills students acquired in "Written Spanish for Academic and Professional Contexts". It aims to identify the norms and conventions used in Spanish research essays and academic journals, and to develop students' ability to write for these purposes. Students are encouraged to self-assess their progress in writing Spanish and to map their competence against the descriptors of the Common European Framework for Languages.

Students' essay writing skills are developed within a multidisciplinary setting. Topics are taken from political and social studies, law, business studies, and cultural studies. The conventions of academic writing in these disciplines are identified and practised.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to write research-type essays in Spanish, by developing the following sub-skills:

• identify and evaluate appropriate source materials
• extract and synthesise information from written sources
• contextualise and integrate a variety of perspectives
• integrate source materials with their own thinking
• reflect critically on their own and others' perspectives
• engage in critical reflection in the light of evidence and argument
• reference sources and build a bibliography
• understand the difference between citing a source and copying from a source text

At this advanced level of academic writing, students aim for linguistic accuracy, fluency of expression and idiomatic phrasing.

Students will deal with the following points in depth:

• the structure of the text – deixis ; introduction, conclusion
• the organisation of the paragraph
• the academic sentence – impersonal transformations; emphasizing; introducers; nominalization
• Registers
• Discourse markers
• Planning and writing an outline – considering audiences
• Writing an abstract - paraphrasing; synthesis
• Writing a literature review – appraising source materials
• Building a bibliography and referencing sources – paraphrasing and quoting
  

Teaching will be in small groups. The module is taught entirely in the target language and the stimulus material used will be drawn from a variety of texts and contexts. Students will work in pairs and groups to analyse linguistic structures and to work collaboratively on short texts. Learning technology will be used to encourage students to take risks in their writing and to correct their own drafts.
Self- and peer-assessment will be used to foster students' analytical and critical skills and to develop writing strategies.

Module materials will be provided by the tutor. Use will also be made of web-based sources.

JULY 2009