All Language Centre courses

In-Sessional English Conversation Hours

For the last workshop of term, we will be preparing doctoral students for life after their first-year reports, as they begin to think about putting their full thesis together. Strategies suggested in this class should be transferable for any students writing a longer piece of work.

Editing a piece of written work should be regarded as an ongoing process rather than a single event. But what does the editing process entail? How should we edit our work? In this workshop we will get to grips with these questions, modelling effective techniques for editing our own work.

Students are encouraged to bring samples of their own written work to the workshop to edit in the session.

Punctuation plays a pivotal role both in shaping meaning and in ensuring readability in written texts. In this workshop, we will explore how to utilise punctuation effectively in academic writing.

No preparatory work is required for this workshop.

This workshop provides an overview of different aspects of writing which contribute to good academic style. We will contrast different ways of writing and discuss which is most appropriate in different contexts. We will also discuss how best to incorporate good academic style into our own written work.

No preparatory work is required for this workshop.

This session covers the basic principles of academic style. Learn how to make your writing more formal, persuasive, and precise, and how to use the passive voice and tentative language (hedging) to good effect.

This workshop discusses the basic principles of academic style, helping you to write more formally, persuasively and precisely. Learn how to attain clarity and accuracy and how to use the passive voice and tentative language (hedging). Students will apply their learning to practical examples.

Across disciplines, academic writing uses a repertoire of patterns of language to organise and create fluent and coherent texts. Evidence from large databases (corpora) of academic writing shows us how grammar and vocabulary follow regular patterns to create fluent information focus.

We continue to work with patterns and chunks in writing, based on academic corpus database statistics. We look at patterns of language used after nouns in ways typical of academic writing, and how chunks are used to link ideas and arguments in a fluent way. This is a practical workshop with tasks to complete before and during the Zoom workshop.

Making the distinction between when to use the infinitive form of the verb (‘to run’) and the gerund (‘running’) is difficult for non-native speakers. This workshop will identify some general rules and some avoidable pitfalls.

There is nothing to do before the workshop.

The correct use of articles (the / a / an) is one of the trickiest aspects of English grammar for non-native speakers, whether their language uses articles in a different way from English or maybe manages to get by without any articles at all. This webinar will set out clearly the ways in which English uses articles, and will hopefully offer some conceptual keys to help students correct their own usage. Students will then be asked to complete some exercises online.

The correct use of articles (the / a / an) is one of the trickiest aspects of English grammar for non-native speakers, whether their language uses articles in a different way from English or maybe manages to get by without any articles at all. This webinar will set out clearly the ways in which English uses articles, and will hopefully offer some conceptual keys to help students correct their own usage.

The most significant grammar mistakes that foreign students make are usually those that greatly change the meaning of the sentence. Modals, such as can or would, are often used to indicate the position of the writer in academic writing, so their inaccurate use can easily give a very different meaning from that intended. For this workshop, students will first watch a video and complete some exercises on Moodle. In the real-time webinar, students can ask questions and discuss areas of difficulty.

The most significant grammar mistakes that foreign students make are usually those that greatly change the meaning of the sentence. Modals, such as can or would, are often used to indicate the position of the writer in academic writing, so their inaccurate use can easily give a very different meaning from that intended.

The most significant grammar mistakes that foreign students make are usually those that greatly change the meaning of the sentence. Modals, such as can or would, are often used to indicate the position of the writer in academic writing, so their inaccurate use can easily give a very different meaning from that intended.

One of the most complicated aspects of English grammar is the correct use of prepositions (on, over, in, through etc.). This workshop will allow students to begin to conceptualise the ways in which prepositions move from a physical descriptor to a metaphorical one, and provide them with tools to decide more accurately which preposition is the correct one to use in any particular context.

One of the key areas in which non-native speakers of English have difficulty attaining native-level accuracy is in the use of prepositions. Although this webinar does not pretend to give students all the answers, it will provide a number of ways to conceptualise the use of prepositions and hopefully clarify this complex area of grammar.

Hedging is an important skill in academic writing, used to show uncertainty, hesitation, or caution where appropriate. In this workshop we will consider when, why, and how to use hedging effectively in our academic writing and practise using hedging with a range of example sentences. We will also consider boosting – the opposite of hedging, used to strengthen claims – discussing when this may be necessary and how to utilise this technique effectively.

Hedging is an important skill in academic writing, used to show uncertainty, hesitation, or caution where appropriate, whilst boosting can be used to intensify certainty. In this workshop we will consider when, why, and how to use hedging and boosting effectively in our academic writing and practise using both in a range of example sentences.

Hedging is an important skill in academic writing, used to show uncertainty, hesitation, or caution where appropriate. In this workshop we will consider when, why, and how to use hedging effectively in our academic writing and practise using hedging with a range of example sentences. No preparation is required before attending this workshop.

Do you want to increase the probability of completing your Master’s Degree on time and be happier doing it? Come along to this talk given by our ADTIS Life Coach, Dr Sue Jackson who will share “Some Secrets of Highly Successful Research Students” with you. You will be asked to reflect on what success means for you and prepare an action plan accordingly. You will also be introduced to what life coaching is and shown how to sign up for an individual life coaching session if you wish.

Please bring a notebook or paper and something to write with.

Do you want to increase the probability of completing your PhD on time and be happier doing it? Come along to this talk given by our ADTIS Life Coach, Dr Sue Jackson who will share the "Seven Secrets of Highly Successful Research Students” with you. You will be asked to reflect on what each of these “secrets” means to you, and prepare an action plan accordingly. You will also be introduced to what life coaching is about and shown how to sign up for an individual life coaching session if you wish. Please bring a notebook or paper and something to write with.

Do you want to increase the probability of completing your PhD on time and be happier doing it? Come along to this talk given by our ADTIS Life Coach, Dr Sue Jackson who will share the "Seven Secrets of Highly Successful Research Students” with you. You will be asked to reflect on what each of these “secrets” means to you, and prepare an action plan accordingly. You will also be introduced to what life coaching is about and shown how to sign up for an individual life coaching session if you wish. Please bring a notebook or paper and something to write with.

The most effective writers are actually skilled self-editors. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to approach the editing process – and what to look for when revising your work. Please bring along a piece of work you’d like to edit.

The most effective writers are actually skilled self-editors. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to approach the editing process — and what to look for when improving your work. Please bring along a piece of work you’d like to edit.