English Academic Writing for Doctoral Students
This workshop will help participants polish their written English for academic landmarks such as dissertations, papers for journals and presentations at conferences.
The lingua franca of science today is English and thus the advancement of an academic career usually involves submitting papers in English. This workshop is aimed at up-and-coming academics who are in the process of writing their dissertation in English or intend to hand in papers for conferences and publication.
Putting ideas on paper in English may seem straightforward but there are profound stylistic differences when presenting ideas in English, particularly in written form.
Many Germans find that reading papers by English native speakers is often easier despite the language barrier. We will be looking closely at the reasons for this. It is certainly not a case of clarity at the expense of content. There is also the issue of the choice of words beyond terminology. To expound the importance of cultural style, we shall be studying texts from the academic world so that participants can fully grasp the differences and thus prepare themselves for the real event.
In addition, we shall also be looking at formal requirements which differ slightly from those in German and will also be reviewing abstracts to pave the way for future acceptance.
Please register until January 24th, 2023 via gradnet@hs-merseburg.de. The number of participants is limited to a maximum of 12.
Short portrayal of the speaker
Dr Sonja Price teaches Academic and Creative Writing as well as the more advanced English courses such as Cambridge Proficiency at Jena University, where she also worked as a research assistant at the Department of Intercultural Business Communication for five years. She has taught workshops at many universities in Germany including the LMU in Munich. She is the author of various academic papers and was also shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award for her novel ‘The Giants Look Down’.
Workshop Plan
The following themes will be dealt with according to the participants’ needs from 10 am to 4 pm with an hour break for lunch.
- Differences between formal and informal style
- Spotting and eradicating colloquialisms
- British and American English.
- Germanisms and grammar minefields such as the use of articles
- Simplicity of expression and originality v. reference
- Cultural Styles: Johan Galtung’s findings
- Formal requirements for academic writing in English
- English in the Humanities and the Natural Sciences
- The use of visual aids in academic papers
- Writing exercises
- Preparation of a paper
- Individual journal requirements
- Presentation of papers at conferences
Veranstaltung speichern (iCal)
