Writing skills for teaching in English

If you are considering a career in academia, chances are you will have to teach your area of expertise to an international class. Furthermore, chances are quite good that you will have to do this through the medium of English. While much attention is paid to the vital skills of oral communication in the classroom, the role of written English should not be overlooked. From your initial course description up until your final written comments on student assignments, designing and teaching a course in English requires a great deal of writing, especially if it is a new field where older syllabi and descriptions cannot be recycled. This course aims to cover various aspects of writing for teaching.

Course Learning Objectives

At the end of the course, participants will be able to:

·            write an appealing course description and clear syllabus aligned with course learning objectives

·            create effective slides for teaching (best practices for texts, graphics, colors, animation)

·            design and write a clear and concise exercise/handout you would use in your course

·            identify vaguely written instructions / questions and make these more explicit

·            differentiate between formative and summative feedback and be aware of appropriate language for each type of feedback

Course Format

The course will consist of in-class discussions and exercises to train and troubleshoot pertinent aspects of writing. Furthermore, material (handouts, articles, online resources) will be provided to supplement and guide work done both in-class and at home. Participants are welcome and encouraged to include their own material already created and used in previous English-taught courses.

While covering the topics specified above, we will address differing styles (personal vs. impersonal, academic vs. informal register), concise language for instructions, constructive vocabulary for feedback, and overall writing accuracy as needed. 

Certificate of Completion Requirements

In order to achieve a course certificate of completion, you must fulfill the following requirements:

• Create a course description and syllabus of roughly two pages from scratch. We will collaboratively negotiate a framework for the syllabus. You will, of course, tailor content to your subject and creativity in this assignment is welcome and encouraged.
• Design a 1-2 page class exercise with written instructions and questions. This assignment should be aligned with the learning outcomes you state in your syllabus.  
• Write a feedback report of 1-2 pages on a student assignment (subject-specific templates are welcome). We will discuss and establish details of this assignment during the course.
• Attend 80% of classes

Due dates for each of the three required assignments will be evenly distributed throughout the course, i.e. first third, second third and last third of course. These assignments must be submitted in order to achieve a course certificate of completion.

Course registration

To register, send us an email.  Upon registration, you will receive a notification form via email, which will have to be signed by your supervisor in advance and submitted to the course instructor, Gregg Dubow, either via Hauspost (Gregg Dubow-SLI) or fax (203-8959).

The form simply states that you have signed up for the course and that if you fulfill course requirements, you will receive a certificate of completion.  This course is free of charge and part of the English Medium Instruction Program financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. 

Semester: WS 2014/15

Location: Hermann-Herder-Str. 9, Room 01 020c

Lesson time: Thursdays 16-18

Start date: 6 November, 2014

End date: 12 February, 2015

Instructor: Gregg Dubow