Methodology and Practice of Academic Discourse [ LFIAL1120 ]

None

Theoretical classes :

• getting into university,
• taking notes in class,
• writing a piece of academic work,
• preparing a PowerPoint presentation,
• preparing for an examination.

Practical sessions:

• what is academic discourse? ;
• correction of Passeport pour le BAC ;
• exercises on note-taking ;
• learning how to read, select and make a plan ;
• exercises in formulating language and drafting ;
• exercises using academic sources ;
• library visit.

For GERM, LAFR, ROGE and ROM programmes: special sessions linked to the discipline and corresponding to the additional credit awarded for classes in these programmes.

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• understand and apply the concepts, the heuristic methods and the analytical practices relating to the different disciplines in the common semester ;
• establish links between the different disciplines covered in the common semester, by making use of approaches put forward by the lecturers, for example, synoptic tables ;
• master the structure and the logic of academic language in order to be able not only to understand but to produce discourse of this kind ;
• manage, in a relevant and efficient way, the different devices and working tools provided by the lecturers and the instructor to make learning more effective and successful ;
• acquire a methodology and a regular and rigorous way of working appropriate at a university level which makes students responsible for their own learning.

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.

Different types of assessments are organised during the year (passport for the "bac", mock exams). Final assessment is on a written assignment and a written examination. 

Lectures and exercices

The theoretical course is designed to introduce students to some basic ways of working and requirements of university-level discourse. It will therefore include the special features of the university context, the features of note-taking, different ways of selecting, using and presenting sources within an academic text, the different methods of making an oral presentation with visual aids and the methods of preparing for an oral or written examination.
The practical sessions, which are held every week for small groups of students divided according to subject, develop two kinds of training which are interlinked: university-level discourse in practice and the methodology of university work. First, students learn how to improve their reading and their production of academic writing linked to the skills developed in Bac 1 ; then, they learn how to make use of a methodology adapted to university-level studies by practising note-taking, research and the use of documentary sources, structuring their classes, managing their course material in addition to the analysis and synthesis of information.

Finally, the course is designed to train students how to do research in a library and consult the databases available there.

Material :

• For plagiarism : see iCampus (http://www.icampus.ucl.ac.be/claroline/course/index.php?cid=PLA), UCL pages http://www.uclouvain.be/99514.html, etc.).
• For the practical sessions : support sheets to help in doing different tasks will be available on iCampus.
• A selection of articles is the basis for the exercises.

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