This course was developed by a project group of the Internaional Association of Lake Constance Universities (IBH). Christian Sinn (PH St. Gallen), Klaus Peter (PH Vorarlberg), Elke Breitenfeldt (Uni St. Gallen/HSG), Christian Krekeler (HTWG Konstanz). Students involved in the project: Julia Gabrielli, Claudia Roithner.
When studying, you will need to deal with content from your study programme. You will need to read adacemic texts, understand lectures and present topics from your course and write texts on specific subjecs. Therefore, you will need language skills, even though your subject does not involve language at all.
This introduction into language use in the university follows a subject specific approach. First, you will need to write a text on a typical topic from your subject area. During the course, you will revise your text. At present, two large subject areas are covered in this course: business studies and teacher training. More subjects will follow. However, even in its present format, students from all disciplines can benefit from this course, as they will learn how to apply academic and scientific concepts and findings to a specific scenario.
Please note, that this is a course on academic writing in German.
This introductory course consists of four parts: a general introduction to language use in the university (Module 1), an introduction to writing in business studies (Module 2) and two modules on writing in teacher training programmes (Modules 3 and 4). You can choose the module which best suits your interests.
In this introductory writing course, you will familiarize yourself with writing tasks specific to your field of study and acquire the
skills to excel in tackling them with confidence.
The course is aimed at students commencing their university course or who about to enter a course.
You can take these modules indepentently from each other.
Module 1: A general introduction to academic writing
You will receive information that you need for writing assignments in your studies.
Module 2: Writing for business studies
First you need to complete a writing assignment on a typical topic from business studies. The task is typical for writing assignments and exam questions: A theoretical conept (types of purchase decisions) needs to be viewed together with research findings (effects of online-feedback) and applied to a case study (a small clothing shop). During the module, you will learn how to improve and revise your text.
Module 3: Writing for teacher training programmes: Writing reflective essays
The module also starts with a writing assignment. Students on teacher training courses often need to write a reflection on a classroom situation. For this assignment, classroom interactions need to be reviewed with regard to theoretical concepts. During the module, you will improve and revise your text.
Module 4: Writing for teacher training programmes: Writing tasks in subject area courses
This module deals with another important aspect of writing in teacher training programmes: During lessons, teachers need to formulate tasks for the students. To ensure that all students understand the task, they need to include a precise and detailed description of the task. This module starts with an overview of linguistic forms which influence understanding. Secondly, tasks in textbooks are analysed with regard to their linguistic content. Finally, some suggestions are made with regard to task design in subject area courses.
For actively participating in the course you will receive an automatic certificate which includes your username, the course name as well as the completed lessons. This certificate merely confirms that the user answered at least 75% of the self-assessment questions correctly.
