IEI 99: English Composition and Grammar - Advanced English for Graduate Students

This is a workshop-style course for graduate students who are non-native English speakers designed to focus on writing and editing with individualized grammar instruction to improve written English composition.
 
Spring 2024
  • When: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10am-10:50am, January 24 to April 26, 2024
  • Modality: in person

Summer 2024

  • When: Tuesday and Thursday, 10am-11:15am, June 4  to July 25, 2024
  • Modality: hy-flex (in-person and online)
 
Cost: $1,650 (The cost of the course may be covered by a graduate assistantship, fellowship, employee tuition waiver, or personal funds)
 
Prerequisites:  Referral from UMaine graduate advisor or the Graduate School
 
To register: email um.iei@maine.edu.
 
Course description: This course is for graduate students who are non-native English speakers. Students will read and analyze the content, structure, and style of a wide range of academic and professional writing in order to improve their own essays, articles, reports, theses, critiques, and proposals using those features. They will learn to explain, support, compare and argue their ideas effectively through attention to organization, vocabulary, and style. Grammar will be infused into the course as it applies to revision and editing of written work and consistency within various types of writing. Students will use a variety of strategies to improve skills in idea development, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, grammar and mechanics. Writing tasks will be integrated with content, vocabulary, and grammar from various texts.
Course Goals: Participants fine-tune writing skills through analyzing models, writing up research and creating professional correspondence. Course topics include effective argumentation, academic style, coherence, conciseness, and clarity. Strategic use of sentence structure and vocabulary is also covered. Students will receive feedback on each writing assignment and individualized discrete grammar instruction.

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Write fluently and extensively on a variety of topics at the essay level.
  • Write clear, well-structured text and express points of view at some length in a style appropriate to the reader in mind.
  • Correctly cite academic sources.
  • Paraphrase and summarize linguistically complex technical texts.
  • Use advanced English grammatical structures to accurately and effectively express ideas in sustained written discourse.