Aims and Fit of Module

This module is compulsory for part-time postgraduate students admitted on the condition of attending the Pre-sessional English course or at the direction of their program director in semester 1.


The main aims of this module are:


a) To improve students’ academic study skills necessary for successful postgraduate study; 


b) To deepen students’ understanding of academic English genres and stylistic conventions;


c) To examine and practice a broad range of academic communication skills;


d) To develop and demonstrate critical thinking, reading and writing skills.

Learning outcomes

A. Demonstrate an awareness of academic study skills including academic dishonesty and strategies to avoid it; 

B. Critically read and summarize academic texts by paraphrasing and quoting with appropriate citations and references; 

C. Organize academic writing according to discipline conventions; 

D. Understand and use appropriate academic language and style in writing and speaking; 

E. Demonstrate critical thinking when expressing opinions in seminars, academic presentations or discussions. 

Method of teaching and learning

This module is linked to the Semester 2 module, “Postgraduate English Additional Learning Activity – Part-Time 2”, and must ordinarily be completed before students can begin the Semester 2 module.


The teaching sessions are 2 2-hour seminars each week from Weeks 2 to 6, and in Week 14, as well as 1 2-hour seminar each week from Weeks 8 to 13. As an hours-based module, students may miss no more than 4 seminars in order to be permitted to submit their summative assessment portfolio. 


Additionally, students will receive 39 hours of guided self-study (including on ICE) to reinforce the instruction, use the process-writing approach of multiple drafts for the written assessment, and prepare for the oral assessment in their portfolio.


Throughout this module, tutors will use a variety of communicative language teaching/learning strategies to reach different types of learners.