The Importance of English Course - Assignment Example

English English Self-Evaluation The English 102 has been important in my area of academic discipline. It has emphasized writing from sources, argument, and investigative paper or research techniques. I have acquired immense knowledge and skills that are fundamental in understanding the writing of academic disciplines. The skills also help me in dealing with rhetorical situations. The English 102 syllabus has imparted in me the skills required in an insight of research to produce meaningful documents of a research in a given current academic or professional discipline (August, McCardle, Shanahan & Burns, 2014). In the process of going through English 102 course, I have acquired writing conventions and standards skills in English that are requisite in addressing focused and specific audiences. English 102 has made me understood the cultures and writing practices of academic and professional disciplines. Much of foundational writing across the curriculum and writing in the discipline privileges pedagogies introduced me to disciplinary writing (Rukmini, 2011). This unit made me to acquire disciplinary writing as opposed to what I would acquire from general education courses that cater for both minors and majors. Through my investigation of the course, this unit explores ways that the concept of meta-genre can help students to develop a particular academic culture of writing (Jacobs, Opdenacker & Van Waes, 2005). The course teaching has achieved this through integration of conflicting motives across writing culture and the extra-academic disciplinary writing. It has emphasized its own common ways of building and shaping knowledge that I have acquired so far. Using meta-genre, this course has explicit the technical academic discipline that would be otherwise prove problematic to understand. I have learnt about genre theorists as readers and writers hence understanding how it points at ways in which others are liable to go wrong in culture and writing academic disciplines. Meta-genres gives guideline by explicitly giving a writer direction to compose a series of entries through ruling out some kinds of expressions and endorsing others. English 102 has made me capable of analyzing and applying writing and genre conventions that are appropriate in my professional discipline. It has made me to understand that conducting academic writing and publishing is in form of several sets of genres. The course has provided me with a full spectrum of critical and academic writing and the lists of genres of academic writing. I have learnt that writing in these forms or style is an impersonal and dispassionate tone that targets for critical and informed audience. I have also found out that the knowledge of writing from this course does not usually apply to academic world only but the academic writer may also find an audience outside via speeches, journalism and pamphlets among others. I have learnt about scholarly writing and how important to organize the detail of writing so that other scholars can try to replicate the results as asserted by August, McCardle, Shanahan and Burns (2014). I have also learnt that strong academic writing involve using formal academic rhetoric. I have developed and demonstrated effective research skills courtesy of this course. The course has enabled me understood that an effective research has a specific purpose that must share content with a particular factor in the course subject. Research increases the understanding of a subject and a process of locating information relate to a subject (Rukmini, 2011). The course has instilled in me the technique on how to look for credible research information from sources such as print, electronic, microform, video and newspaper among others. It is important to know that research takes time therefore, there is need to obtain reading materials and allocate ample time for reviewing the work. It is also important to use clear technology when conducting research. This ensures clarification by the person conducting the research where any information the researcher has used remains accessible by others at any time. Through this course, I can critically analyses and assess source quality and appropriateness of a piece of work to the audience. Before writing a particular piece of work, it is important to know the intended audience that the piece of academic writing will have a dedication to (Harris et al, 2013). An evaluation of the work writing is necessary to have audience concentration from the research work. Some of the aspects I have learnt from the course that are useful in assessing the source quality and its appropriateness to the audience include authority, accuracy, currency, coverage and appearance. In terms of appearance, the site need to look organized, maintained and the links should be working. Coverage aspects deals with successful coverage of the topics of interest and the work should update other sources. Assessing the appropriateness of a work of writing to audience requires consideration of various some of which include culture, audience knowledge of the subject and the age of the audience. I have also demonstrated my ability to appropriately incorporate and engage sourced materials in relation to my target audience. Writing a particular work requires incorporation of material related to one’s work for that piece of writing to be relevant to the target audience. English 102 course has made it possible by allowing systematic process of determining and obtaining sourced material in a research. This has come out as part of planning process, which is usable in improvement of individuals, education, communities and organization sourcing of materials that relate to the target audience (Harris et al, 2013). English 102 course has enabled me become a good debater. Courtesy of this course, I am able to demonstrate my ability to position myself in a larger discussion of an issue because I possessed good skills for debate. The course has imparted in me debating skills such as speed, tone, clarity, use of notes and eye contact and above all, the critical thinking required in debating. Thinking critically, has made it easy for synthesis of information and ideas to produce deeper insights and analysis that is mandatory in a discussion (Rukmini, 2011). Finally, I have the ability to apply the writing process to research-based writings in academic contexts. As posited by Harris et al (2013), research writing involves the use of research-based writing processes that guarantees comprehensive research findings that another scholar or researcher elsewhere can reproduce and repeat the findings. Some of these processes include discovering and focusing on a researchable topic, finding and reading sources, grouping sequences and documenting information of research. Moreover, the unit made it possible for me to learn about the meta-language (Jacobs, Opdenacker & Van Waes, 2005). Through this, I am able to use symbols to explain and examine a language that seeks to explain the meaning of terms unique to a particular subject such as accounting. Meta-language is important in expressing accounting terms such as net income equity, liabilities, assets and balance sheet among other financial terms. Therefore, the use of meta-language improves the field of accounting by developing a channel through which communication of accounting terms and business ideas is possible between people. References August, D., McCardle, P., Shanahan, T., & Burns, M. (2014). Developing Literacy in English Language Learners: Findings From a Review of the Experimental Research. School Psychology Review, 43(4), 490-498 Harris, K. R., Graham, S., Friedlander, B., Laud, L., & Dougherty, K. A. (2013). Bring Powerful Writing Strategies Into Your Classroom! Why and How. Reading Teacher, 66(7), 538-542 Jacobs, G., Opdenacker, L., & Van Waes, L. (2005). A Multilanguage Online Writing Center For Professional Communication: Development And Testing. Business Communication Quarterly, 68(1), 8-22. doi:10.1177/1080569904273330 Rukmini, S. (2011). Quality Standard Document: A Practical Application of Scientific and Technical Writing for English Language Professionals. IUP Journal of Soft Skills, 5(3), 46-49. Read More