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Get Ahead, Stay Ahead: Writing style - Academic writing conventions

When:
Venue: Online

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Get Ahead, Stay Ahead is a series of pre-sessional study skills and writing workshops, designed to help you prepare for university before the beginning of the academic year.

This online workshop will discuss the academic writing conventions of formality, objective tone, cautious language and ways to avoid saying ‘I’ in your assignments.

How can I sound more appropriately academic? Why can’t I say ‘I’ or state my opinions? What is cautious ‘hedging’ language? This online workshop will cover the academic conventions of formality, neutral tone, cautious language and ways to avoid saying ‘I’, including ways to express objectivity.

This online workshop will take place on a link found within the Birkbeck Study Skills Moodle Module. 

The resources and recordings will be found after the workshops on the Birkbeck Study Skills Moodle module (student login required) in the Get Ahead, Stay Ahead section.

This workshop will repeat on Wednesday 7th September, Thursday 8th September, and Tuesday 20th September. 

Birkbeck Study Skills also run study and writing skills workshops throughout the academic year.

Please note these workshops are intended for current or prospective Birkbeck College students only.

This year’s full series of pre-sessional workshops is as follows:

Study skills:

  1. Time management and organising your studies
  2. Apps and software for study and organisation
  3. Academic reading, lectures and note-making techniques
  4. Academic reading and note-making using apps and software
  5. Developing your concentration & focus for study
  6. Critical thinking skills
  7. Quoting, paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism
  8. Introduction to Birkbeck IT - an online live demonstration

Writing skills:

  1. Writing essays and assignments: an overview
  2. Essay and assignment writing using apps and software
  3. Writing Style: Academic writing conventions
  4. Writing Structure: paragraphs and signposting language
  5. Writing Grammar: Sentences and punctuation

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