Workshop: Academic Writing: A Crash Course for Law Faculty

Academic Writing: A Crash Course for Law Faculty

Writing up your research can be a daunting prospect, especially if English is not your native language. There are bound to be lots of questions – some related to content, some to language, and some located at the intersection of the two. For example:

•    How should a good abstract be structured?
•    What information should the introduction to a paper typically include?
•    What can I do to capture readers' attention and to make their reading experience more enjoyable?

Using examples from law journals and books, we will discuss key issues related to grammar, rhetoric and argumentation.

Target Group

This intensive course is aimed at faculty from law departments who are preparing English publications, or intend to do so in the near future, and would like to practice and perfect their English language skills. No prior experience in academic writing is assumed.

Workshop Goals

The aims of the workshop are to
 

• Introduce participants to the basic structure of academic papers (Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion)
• Make participants aware of the special qualities of English academic writing, specifically in law journals
• Help participants use English effectively, accurately and persuasively

Workshop Content

• The macrostructure of journal articles and contributions to edited volumes
• Key features of English academic writing (e.g., paragraphing, guiding your readers through your reasoning, explicitly linking your ideas)
• Classic contrastive problems, especially of writers whose native language is German
• FAQs about English academic writing

Location, date and time

Friday, 24 March 2017, 9.30 am - 1.30 pm
 

All registered participants will be informed of the location by email one week before the event.

Fees and Registration

This workshop is open to a limited number of participants. The registration deadline is 10 March 2017.
Please note that you should notify us before the registration deadline if you are unable to attend the workshop. Otherwise the full fee will be charged.
Please let the Personnel Development and Planning Office know if you will not be attending. There are often waiting lists for the workshops, and this will give one of your colleagues the chance to attend. In addition, if we can fill the vacancy with someone from the waiting list, no cancellation charges will apply for you.

The course fee is €10.

Trainer

Prof. Dr. Gerlinde Mautner   First degree and PhD in English Linguistics at the University of Vienna; Habilitation in 1997 Director of the Institute for English Business Communication (WU) since 2005 Since 2014: Honorary Visiting Professor, Cass Business School (City University, London, UK) Research focus: organisational and marketing communication; critical discourse analysis (see https://www.wu.ac.at/ebc/about-us/team/gerlinde-mautner/ Frequently conducts research at British universities Has published widely in international outlets, acts as a reviewer for top-rated journals, and serves on the editorial boards of Organization and Critical Discourse Studies Many years of experience in training post-docs and faculty in academic writing Author of Wissenschaftliches Englisch: Stilsicher Schreiben in Studium und Wissenschaft (utb 3444), Konstanz: UVK, 2nd ed., 2016.