Academic Support Programme (for MA students)

For all full-time & part-time ENGL MA students.

Key points

The programme is free of charge and is open to both part-time and full-time ENGL MA students;
The programme is non-credit-bearing;
Teaching is on Saturday mornings only and if you have programme subjects timetabled on Saturday morning you must attend those subjects;
There is no formal assessment but you will be expected to prepare for the sessions;
Teaching and learning will be interactive with practice and feedback provided in the sessions;
The programme runs early in Semester 1 to maximize its helpfulness to your studies;
Student numbers are not limited for the programme, but the programe will not run if fewer than 15 students register for it.

Aims

The programme aims to improve your

skills in retrieving, critically understanding, and appropriately utilising information from academic sources;
understanding of the overall structure of academic texts and the logical and grammatical patterns found within the structure;
ability to produce academic writing that is coherent and cohesive and appropriate in tone and style;
understanding of the overall structure of a research project report;
ability to write effective sections of research reports: introduction, literature review, method, results, discussion and conclusion; and
ability to plan and structure oral presentations of your own research in English.

Through participating in the programme, you will also

enhance your critical and analytical skills;
develop a sense of belonging to the academic discourse community; and
improve your ability to learn independently.

Outline

Registering for the Academic Support Programme is optional. If you register for the subject, you will be expected to commit yourself to attending all classes. A roll call may be taken every class.

Skills for Postgraduate Writing and Reading

Semester 1: Saturday, Sept 5, Sept 12, Sept 19, Oct 3, & Oct 10, 2026 (Weeks 1-3, & 5-6)
Time: 9:30am-12:20pm
Venue: TBC
Teacher: Dr Max Diaz

Week 1	The purposes of academic writing Accessing, critically understanding, and appropriately citing and utilising sources of information Achieving appropriate academic tone and style Writing an Introduction and Literature Review
Week 2	Writing a Methodology section Critically assessing methodological approaches and steps
Week 3	Writing a Results/Findings section Understanding the differences between pure Results/Findings section versus a combined Results and Discussion section
Week 5	Writing a Discussion and Conclusion section Understanding the differences between a combined Discussion and Conclusion versus a pure Discussion and a pure Conclusion Writing an Abstract
Week 6	Finding and applying to academic conferences The structure of an academic presentation Verbal and non-verbal qualities in academic presentations

Registration

Please note that the on-line registration period is in late Aug / early Sep; students will be notified by email in due course.