ILMACFN-Academic Writing for Accounting and Finance

Module Provider: International Study and Language Institute
Number of credits: 0 [0 ECTS credits]
Level:7
Terms in which taught: Autumn term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Anna Ziomek
Email: a.k.ziomek@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module focuses on the academic language and literacy skills needed to more effectively manage coursework assignments on Accounting and Finance Postgraduate programmes of study.

It is primarily designed for students whose first language is not English and who are studying Accounting and Finance (MSc) with the Henley Business School. The module closely maps to the core modules of  ICM 107, ICM 108, AC M005 and ACM003 to develop academic language, literacy and study skills for successful participation in their degree programmes and completion of assessed coursework tasks.  

The module is non-credit-bearing and designed to support students’ disciplinary study, the expectation being that students will apply the skills they have learnt on ILMACFN in their credit-bearing work. Therefore, for the module itself   there is no assessment or expectation of independent study hours.

Aims:

The module focuses on the key academic language and skills needed to successfully complete Master’s level (Level 7) Accounting and Finance written coursework assignments and exams.

By the end of the module, students will be better able to: 

• recognise and respond to the expectations of the key written assignment genre(s) in Accounting and Finance e.g. the case analysis


• accurately interpret coursework assignment instructions/briefs


• employ task-appropriate organisational patterns at paragraph, section and whole-text level


• use a variety of task-appropriate techniques to incorporate and comment on the views of others in their writing


• accurately use the referencing conventions for their discipline.


• employ a task-appropriate register and task-appropriate language 


• critically evaluate their own and others’ writing


• read disciplinary texts employing appropriate reading skills and strategies to critically engage with them


• communicate fluently and accurately within their discipline by building their subject-specific vocabulary and grammar

Assessable learning outcomes:

N/A

Additional outcomes:

N/A

Outline content:

Classes will have the following foci :

• Recognising the key written coursework assignment genre(s) in Accounting and Finance PGT programmes  such as, the discursive essay, the case analysis, or sections of these i.e. the Executive summary, including:
  
  
  
  • expected structural & argumentation patterns and how these differ according to task type 
  
  
  • reading-to-write and source use and synthesis processes
  
  
  • how ‘voice’ and ‘stance’ are realised linguistically within  these target genres
  
  
  
  


• Key skills useful to all academic writing within Accounting and Finance :
  
  
  
  • incorporating sources using paraphrasing, summarising and direct quotation
  
  
  • employing linguistic features of textual cohesion to clearly signal relationships between parts of a text
  
  
  
  


• Grammar for academic and professional communication, including verb tense and form, nominalisation, clause and sentence structure


• Lexical phrases for academic and professional communication, including expressing recommendations and making evaluations.


• Building discipline-specific vocabulary knowledge for Accounting and Finance.


• Reading skills and strategies for dealing with a range of academic and professional texts such as Accounting cases, and company reports e.g.:
  
  
  
  • careful reading to build gradual understanding of ideas and relationships between them
  
  
  • strategic reading to identify: 
    
    
    
    • specific sources or concepts (search reading)
    
    
    • overall nature and structure of text (skimming)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

Global context:

This module supports internationalisation at Reading by facilitating successful and equal inclusion of students whose first language is not English in UK degree programme study.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The module will adopt an overall ‘genre’ approach, taking the social purpose of texts as the starting point to explicate organisation/structure and key discourse and language features.

It also takes a discipline-specific approach to language and literacy development using example student texts and published Accounting and Finance specific sources in classroom tasks.

Teaching will be learner-centred, taking a task-based approach to:

• analysis of example texts from the target genres


• guided ‘noticing’ of key organisational, argumentative and linguistic features in context


• exercises practicing use of relevant lexical/grammatical items


• scaffolded reading-to-write exercises


• scaffolded written-language tasks

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	16
Guided independent study:	0	0	0
Total hours by term	16	0	0
Total hours for module	16

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method

Percentage

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The below information applies to students on taught programmes except those on Postgraduate Flexible programmes. Penalties for late submission, and the associated procedures, which apply to Postgraduate Flexible programmes are specified in the policy 'Penalties for late submission for Postgraduate Flexible programmes', which can be found here: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmissionpgflexible.pdf
The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

Reassessment arrangements:

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

Last updated: 24 April 2023