Module Review: ES1103 English for Academic Purposes

Introduction 

This famous module by the annoying CELC department is mandatory for losers like me who not only did badly in GP, but couldn't improve on it during QET 😭😭😭(band 2 gang here!!). The module was a pain in the ass. Thankfully, starting from my batch, the final examination component is axed!! 

Tutorials

Lectures and tutorials were expectedly boring. Not the tutor's fault as the syllabus was  mundane and underwhelming. The main challenge was to look engage and forcing myself not to doze off as it may affect participantion marks. For some tutorials, you are supposed to do some mini presentations on your draft paper as well.

Graded assessments

Every batch has a different theme and mine was on smartphone addiction. Submissions are always checked for plagiarism via Turnitin. Once graded, your tutor should return your submissions with feedback and marks. Most feedbacks I received were never positive and seems like the tutor will find all ways to destroy you! 

The first graded assignment was a "synthesis task" which was similar to A Level GP summary. Not too difficult. 

You move on to writing a paper on your proposed solution to the problem, which for my case; smartphone addiction. I am pretty sure I was pretty efficient in this regard. Unlike others who research and substantiate before writing, I did the opposite. I used the "write first - cite later" concept which I probably invented. :3 Basically I completed the whole essay without any citations using whatever solutions I thought on the spot. The key is, whatever solutions you propose, whether bullshit or not, can be cited using Google using brute force. With Google, there's nothing you can't find. That's definitely not the correct way to write essays but it saved me a lot of time especially for me a procrastinator like me! All my essays (including others outside this module) were done within a day! 

Given that each graded essays builds from the previous submission, it's important to consult your tutor to ensure the development of the paper closely aligns with your tutor's "vision" of your solution. You do not want to shock your tutor with any unorthodox solutions where your tutor wasn't aware. For the first graded draft, we were told to write the paper with the introduction and the description of the problem, without the proposed solution or conclusion. 

The next graded assignment was a 30% in-class assignment which was supposed to replace the final exam. But everyone came prepared beforehand so it was a pointless replacement. The tutor was like, "Hey, the timed assignment is part 2 of the essay, but I didn't tell you guys". The final draft, which is the combination of the other drafts weighs another 10%. 

The last graded assignment was a reflection paper on the key take-aways from this course which is just por the module and the tutor. 

Conclusion

Honestly, this module is a waste of time. But on the bright side, the consolation prize is this is counted as an UEM and excluded from the 1k limit, so you will have one less module to take for graduation!!! From the get go, I think B+ is pretty much guaranteed for most even if you put in minimum effort.  The key to do well is to aim to do slightly better than the average for each essay and maybe even A- is possible? 

Assessment:

10% CA1: Synthesis Task

10% CA2: Essay Draft (Part I)

30% CA3: Timed Essay (Part II)

10% CA4: Essay Final Draft

20% CA5: Critical Reflection

20% Participation marks

My rating:

Difficulty: 2/5

Workload: 2/5

Teaching staff: 3/5 

Overall: 3/5

Expected grade: B+

Final grade: A- 😂🤣😅