ACADEMIC WRITING WORKSHOP

ACADEMIC WRITING WORKSHOP

“Answer Writing is a science as well as an art.”

                      Language plays a vital role as a form of expression.  The academic expression demands a different as well as a particular mode of language which has its science and to learn this skill is its very art. Every semester, Department of English organizes Academic Writing Workshop wherein students’ answer sheets are analyzed with a formative assessment process. The evaluation focuses on the linguistic errors which the students made in answer sheets and the evaluator demonstrates the ways of improvement. The syntactic problems, structural problems, vocabulary issues (like using the right word within a particular discourse), punctuation mark, the art of argumentation in the natural language of answers of the internal examination are highlighted.

This kind of workshops primarily aim to bring to light the errors that we (students) make while writing answers in exams and to suggest the ways to organize the content in a better way. The concentration of the evaluator is in identifying the errors and so by conducting this workshop, our professors have offered all the possible tips for the betterment of our writings.

The papers with errors were literally shown on the screen which the evaluators have critically analyzed and those huge circles around errors can make anyone totally embarrassed. Among the Semester 2 students, only 2-3 papers were shown among which one was mine and I was terribly gobsmacked to know that I had made those kinds of errors and didn’t maintain the linear and structured pattern of language. A sincere thanks to the evaluator/s for figuring out linguistic errors and suggesting the steps on how to rectify those errors.

The motifs of this workshop was to make us the better speaker, better writer, critical thinker, appropriate argument builder with a concern of forming our writing (not particularly limited to academic writing but to implement it in our natural language) or about developing a rather good writing style.

Well, this was the third consecutive academic writing workshop I attended in this Department. The major key takeaway of the first workshop was that it shaped me into writing more accurately with a selection of proper words. Perhaps, I think that I had practiced that in many of my blogs, but many times I lack the right choice of words due to anxiety. The second workshop majorly provided me some of the linguistic markers like using ‘assume’ or ‘perhaps’ and not directly stating my perceptions with words like ‘It is’.

Here is what I learned from the third workshop which will help me in improving my writing skills. The first session was led by Ndoricimpa Clement Sir, wherein Sir focused on the construction of language and laid importance in developing the style of presenting arguments in a coherent way. Grammatical accuracy is a must that clarifies the idea in a more polished form. Sir also illustrated the difference between a fragment and a sentence with reference to the answer sheets.

Sir also dealt with the objective style of writing with reference to style and use of ideas from other sources. Of course, in every workshop, Clement Sir explains the use of some linguistic markers so that we can make our academic writing more objective and less subjective. I had tried to follow this step but still, I feel somewhere I lack this quality so as a learner, the learning process will forever be followed by me.

Dr. Heenaba Zala ma’am focused on correct use of capitalization in a sentence, correct use of conjunction and of course

 ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’ 

in academic writings. The improvement is needed in building logical arguments as well as developing analytical ability.

Vaidehi Hariyani ma’am shared her experience of pursuing an annual refresher course at Swayam platform. This was a really very inspiring thing for me. Ma’am pointed out some basic things from the answer sheets which should be errorless and also suggested to the correct tips which I am eager to follow in my academic writing.

Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir explained the major issue that how we had focused more on 

‘fluency at the cost of accuracy’.  

Sir explained to us how to build the trajectory of writing along with the polyphony of voices which we shall learn to mention in writing assignments and answers. Furthermore, Sir gave some insightful suggestions to be followed in writing academic answers like the parameters to be kept in mind-

                                                Sir also explained certain important techniques of writing examination answers referring to those suggested by the Department of Library Services, De Montfort University.

                                        I humbly express my gratitude to all the professors as well as the Ph.D. scholar for making us realize our mistakes and also for recommending some productive tips and suggestions. I am thankful to Prof. Dr. Dilip Barad Sir for organizing this workshop which would benefit us in our academic writings or in writing essay type answers at the university level. 

The workshop was followed by Class Photos.

"You can learn anything"

Thank you.