The Language Centre offers support with both Academic Writing and Communication Skills.
Classes are designed for international students who have started their degree studies. We offer general sessions as well as some sessions specifically related to your degree subject.
For more information about the sessions and to book a place, please view the sections below.
Please note that while we're preparing classes and workshops for the next academic year, some links and titles might not be available, but will be updated within the next couple of weeks.
Academic Writing Skills
- Writing classes
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These classes will highlight the common features of academic writing in English. To help with possible differences in writing styles and expectations:
• each session focuses on one aspect of the writing process
• you will work with examples of academic writing
• you will develop skills to produce effective writing
• an opportunity for you to ask questions about writing
• a relaxed and supporting environmentPlease note each class runs twice a week. You should only sign up for one each week as it is the same class on both days. The classes are on campus.
For more details and to book, see below.
- Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing
Wednesday 22 November: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing here
or Friday 24 November: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing (repeat) here
- Checking your writing: proofreading & editing
Wednesday 29 November: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Checking your writing: proofreading & editing here
or Friday 1 December: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Checking your writing: proofreading & editing (repeat) here
- Academic grammar: an introduction
Wednesday 31 January: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic grammar: an introduction here
or Friday 2 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic grammar: an introduction (repeat) here
- Academic vocabulary: an introduction
Wednesday 7 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic vocabulary: an introduction here
or Friday 9 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic vocabulary: an introduction (repeat) here
- Responding to a writing task: Focusing on the question
Wednesday 14 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Responding to a writing task: Focusing on the question here
or Friday 16 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Responding to a writing task: Focusing on the question (repeat) here
- Integrating sources to support your writing (citing & referencing)
Wednesday 21 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Integrating sources to support your writing (citing & referencing) here
or Friday 23 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Integrating sources to support your writing (citing & referencing) (repeat) here
- Organising your writing
Wednesday 28 February: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Organising your writing here
.or Friday 1 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Organising your writing (repeat) here
- Writing fluently
Wednesday 6 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Writing fluently here
or Friday 8 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Writing fluently (repeat) here
- Critical thinking
Wednesday 13 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Critical thinking here
.or Friday 15 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Critical thinking (repeat) here
- Academic writing styles
Wednesday 20 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic writing styles here
or Friday 22 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Academic writing styles (repeat) here
- Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing
Wednesday 27 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing here
or Friday 29 March: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Using tables, figures, charts etc in your writing (repeat) here
- Checking your writing: proofreading & editing
Wednesday 3 April: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Checking your writing: proofreading & editing here
or Friday 5 April: 13.45 – 15.15
Book your place at Checking your writing: proofreading & editing (repeat) here
- Writing workshops
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If you would like to work on your own writing and practice your skills, you can join a writing workshop. Sometimes it’s a good idea to set aside time for your writing, and to write with other students. You can focus on your writing in a supportive environment.
There will be a tutor there but please note the tutor is not there to check your writing, but to give advice.
Dates & Venue
Every Monday from 9 October - 11 December 2023 at 1300 - 1400 hours
Room: Taylor building C1
- No booking required, just come along.
If there is a group of you who are all studying the same subject and would like some advice about your writing, please contact lc-enquiries@abdn.ac.uk to make an appointment.
- Legal academic writing for LLM students
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This in-sessional course has been designed for students doing an LLM in the Law Dept. Each weekly session focuses on writing sub-skills that are transferable to different LLM assessments. The course is especially tailored to meet the writing and language requirements of international law students. The classes are on campus only.
Legal Academic Writing - Session 1: Principles of writing a discursive law essay
- The critical role of your thesis statement in the essay
- Structuring and developing a core legal argument as the essay’s backbone
- Embedding your essay’s macro argument within the framework of primary and secondary legal sources
- Organising the essay introduction and conclusion around your argumentative thesis
- Legal grammar relevant for writing introductions and conclusions
Wednesday 11 October: 14.00 – 16.00
Book your place at Legal Academic Writing Session 1 here.
Legal Academic Writing - Session 2: Principles of writing a hypothetical or legal problem essay
- Deconstructing the legal issues in the narrative of this type of essay task
- Using the IRAC approach to structure your analysis and application of the legal rules to the overriding problem
- Writing in the persona of a legal academic advisor
- Synthesizing, analysing, and evaluating the law to inform your approach and to embed your legal advice in the relevant literature
Wednesday 18 October: 14.00 – 16.00
Book your place at Legal Academic Writing Session 2 here.
Legal Academic Writing - Session 3: Reviewing and reporting legal sources in a written assessment
- Using OSCOLA referencing accurately and critically
- Deciding when to quote directly or indirectly in your assessment
- Analysing the different purposes of footnotes in your assessment
- Editing and proofreading citations in your assessment
- Paraphrasing techniques – what works for you?
- Legal grammar and vocabulary
Wednesday 25 October: 14.00 – 16.00
Book your place at Legal Academic Writing Session 3 here.
Legal Academic Writing - Session 4: Cohesion and coherency in legal academic writing
- The form and function of paragraphs
- Integrating your voice and stance into your paragraphs
- Moving from paraphrasing to incorporating your evaluation of a source in a paraphrase
- Ways of linking issues and information
- Review of phrases that are frequently used in legal academic papers and can be transposed to a variety of legal essay contexts
Wednesday 1 November: 14.00 – 16.00
Book your place at Legal Academic Writing Session 4 here.
Legal Academic Writing - Session 5: Communicating fluently and accurately in writing
- How to flag up your own critical thinking in the written assessment
- Ways of avoiding overwriting and underwriting in legal assessments
- Punctuation as a stylistic and grammatical tool in legal writing
- Grammar - use of gerunds and infinitives in legal sentence constructions
Wednesday 8 November: 14.00 – 16.00
- 1-2-1 (book an appointment)
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These sessions are helpful if you are experiencing some challenges with your writing tasks, or if you would like some general advice about your writing. You will have up to an hour with an experienced writing tutor to discuss your concerns. This could include issues such as:
- Getting started with your writing assessments
- Understanding what it is you are being asked to do
- Trying to organise your writing
- Understanding your grades and feedback
- Citing skills (showing where you got information from)
- Writing in your own words
- Writing clearly (grammar, vocabulary, sentence structures)
- Or, you may have something else that you would like to discuss regarding your writing.
Click here to make an appointment. A tutor will then contact you to arrange an appointment.
Please note the advice we give focuses on supporting you with writing assessments in English. It is advice only which you may choose to accept or not. Academic Writing tutors are not subject experts and cannot advise specifically about subject content. For that, you should contact your subject tutor.
1-2-1 sessions are limited to 3 per student per semester.
- Drop-in sessions (no appointment required)
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These sessions are helpful if you have a quick question about your writing. For example, you might be working on an assessment and find you are not sure about something such as:
- how to write something clearly
- your paragraph organisation
- grammar or vocabulary
- how to use citations
You can just pop in and ask a tutor.
Please note that the time you have with a tutor may be limited, depending on the numbers of students looking for help.
Dates, times & venue:
- Every Tuesday, 13.00 – 14.00 (from 26 September to 5 December), Regent Building, room G01
and
- Every Thursday 13.00 – 14.00 (from 28 September to 7 December ), Sir Duncan Rice Library, Meeting Room 2, 7th floor
What our students say
I wouldn’t have written anything without these courses, because I was at a loss at first as it was my first to write academic English.
It helps me to have a basic structure about essay writing in my mind, this class is helpful, and I think I have learned some writing skills which are contributed to my essay.
Gives me a better idea of expectations from the professors, the structure of the assignment, etc. And as someone who has not been in academia in a few years, I appreciate that.
It serves as a reminder of the need for developing critical thinking skills, approaching academic writing, and provides a guide to follow.
Academic Communication Skills
- Seminar skills
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Part of your degree studies may involve participation in seminars and group discussions. Our seminar skills sessions are an opportunity for you to practise these skills in a small and relaxed group environment. The more you can speak & communicate, the more confident you may feel about your studies in general.
To find out more about the class and to book, click on the links below.
- Introductory discussion activities, introduction to academic cultures, and mini discussions
Wednesday 31 January: 15.30 – 17.00
- Problems & solutions: language & discussion
Wednesday 7 February: 15.30 – 17.00
Book your place at Problems & solutions: language & discussion here
- Analysis and evaluation from different perspectives: language & discussion
Wednesday 14 February: 15.30 – 17.00
Book your place at Analysis and evaluation from different perspectives: language & discussion here
- Comparing & contrasting, drawing conclusions, and evaluating: language & discussion
Wednesday 21 February: 15.30 – 17.00
- Supporting or opposing a position
Wednesday 28 February: 15.30 – 17.00
- Presentation skills
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There are two types of sessions here. One is for PowerPoint presentations and the other is for Poster presentations. These sessions are to help you create effective, well-designed, and clear presentations.
If you are currently working on a presentation, or need to prepare one in the future, these sessions can support you with its design & delivery. Bring your laptop.
For more details and to book, see below.
PowerPoint presentations
- Session 1: Understanding the requirements of the presentation
- Monday 9 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at PowerPoint presentations: Session 1 here.
- Session 2: Creating your PPT presentation
- Monday 16 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at PowerPoint presentations: Session 2 here.
- Session 3: Designing the layout of a PPT presentation
- Monday 23 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at PowerPoint presentations: Session 3 here.
- Session 4: Skills for effective delivery of presentations
- Monday 30 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at PowerPoint presentations: Session 4 here.
- Session 5: Delivering your presentation
- Monday 6 November: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at PowerPoint presentations: Session 5 here.
Poster Presentations
- Session 1: Understanding the requirements of the presentation
- Thursday 12 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at Poster presentations: Session 1 here.
- Session 2: Creating your Poster presentation
- Thursday 19 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at Poster presentations: Session 2 here.
- Session 3: Designing the layout of a Poster presentation
- Thursday 26 October: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at Poster presentations: Session 3 here.
- Session 4: Skills for effective delivery of presentations
- Thursday 2 November: 16.00 – 17.00
Book your place at Poster presentations: Session 4 here.
- Session 5: Delivering your presentation
- Thursday 9 November: 16.00 – 17.00
What our students say
Academic Communication sessions helped me overcome some difficulties in communicating in English to a certain extent, such as lack of self-confidence, nervousness, etc.
I learned to make my expression more natural in different contexts, and also more confident.
Fluency & Communication
- Fluency & Communication Sessions
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These sessions are an opportunity to talk & socialise with other students in a relaxed environment. Topics of discussion are informal and are an opportunity to find out more about living in the UK. They are intended to help build your confidence in your speaking skills.
For more details and to book, see below.
Please be aware that the content may change. This is because once we have started the course, we will listen you what you are interested in.
- Fluency & Communication 1 - Introduction to Aberdeen
Wednesday 31 January: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 1 - Introduction to Aberdeen here
- Fluency & Communication 2 - Being a student in Aberdeen
Wednesday 7 February: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 2 - Being a student in Aberdeen here
- Fluency & Communication 3 - Food & language in Scotland
Wednesday 14 February: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 3 - Food & language in Scotland here
- Fluency & Communication 4 - Places to visit in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Wednesday 21 February: 14.00 – 15.30
- Fluency & Communication 5 - Culture & festivals
Wednesday 28 February: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 5 - Culture & festivals here
- Fluency & Communication 6 - Cultural norms eg. politeness and written communication
Wednesday 6 March: 14.00 – 15.30
- Fluency & Communication 7 - Going beyond borders – UK culture
Wednesday 13 March: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 7 - Going beyond borders - UK culture here
- Fluency & Communication 8 - Putting it all together
Wednesday 20 March: 14.00 – 15.30
Book your place at Fluency & Communication 8 - Putting it all together here
Listening practice
In these sessions, you will have the opportunity to develop and practice active listening skills. These skills will help you to engage more effectively during various listening activities that you take part in as a student at the university, such as listening to and understanding lectures, seminars and tutorials.
- Listening 1
Friday 10 November: 3.30 – 4.30
Book your place at www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/14442
- Listening 2
Friday 17 November: 3.30 – 4.30
Book your place at www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/14443
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Listening 3
Friday 24 November: 3.30 – 4.30
Book your place at www.abdn.ac.uk/coursebooking/14444