Faculty Academic English
VTS/FMPAFAQ
Common
questions from students on unit procedures are given in
the FAQ.
Recommended Sites
How can I
succeed in VTS/FMPA courses?
Time Management is a common issue for many students. Read this Process guide to organising yourself.
To develop your academic English skills, explore this excellent Guide for Students in Higher Education.
Extend your vocabulary by using the Academic Word List.
General Resources for Students
ThinkingYour key university skill! All VTS/FMPA courses require that you think about how we think and express ideas and how best to study in an academic context. This involves focussing upon argumentation and critical thought processes and time management and effective study skills.
Showing both sides of an issue
Did the holocaust really happen?
Examples of arguing and discussing academically
International Debate Education Association
The James Cook guide to organising your time
The Process guide to time management
Time management at university (pdf format)
All major aspects of the process of academic writing are developed in FAE:VTS/FMPA courses. This includes the stages of the writing process: planning, task analysis, developing a focus, establishing a point of view, organising ideas, drafting and editing, integrating feedback as well as the effective use of sources: paraphrasing texts, avoiding plagiarism, citation styles.
Bilkent academic skills center (Bilwrite)
Purdue University Online Writing Center (new version)
Purdue University Online Writing Center (old version)
Temple University Writing Center
How to recognize and avoid plagiarism
University of Wisconsin guide to quoting and paraphrasing
Long Island guide to citation in research papers
University of Minnesota guide to electronic citation
Reading
Reading skills are an essential part of FAE:VTS/FMPA
courses. You will develop these skills through familiarity
with
the styles and strategies used in an academic context.
Reading skills for academic study
Tune up your academic reading skills
Effective reading strategies (pdf
format)
Vocabulary
Development
Along with all the other areas of academic English that you
develop in FAE:VTS/FMPA courses, you will need to develop your
understanding of vocabulary.
The Academic Word List (AWL)
Make your own AWL vocabulary profile of a text
10 hints for learning vocabulary from Manchester University Learning Centre
Learning vocabulary (pdf format)
Speaking
The active participation in discussions and the focussed presentation
of ideas is a key part of all FAE:VTS/FMPA courses.
Allyn and Bacon's public speaking website
On-line presentation tutorials from the University of Kansas
How to enjoy giving oral presentations
102 Speaking Exam information and online booking login
As part of VTS/FMPA course research you will need to establish your purpose and carefully select and evaluate your sources.
Tips for searching the WWW
The Univeristy of Purdue's general tips for
searching the web
The University of Southern Maine's checklist for evaluating Internet
sources
Evaluating Internet research sources by
Robert Harris
Beaufort Library guide to evaluating
Internet sources
World Wide Web Research Tools
Checklist for evaluating Internet sources
(pdf format)
Checklist for evaluating printed sources
(pdf format)
General Language
Resources
A basic online grammar guide
Manchester University guide to independent learning
Search online dictionaries from Refdesk.com
Wordnet lexical database from Princeton
The AskOxford guide to better writing
The University of Purdue list of online handouts for English
Test your advanced English online
Fun ways to develop your English online
Interactive Resources
Interactive resources are available at Bilkent Courses Online. Your course instructor will give you details of how to register and use these facilities.Useful Links
· Acrobat Reader· Online spellcheck
· OpenOffice suite
· Seslisozluk dictionary
· Vocabulary profiler