European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
Page 1 of 11
Module: English and Communication:
Writing Skills for Social Work


is not the same as narrative or descriptive writing in terms of both structure and language. It is
important to note that English & Communication is not a remedial English language course. Students
are expected to have a Common European Framework for Languages, (CEFL) level of higher B2 or low
C1, that is, upper intermediate to advanced. The IELTS score expected is 6.5.

Module aims
Students will be prepared for the study of Social Work at a graduate level in English in this module.
Writing tasks are similar to those that students will carry out for other modules and professional
products. Students will practice APA Style for both in-text citations and end- of - text reference lists.
The skills of English practiced in relation to these intercultural aspects of the module are both oral
and written. Students will write and improve a report of an authentic case to bridge the messy reality
of practice in the field with scientific and academic presentation of problems and solutions.

On completion of the module students are able to ……….
 Design texts according to the commonly agreed features of academic / professional writing in
Social Work
 Apply the appropriate forms of layout and APA Style for in-text citation and the final reference list
 Apply editing tools to revise student texts
 Appraise and analyse intercultural interactions in welfare work using incidents from their own
work experience

Competencies
Although this course will build skills needed for all professional roles, the main one is Practitioner-
Researcher. This module is particularly relevant for two generic competencies of the EMSW:

Competency 7. Professionalize
This module will provide students with chances to build up ‘professionalization competencies’ for
producing both academic and professional products such as Advisory Reports, Project Plans, Project
Evaluation studies etc. Students will practice writing analytical reports to learn these skills.


mainstream international standards. Students will also focus on the writing process connecting
theories, concepts and models to practice. There will be a webpage in the EMSW home site with
these and other links for academic and professional English.

Organisation of the module
Before Meeting Week Assignments The following assignments are expected to take the student
approximately 9 hours.
Task 1 is a short self assessment of each student’s proficiency as a writer. The assessment form is on
page 7of this Module Guide. The student must fill in the assessment form and send it digitally to the
teacher one week before the meeting week.
Task 2 is completion of an online diagnostic test of English (Dialang) with and an online diagnosis of
their general level of English with an indicator of strengths and weaknesses and identification of an
individual learning goal. The student should go to the website www.dialang.org, find the section on
writing and take the writing test for English. They must save the results and feedback on the test
digitally and send it to the teacher one week before the meeting week.
Task 3 is the preparation of a professional text, that is a short analytical report that requires the use
of primary (that is unpublished, internal documents) and secondary (that is published texts such as
research articles by experts) sources. The report will describe a critical incident with intercultural
aspects that they have experienced at their work. It will also attempt to carry out an analysis of this
incident in terms of intercultural communication. The guidelines for writing the report on are page
10 of this Guide.
Meeting Week Activitie
In the meeting week a total of 16 hours will be used. This includes homework after day one.
Day 1 (Monday of the Meeting week) During the e-learning session, 2 hours will be spent in a
computer lab. This time will be shared with the blended learning instructor. Students will be
introduced to the online learning sites and procedures of the module. They will focus on interactive
sites for APA. Students will form smaller groups and pairs that will continue in the online
environment.
Day 2 (Thursday of the Meeting week)
There will be a 5 hour face – to – face session on one day. This session will cover the content

7. Completed Improvement Plan (page 8)
8. Copies of 6 exercises from the site UEfAP www.uefap.com : 2 functional, 2 grammar, 2 vocabulary
9. Completed Peer Feedback Form from a fellow student (page 11)

Requirements
All assignments must be submitted in order for the mark to be awarded. Any missing assignments
will result in a fail. For the essay or report a 10 point rating scale is used. See page 7 for criteria. The
minimum pass mark is for the re-written essay or report text is 5.5. Students awarded between a 4.9
and 5.5 can improve their tasks within a month. Students who have failed through incompletion of
the portfolio (or who had a mark of 4.8 or lower) will not be allowed to improve their texts. They will
have to attend some sessions again in year two and /or choose a new text to re-write. European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
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Assignment & Procedures
type of mark &
teacher support Teacher can be
asked to help with
feedback giving and
will give a general
evaluation of
feedback task of the
group
One week
before
Meeting Week

Week 10
semester Week 14 of
semester to
send own text
to partner

Week 16 to
send feedback
form to


/15
Body paragraphs
 clear sections with introduction/link in each section
 sufficient support (examples, statistics, expert opinions, etc.)
 ideas from outside sources are relevant, sufficiently elaborated, and synthesised
 all point develop the topic (no irrelevancies)
/25 European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
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Correct APA Referencing Evidence of PLAGIARISM = 0 marks for the whole assignment
= a high level of mistakes = an automatic rewrite
 in-text citation
 paraphrasing (clearly in student’s own words)
 direct quotations (no more than 10% of final copy)
 technique : citations fit into the text appropriately & grammatically
 effectively implements APA workshop material
/10
Reference list/ Works Cited list is correct according to APA

 spelling
/5

Improvement Plan

First, evaluate for yourself. What did you do well? Where did you go wrong? How does this compare
with your self - assessment of your writing proficiency?

Second, read and absorb the feedback from your partner. Make a list of your structural and language
errors, see if you can find any patterns of error. Check the in-text referencing using the websites and
your set book (Swales & Feak) correct the citations in text and the reference list as required.

Third, make a new plan for the essay/report; how are you going to solve the language problems, how
are you going to make the content better and present your points with convincing support?

Please submit the pattern of error list and the answer to the third question with your rewritten
essay/report and the original essay/report. European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
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Pre – meeting week task no. 1: What kind of writer are you?

Complete the questionnaire by ticking (√) the appropriate column.
Never| Often | Sometimes |Always

1 2 3 4

I support my points with accepted forms of evidence.

My writing is clear.

My writing is concise.

I know how to proofread and edit academic writing.

I am confident that my grammar, punctuation and spelling are correct.

European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
Page 8 of 11 Pre – meeting week task no. 2 Guidelines: Critical incident report

I. INTRODUCTION

Background information on the organisational where the incident took place

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE INCIDENT in DETAIL

Choose a problem, confusing or tense situation or puzzle involving client (s) or colleague(s) who have
some kind of cultural differences

It can be a single incident or event but it can (also) be the result of a series of interactions that built
up during a project or module European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
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Peer Feedback Form

Name of feedback giver ……………………………………………………………

Name of writer…………………………………………………………………………

I Quality of Structure – the feedback giver should write out the answers on a separate page in
Microsoft word.

1. Were all of the elements of an essay included, i.e., is there an introduction from general to
specific, with a main topic or thesis sentence included? Are there body paragraphs and a
conclusion from specific to general? Give examples.

2. Is there a clear pattern of logic in the structure? If not give examples of confusing parts.

3. Are the points consistent and convincing? Are there irrelevant points? If so identify them.

4. Are the paragraphs well developed, i.e. is there a topic sentence that expresses the controlling
idea? Are the topics then explained or qualified? Is there sufficient support in order to prove the
points through the use of examples, statistics, anecdotes, expert opinions? Give at least one
example where support is insufficient.



European Master in Social Work

C1 English Communication: Writing skills for social work Student manual
Page 10 of 11

References
Set books and materials required for the module

Mullavey-O’Bryrne, C. (1994). Intercultural interactions in welfare work, in R.W. Brislin & T. Yoshida,
(Eds.) Improving intercultural interactions: Modules for cross-cultural training programs. (Chapter 11
pp. 197 – 220). Multicultural Aspects of Counselling Series 3, Thousand Oaks: Sage. (will be provided
in e-Reader).

Swales, J.M., & Feak, C. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: essential tasks & skills
(Second Edition). Michigan Series in English for Academic & Professional Purposes, Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press. (set book)

Required for study support for the entire study
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 3rd Edition paperback (ISBN-13: 9780521674683) or CD
ROM (ISBN-13: 9780521712675)

Required for selected tasks during the module or study support throughout the entire study

American Psychological Association (APA) Documentation (2010). The Writing Center, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Retrieved from http://www.writing.wisc.edu

APA Tutorial (n.d.). University Libraries, the University of Southern Mississippi, Retrieved from,
http://lib.usm.edu/legacy/tutorials/apatutorial/tutorialindex.html APA Tutorial Test :
http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/tutorials/apatutorial/quiz.php?type=pre


Capital Community College Guide to Grammar & Writing, (n.d.) Retrieved from,
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

Gardner, D. (n.d.) Online Research Programme, 1. Research Process, Proposals & Reports 2. The Hour
glass Model for The Investigative Report and the Mirror Image, Chinese Hong Kong University English
Language Centre, Retrieved 10/15/04, from, http://ec.hku.hk/acadgrammar/report/main.htm
http://ec.hku.hk/acadgrammar/general/organize/frame4.htm?hourglas.htm

Gillett, A. (2010). Using English for Academic Purposes.(n.d.). Retrieved from,
http://www.uefap.com/writing/writfram.htm