Brain sculpture by John Armleder (2005), UZH Irchel Campus
CELTA from the Univeristy of Cambridge (UK) is a qualification for teaching English to speakers of other languages. It is the most widely recognised English language teaching qualification in the world and the one most often required by employers.
Editor's Note:
All texts used in «Annotated AR&W» are unaltered excerpts from real academic papers published in open access journals on the Internet.
ABOUT
Hello and welcome to «Annotated AR&W»!
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The target group of «Annotated AR&W» is university students who want to become more confident in reading, writing and speaking English for academic purposes (EAP). However, «Annotated AR&W» can be of interest to anyone, especially those interested in science.
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The importance of EAP cannot be underestimated. For one thing, in our globalised world society, English has not only become the lingua franca of the natural sciences, but has increasingly in various disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities too. Moreover, EAP is now an important skill across all academic levels, from BA and MA students to graduates pursuing a scientific career.
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Adequate training in academic writing in English was not required during my studies in Switzerland, although English was often the language of instruction. As a result, the quality of most students' academic English was no better than what was minimally necessary. I wish there had been more convenient ways to improve my EAP than taking a time-consuming language course. Unfortunately, there were no other alternatives.
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Shortly after completing the CELTA course in 2021, I realised that my interest as an English teacher lies particularly in EAP. And so I created «Annotated AR&W»: a tool to help students enhance their English skills so they can read and write papers, give presentations and discuss academic topics with more confidence.
How does «Annotated AR&W» work?
«Annotated AR&W» focuses on vocabulary: by reading real academic texts with annotations, students' vocabulary is expanded and their knowledge of the use of words and expressions is enhanced. This allows students to learn academic vocabulary in its ‘natural environment' (in the right context) from the very beginning, hence avoiding common mistakes like choosing the wrong synonyms.
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Each annotated article excerpt is supplemented at the end with theoretical and practical advice, appropriate to the topic covered. In addition, general information on academic writing in English is provided from time to time.
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«Annotated AR&W» does not aim to completely replace a language course. However, I believe it can be a useful complementary tool to make your seminar paper or thesis more professional.
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Richie
Editor-in-chief and CELTA-certified ELT
Zurich, Switzerland | July 2022