Graduate students whose native language is not English and who are ready to write about their research results can request permission to register for ENG 5850: Scholarly Writing for Non-Native Speakers. The course begins in September and is restricted to advanced level graduate students.

"It's targeted toward those who have research results to write about and are working on a thesis, paper for publication, prospectus/proposal, or early draft of a dissertation," says Sara Tipton, who teaches the course. "Completing or making much progress on a current writing project is the final outcome of the class.

"Over the past 10 years, students from nearly every language background, college and department have taken the class. We work to develop a writing community that leads to greater confidence in scholarly writing and self-editing. In fact, over the years, several students have become research collaborators after having worked together in the course."

Learning methods will include examination of journal articles from the student's field, writing multiple drafts with individualized feedback from the instructor and peers, and targeting the student's grammar, language and spelling concerns.

Students will learn:

Scholarly language style, grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, organization and tone

Editing skills required for being a more confident and self-sufficient writer

Avoiding plagiarism via summarizing, paraphrasing, and documentation of sources

Predicting the expectations of the English-speaking academic and scholarly reader

Writing assignments will include completing an article critique, a literature review and a research proposal or full paper related to the student's research.

The class will be held asynchronously, beginning September 1.

Interested applicants must get permission by sending their WSU 9-digit Banner ID# to s.tipton@wayne.edu with a brief message regarding their current work in their Ph.D. study, their department and their readiness to write about their research results.