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I. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT | II. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT MARKING AND GRADES | III. ASSIGNMENT CHECKLISTS | IV. SECOND DRAFT REFLECTIONS | V. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT REPORTS | VI. CONSULTATIONS | VII. WRITING REQUIREMENT EVALUATION | VIII. CONTACTING THE ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT TEAM | IX. USE OF DATA | X. EWR WORKSHOPS | XI. EWR DROP-IN CONSULTATIONS

I. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT

  1. What is the English Writing Requirement?
  2. What are the aims of the English Writing Requirement?
  3. Why do I need multiple drafts?
  4. What happens if I only submit one draft?

II. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT MARKING AND GRADES

  1. How do I pass the writing requirement?
  2. If I did not submit a draft and scored 0 mark for the writing component, will I fail the subject ?
  3. If I fail the writing assignment, will I fail the subject?
  4. How can I get a good grade?
  5. Which draft is graded by the ELC?
  6. Will I get any mark if I submit only one draft to the ELC?
  7. What are the marking criteria used by the ELC?
  8. When and where do I receive my mark?

III. ASSIGNMENT CHECKLISTS

  1. Why do I need to use a checklist?
  2. Where can I find the checklist?

IV. SECOND DRAFT REFLECTIONS

  1. When do we need to submit a reflection?
  2. Why do we need to do reflection?
  3. Is it compulsory for us to submit a reflection? Is it graded?
  4. How do I write a reflection?
  5. How long the reflection should be?

V. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT REPORTS

  1. What is an English Writing Requirement report?
  2. What is included in the report? Is there any sample report?
  3. Who writes the report?
  4. When is the report released?
  5. Where can I find my report?
  6. Why do I need to read the report?
  7. What do I do with the report?

VI. CONSULTATIONS

  1. What are the objectives of the English Writing Consultation Sessions?
  2. Is consultation session compulsory?
  3. When will the consultation sessions take place?
  4. When can I book a consultation session?
  5. How can I sign up for a consultation session?
  6. How will I know if I booked a consultation session successfully?
  7. What should I prepare for (bring to) my consultation session?
  8. How long is the consultation?
  9. How many students can attend the same session?
  10. How can I cancel a consultation session booking?
  11. What if I forget to attend a consultation session that I have booked?
  12. What can I do if I cannot book a consultation?

VII. WRITING REQUIREMENT EVALUATION

  1. What is the aim of the online Writing Requirement evaluation?
  2. Why should I do the online Writing Requirement evaluation?
  3. When should I do the online Writing Requirement evaluation?
  4. How long will it take?

VIII. CONTACTING THE ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT TEAM

  1. Whom should I contact if I have questions about the writing assignment?
  2. Whom should I contact if I have questions/concerns about the Writing Requirement?
  3. Whom should I contact if I have questions about the feedback reports
  4. Whom should I contact if I have questions about consultation sessions?

IX. USE OF DATA

  1. Will my scripts be used for purposes other than receiving feedback from an ELC teacher?
  2. Will my reflections and completed surveys be used for purposes beyond this course?

X. EWR WORKSHOPS

  1. What are EWR workshops about? How are they different from EWR orientations?
  2. Should I prepare anything for EWR workshops if I am planning to attend them?
  3. Do I need to sign up to attend a workshop?

XI. EWR DROP-IN CONSULTATIONS

  1. What is the EWR Drop-in Consultations?
  2. Who are EWR Drop-in Consultations for?
  3. Should I prepare anything if I am planning to attend a EWR Drop-in Consultation session?
  4. Can I do some writing during the session?
  5. Do I need to sign up to attend a session?
  6. Do I need to attend the whole hour?
  7. When do EWR Drop-in Consultation sessions start?

I. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT

  1. What is the English Writing Requirement?

    All PolyU students are required to complete one subject that includes a requirement for a substantial piece of writing in English among those taken within their CAR programme.
    In order to be eligible for "W" credit for the subject, students will be required to:

    1. view online a short lecture series focusing on writing strategies, provided by the ELC, and
    2. submit online two drafts of the same piece of extensive writing in order for ELC teachers to 1) provide feedback and 2) assess the progress made by the student in the writing process as well as the quality of their work. The grade assigned for these writing activities will account for 10% of the subject's final grade. The final paper will be graded by the subject teacher and will count for a substantial proportion of the subject grade (i.e., no less than 30% of the subject grade).

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  2. What are the aims of the English Writing Requirement?

    The purpose of the CAR (and also of the Writing Requirement ¡V see 'Literacy' in bold face below) is to expand your intellectual capacity beyond your disciplinary domain, so that you will be enabled to tackle professional and global issues from a multidisciplinary perspective. This is done through pursuing a broader range of academic subjects that are significantly different from your major in terms of their paradigms, theoretical perspectives and methods of enquiry.

    CAR subjects are designed to have characteristics and learning approaches that emphasize:

    • Literacy (requiring extensive reading and substantive writing) through submitting two drafts to the ELC and receiving feedback for revision before the final draft is submitted.
    • Higher order thinking (requiring students to exercise and demonstrate systematic, critical and creative thinking skills)
    • Life-long learning (incorporating active enquiry and learning-to-learn activities)

    With the support provided by the ELC for the English Writing Requirement in terms of feedback on two drafts, students can enhance their ability to

    • understand (read) different texts and respond to them critically through writing
    • write texts based on existing knowledge and readings. Texts can be interpreted and supplemented with writer's own ideas to create, innovate and solve problems.
    • hone their critical literacy

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  3. Why do I need multiple drafts?

    As part of the Writing Requirement, ELC teachers provide support for the language aspects of the genre students are working on during the semester. The second draft receives a 10% mark based on the extent and quality of revision as well as the overall quality of the second draft.

    Writing is a recursive process that cultivates deeper thinking and learning. There is no good writing. There is good re-writing. Writing two drafts and revising twice a semester helps students develop into better writers through revising texts to suit the audience and genre in response to the feedback comments they receive from ELC teachers.

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  4. What happens if I only submit one draft?

    If only one draft is submitted, you will lose a score out of 10% allotted for the EWR component. You will also miss the precious opportunity of getting your ELC writing teacher's feedback on the draft that you fail to submit.

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II. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT MARKING AND GRADES

  1. How do I pass the Writing Requirement?

    In order to pass the subject, students must pass the writing component assessment, i.e., attain a minimum grade D in the writing component.

    To pass the Writing Requirement component, students are required to:

    1. Study the online learning materials on meeting the Writing Requirements developed by ELC found on Learn@PolyU (http://learn.polyu.edu.hk) and complete the online writing activities in Learn@PolyU.
    2. Submit the Writing Requirement tasks assigned by the ELC instructor according to schedule, and perform satisfactorily in those tasks.

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  2. If I did not submit a draft and scored 0 mark for the writing component, will I fail the subject ?

    No, you won't fail the subject, but you will lose a score out of the 10% allotted for the writing component. Be aware that if you fail to get a passing mark for your final essay, you fail the course. And that is serious. For this reason, you should submit both draft one and draft 2, and you get a score!

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  3. If I fail the writing assignment, will I fail the subject?

    Yes

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  4. How can I get a good grade?

    In order to get a good grade both from the ELC and your subject teacher, do the following:

    1. Read the assignment instructions carefully. Clarify any questions that you may have with your subject teacher BEFORE you start planning and writing.
    2. Before you start writing your drafts, refer to the checklist. Refer to the checklist again after you finish your draft. Do this a day or several hours before submission deadline so that you can (re)write parts that you may have omitted.
    3. Read the Writing Requirement reports on first and revised drafts carefully. Revise accordingly. Following suggestions for improvement from your ELC teacher will help you improve issues that you were not able to address. Doing this will help you get a good grade from both ELC and subject teacher.

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  5. Which draft is graded by the ELC?

    Only the second draft will be assigned a mark (i.e., will be graded) by the ELC, though both drafts submitted to the ELC will receive feedback. The final draft will be assessed by your subject teacher.

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  6. Will I get any mark if I submit only one draft to the ELC?

    You will receive no marks if you submit only one draft. This is because the aim of this requirement is to help you develop as writers through a process of writing multiple drafts. We will be unable to assess your development based on one draft only.

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  7. What are the marking criteria used by the ELC?

    When assigning a mark for your second draft, we will be using these criteria: task fulfillment, organization, language, and revision.

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  8. When and where do I receive my mark?

    Your marks are released online once they are confirmed with your subject teacher (i.e., after the semester is over). You can check these on Learn@PolyU on your English Writing Requirement site where you submitted your drafts.

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III. ASSIGNMENT CHECKLISTS

  1. Why do I need to use a checklist?

    A checklist guides you in two ways. You can

    • complete your assignment as required by your subject teacher; and
    • include the genre-related aspects that you may not be familiar with.

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  2. Where can I find the checklist?

    The checklist will become available under "Writing Assignment" on the Writing Requirement blackboard site at least one week before the first draft is due.

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IV. SECOND DRAFT REFLECTIONS

  1. When do we need to submit a reflection?

    You need to submit a reflection piece together with the second draft.

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  2. Why do we need to do reflection?

    We encourage you to reflect on your own learning process, your strengths as well as weaknesses, questions that still remain unanswered, or anything else that has to do with the writing assignment. This will help you clarify the teacher's feedback, understand your own learning, and improve your writing. These reflections help us understand your abilities better, and, consequently, help us prepare more specific, more useful feedback.

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  3. Is it compulsory for us to submit a reflection? Is it graded?

    Reflections are not compulsory and are not graded but ELC teachers do read these and use them to assess the revised drafts and prepare further feedback.

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  4. How do I write a reflection?

    Please reflect on the process of revision by thinking about the following questions:

    1. How have you learnt from revising your own work?
    2. How significant was the improvement? 
    3. What particular areas you developed the most?
    4. What were the challenges while revising your work?
    5. How have you improved as a writer?

    You may add any other point in your reflection.

    Here is a sample reflection:

    Revising my own work helps clarify my thoughts. Sometimes, I may miss something important that should be elaborated more. This lends a fresh perspective to the work for me so I can write more thoroughly and clearly. I was quite confused when I have to explain why I would like to choose this topic but spending more time to organize my thoughts is better for completing the rest of my work. And I've learn a lesson to think before I act.

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  5. How long the reflection should be??

    The length is not important but anything shorter than 50 words may not be useful.

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V. ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT REPORTS

 

  1. What is an English Writing Requirement report?

    You will receive detailed reports on each draft you submit to the ELC. These are known as "Writing Requirement reports" or "feedback reports".

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  2. What is included in the report? Is there any sample report?

    Reports may vary as teachers have different styles and assignments/drafts differ from each other, but a typical report includes an overall evaluation of your draft and, most importantly, specific action points that you need to complete in order to improve your draft.

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  3. Who writes the report?

    The ELC teacher assigned to read your drafts will prepare the reports. In general, the same teacher will read both drafts and write both reports.

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  4. When is the report released?

    In general, your report will be released online 14 days after your draft submission deadline. For example, if the draft submission deadline is 1 Nov 23:59, the corresponding report will be released online on 15 Nov 23:59.

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  5. Where can I find my report?

    Once the report is released online, you will see a link "First Draft Report" or "Second Draft Report" in the English Writing and Reading Requirements section in Learn@PolyU. For more details, you may refer to the Blackboard User Guide for EWT Submission.

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  6. Why do I need to read the report?

    You are strongly encouraged to read each report because in it the ELC teacher will offer advice on what you can do to improve the draft further. This advice will be presented as specific action points, with concrete examples from your drafts.

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  7. What do I do with the report?

    1. Read the report once you receive it
    2. Revise the draft based on the action points outlined in the report
    3. Refer to the report once again before you submit the next draft to make sure you have addressed all the action points in your revisions

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VI. CONSULTATIONS

  1. What are the objectives of the English Writing Consultation Sessions?

    The objectives of the English Writing Consultation Sessions are

    1. to help you understand the suggestions made in your Writing Requirement report
    2. clarify any questions you may have related to revision of drafts

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  2. Is consultation session compulsory?

    No. Consultation sessions are voluntary and first come first served. However, you need to attend if you book as you have the quota of only two sessions per semester.

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  3. When will the consultation sessions take place

    In general, consultation sessions take place about two weeks after the draft submission deadline and around the time when the feedback reports are released.

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  4. When can I book a consultation session?

    The consultation sessions are normally open for booking after each draft submission deadline. For the detailed session timetable, visit:
    https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/booking/ew_availablelist.php

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  5. How can I sign up for a consultation session?

    You will be notified via email when the booking system for consultations is open.

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  6. How will I know if I booked a consultation session successfully?

    You will receive an email with the subject "English Writing Consultation Session Registration" from ELC EWR (elc.ewr@polyu.edu.hk) about your successful consultation session registration.

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  7. What should I prepare for (bring to) my consultation session?

    You are advised to

    1. read through your online report before attending the session,
    2. bring a hard copy of the original script and online draft report, and
    3. prepare questions for the corresponding session.

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  8. How long is the consultation?

    Each consultation is about 30 minutes long.

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  9. How many students can attend the same session?

    For face-to-face session, up to two students can attend the same session, with each student booking the session separately. In other words, if you want to bring a friend, he or she will have to formally book the same session as you.

    While for online session (if provided), only one student can attend in each session. 

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  10. How can I cancel a consultation session booking?

    You can cancel your registered session at least one day prior to the consultation session before 6.00 pm via email. If a student is absent without cancellation, he/she will be counted as absent. Special reasons, such as medical or emergency will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

    Send your cancellation email to elc.ewr@polyu.edu.hk.

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  11. What if I forget to attend a consultation session that I have booked?

    You will be counted as absent and lose one of the two allocated sessions.

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  12. What can I do if I cannot book a consultation?

    You can book a WAP session if available at https://elc.polyu.edu.hk/booking/main.php.

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VII. WRITING REQUIREMENT EVALUATION

  1. What is the aim of the online Writing Requirement evaluation?

    We use this online evaluation survey to gather your feedback on how the English Writing Requirement is structured and implemented. We then use this feedback to continuously improve the programme.

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  2. Why should I do the online Writing Requirement evaluation?

    You will have a chance to tell us what works well when it comes to the Writing Requirement. You will also have a say in how the Writing Requirement could be done better.

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  3. When should I do the online Writing Requirement evaluation?

    We encourage you to do this at the end of the semester. The survey will become available only in the last weeks of the semester.

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  4. How long will it take?

    It should take around 5-10 minutes of your time.

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VIII. CONTACTING THE ENGLISH WRITING REQUIREMENT TEAM

  1. Whom should I contact if I have questions about the writing assignment?

    We suggest that you contact your subject teacher when you have questions or concerns about your writing assignment.

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  2. Whom should I contact if I have questions/concerns about the Writing Requirement?

    If you have questions about the Writing Requirement, its aims, deadlines and implementation model, please contact the English Writing Requirement Team. Click "Contact Us" on the Writing Requirement site on Learn@PolyU for contact details.

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  3. Whom should I contact if I have questions about the feedback reports?

    Please, feel free to e-mail your ELC teacher directly or contact the liaison of the English Writing Requirement Team working on your subject if you have questions about your feedback report.

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  4. Whom should I contact if I have questions about consultation sessions?

    For any questions/concerns about the consultation sessions, please email to elc.ewr@polyu.edu.hk.

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IX. USE OF DATA

  1. Will my scripts be used for purposes other than receiving feedback from an ELC teacher?

    Your writing may help us understand how students approach writing across various subjects at the university level, what challenges they may face and how we may be able to help them overcome these challenges. Your scripts, therefore, may be used for research and teaching purposes. To maintain your privacy, all the scripts, if used, will be anonymised prior to their use. If you do not wish your scripts to be used for research and teaching purposes, please, e-mail elc.ewr@polyu.edu.hk.

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  2. Will my reflections and completed surveys be used for purposes beyond this course?

    Just like your scripts, your reflections and survey answers help us (1) understand students' writing practices and challenges and (2) improve our support tools. All the information, if used, will be anonymised, but if you do not wish your data to be used for research and teaching purposes, please, e-mail elc.ewr@polyu.edu.hk.

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X. EWR WORKSHOPS

  1. What are EWR workshops about? How are they different from EWR orientations?

    EWR workshops are 90-minute-long sessions during which you will be offered support in analysing your EWR assignment task, understanding its specific expectations and language requirements, preparing a detailed outline of your drafts, understanding your language teacher's feedback, and incorporating feedback into your revisions. These sessions are based on hands-on activities after completing which you should have a clear understanding of your assignment and a good plan for completing it.

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  2. Should I prepare anything for EWR workshops if I am planning to attend them?

    Yes, these workshops are based on hands-on activities, which means you will need to bring your texts with you or have an online access to them. These texts are: assignment instructions and checklist for EWR Workshop 1 and ELC teacher's feedback report and your first draft for EWR Workshop 2.

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  3. Do I need to sign up to attend a workshop?

    No, you do not need to sign up for an EWR workshop but these workshops are popular, so you will need to be punctual. We use the principle of "First come, first served".

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XI. EWR DROP-IN CONSULTATIONS

  1. What is the EWR Drop-in Consultations?

    EWR Drop-in Consultations are one-hour sessions during which you can get answers to your very specific questions from a writing teacher. So bring your drafts, prepare your questions and attend a EWR Drop-in Consultation.

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  2. Who are EWR Drop-in Consultations for?

    EWR Drop-in Consultations are for anyone taking a CAR subject with the English Writing Requirement. If you have questions about your assignment, if you don’t know where to start and what to do next, EWR Drop-in Consultations are a perfect place for you. Just check the schedule, choose the session that fits your personal schedule and get answers to your questions during the session.

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  3. Should I prepare anything if I am planning to attend a EWR Drop-in Consultation session?

    Yes, these sessions are aimed to be very practical, so bring your assignment instructions, your checklist/s, and/or your draft/s. Make sure you have an access to soft copies of your drafts as you may do some work on your drafts during the session. Do not forget to prepare your questions as well.

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  4. Can I do some writing during the session?

    Yes. One main aim of these sessions is to help you with your writing by engaging you in some actual writing.

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  5. Do I need to sign up to attend a session?

    No, you do not need to sign up for a EWR Drop-in Consultation session.

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  6. Do I need to attend the whole hour?

    No, you can come at any time during the hour and leave any time.

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  7. When do EWR Drop-in Consultation sessions start?

    EWR Drop-in Consultation sessions start in Week 2.

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About this website

EWRite is an open access online literacy platform for PolyU community that has two major objectives:

  • to support PolyU students’ literacy development within and across the disciplines
  • to support subject and language teachers to implement system-level measures for integrating literacy-sensitive pedagogies across the university

This platform provides access to generic genre guides representing typical university assignments as well as links to subjects offered by faculties with specific disciplinary genres and relevant support materials.

The materials can be retrieved by students by choosing the genres that interest them on the landing page. Each set of materials includes a genre guide, genre video, and a genre checklist. The genre guide and video are to summarize the genres in two different ways (i.e. textual and dynamic) to fit different learning styles. The genre checklist is for students to self-regulate their writing process. The genre guide and checklist include links to various ELC resources that can provide further explanation to language items (e.g. hedging and academic vocabulary).

The platform also acts as a one-stop-shop for writing resources for students, language teachers and subject leaders. Information about the English Writing Requirement policy can also be found on this platform. There are training materials for new colleagues joining the EWR Liaison Team.