As I was from the polytechnic, taking the QET was necessary
because most polytechnic students in NUS do not possess the necessary qualification
in English. The format of the QET was somewhat similar to the General Paper of
the A Levels which is not taught in the polytechnic. Hence, I did not do sufficiently
well for the QET to get exempted from ES1102. However, after completing ES1102, I felt that
this module is necessary to those who do not fully have the understanding of academic
English. I had some takeaways from ES1102 and I would like to share on how this
module had improved my academic English skills.
ES1102 gave me invaluable lessons of academic English
language as well analysing a writer’s academic texts. Prior to my first lesson,
I did not have any clue in English academic skills. However, after going through
11 weeks of lessons, I was taught on citing relevant sources of APA format to
substantiate our arguments in essay. I was also taught on the formats, some vocabulary
words usage of English writing and to my surprise, bombastic vocabulary words
are not encouraged in academic writing. Even though I had to submit essays
almost one in every fortnight, I think writing various essays frequently
improved my English academic writing skills significantly as I was out of touch
with essay writing since secondary school. The module also taught me some basic
grammatical mistakes students commit during English writings. Personally being
weak in grammar, the tutor as well as the online grammar exercises offered by
ES1102, helped me realised the common mistakes I had made in the past and this
significantly reduced the common grammatical mistakes I would have made in my
previous essays. Therefore, understanding English academic writing skills and
the correct usage of grammar words were my biggest takeaways from this module.
ES1102 had provided students with many useful notes and
sample essays that I felt that it can be useful to my future needs. To prepare
for future academic reports or exams, I will refer to some of these notes
provided from ES1102 to ensure that I am writing my essay in the correct APA
format which includes citing of sources. Also, these sample essays are able to
provide me with a spark if I am stuck on starting an essay. Hence, I feel that
the course materials of ES1102 are really important to my present and future needs
and these notes can definitely help me to improve in academic English skills.
In conclusion, taking this module had certainly impacted my understanding
of academic English skills and it also gave me an idea on how to write
correctly in my future assignments in NUS. I would like to thank my tutor for
teaching us and I am sure that everything that was taught and use in this
module will still be relevant for me in future.
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