Critical Reflection: My Academic Writing

After taking the QET test, I was assigned to take ES1102: English for academic purposes which I had initially thought was a waste of time. However, after attending this module, I feel that this module is interesting and worth the time.

Through this module, I have gained new knowledge as well as refreshed old ones. Some things I've learnt are writing clearly rules, different types of reporting verbs, and how to write a good reader response and problem solution essay. Old knowledge that was refreshed includes proper paraphrasing and citations.

I feel that the exercises that were given to us are very useful as it is one thing to know the rules, and another to know how to use it. The writing clearly exercise was very helpful as it also included examples that were taken from our own essay. This helps us better relate and understand the areas that we went wrong. Another exercise that was of great help is the citation one. As it makes us practice the common citations, it is much easier for when we are making the reference list for the essay.

Through this module, I have found that my strength lies in being able to easily do the evaluation of current solution. However, I also found out many of my weaknesses, some of which I already knew. One weakness being delivering and linking of ideas. I find it quite difficult to bring my thoughts into sentence, though this module has helped improved it. Another weakness is my grammar. As this module went through the basics such as tenses and part of speech, I was able to relearn these. Furthermore, we were taught a clear distinction between academic and non-academic language, it makes it easier to understand which words we should use and how to use them.

As I haven't been trying to improve my English previously, I thought about how I could continue to improve after this module and decided that more reading is required. Therefore, I would be reading at least one news article per day and practice the critical thinking on it.

To write a good academic essay, I believe that there should always be planning before writing. This way, you would not loose the idea you had and it would be easier to make the essay flow. Other than that, it would be the classic phrase of practice makes perfect.

Lastly, I would like to thank Ms Anita for this wonderful experience in ES1102. Her teachings were very easy to understand, and it is always pleasant to go for class. I am also very grateful for her willingness and patience in helping us. And also how understanding she is of our other school commitments.

I had a fun time, thank you Ms Anita. ^^