English for Academic Purposes 2 (EAP 2) Portfolio: Autumn 2017

This EAP 2 portfolio, submitted by a student, encompasses various academic skills developed throughout the course. It begins with a self-assessment of existing skills and a Personal Development Plan (PDP) outlining goals for improvement. The portfolio includes tasks focusing on organizing ideas, evaluating source reliability, and note-taking. The core assignment involves developing an argumentative essay on whether the NHS should be privatized, with sections dedicated to outlining arguments, paraphrasing and summarizing sources, and constructing a body paragraph. The student incorporates research from various sources, including news articles, to support their arguments. The portfolio demonstrates the student's ability to apply critical thinking, research, and writing skills, culminating in a final argumentative essay. This assignment showcases the practical application of academic principles learned during the EAP 2 module.

Autumn 17
English for Academic Purposes 2 (EAPB3017)
Name:
Student Number:
Tutor name:
This is your English for Academic Purposes 2 e-portfoliowhich you must submit on Thursday 21st
December2017 by 2pm via the Student Portal. This should be completed throughout the course and you must
make sure you save your work regularly (e.g. on your computer, on a USB stick, on email or on the Cloud
drive). Please refer to suggested word counts for each task included within this portfolio.
Assessed Learning Outcomes:
1.Produce elements of a cohesive and coherent researched essay
2.Listen to an academic lecture whilst taking coherent notes
3.Read, compare and summarise a number of written academic texts.
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Week Table of Contents Page Learning
Outcome
Completed?
(
)
Portfolio Tasks
(These tasks should be developed throughout the term but completed by
Thursday 21st December 2017 by 2pm)
1 Where are you now? 2 LO 1, 2 & 3 ☐
1 Personal Development Plan
[suggested word count: 100 - 150] 3 LO 1, 2 & 3 ☐
2 – 9 Organising your ideas
[suggested word count: varies per task] 4 LO 1 & 3 ☐
6 Making notes with confidence
(200 words) 6 LO 2 ☐
3 – 8 Developing your arguments
[suggested word count: varies per task] 8 LO 1, 2 & 3 ☐
6 – 9 Writing your argumentative essay
(900 words) 10 LO 1 & 3 ☐
10 Getting a First! 11 LO 1 & 3 ☐
Total word limit:
Final task: Argumentative essay (900 words)(+/- 10%)
Track your progress by ticking off each task as you complete it, in the final column
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PORTFOLIO TASK
Week 1: Where are you now?
Below is a list of the skills you will need when working on extended pieces of writing during your university
career.Using the list from EAP 1, put a cross (X)in the same boxes for each skill in the first column, and tick ()
the appropriate box for each skill in the second column, according to how well you think you can do this now.
You should refer to the checklist throughout the course and decide whether you have made any progress with
these skills.
Skill This is new for
me
I need to
develop this
skill
I can improve
this skill
I can do this
well
Looking for information
Identify which book / journals/ websites
to use ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Select relevant parts of a text ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Using sources
Acknowledge sources of information ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Write a reference list correctly ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Avoid plagiarism ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Planning/Writing
Brainstorm ideas ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Plan written work ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Link ideas effectively ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Paraphrase & summarise ideas ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Write an introduction ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Write a conclusion ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Personal Study
Work independently ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Manage my time ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Oral Presentation
Brainstorm ideas with peers ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Discuss written work in a tutorial ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
IT
Access the internet ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Use search engines ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Create word documents ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
Use PowerPoint ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
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PORTFOLIO TASK
Week 1: Personal Development Plan (PDP): Specific – Measurable – Achievable – Realistic – Timescale [SMART]
You are required to develop a Personal Development Plan (PDP), which includes goals for the development of your academic skills after the completion of the
module. This should include skills we cover on this module. To help you, write down the strengths and weaknesses you listed in EAP 1 in the box below, which can
also be from your feedback. Use complete sentences.
Strengths
Ability to comprehend an idea and make a general outline regarding what to elaborate upon.
Understanding the requirements in a clear and cohesive manner.
Being able to deliver the requirements using clear and understandable language.
Ability to use precise grammar, without mistakes.
Giving in depth ideas about the subjects matter and making sure that is understandable by everyone.
Weaknesses
Being able to successfully draw a timeline and allocating which task to execute within which time frame.
Grammar often becomes too complicated.
Spelling mistakes in some cases cause the completion of the projects to be delayed.
Not being able to be specific at times if the information is too vast or too many subjects are to be covered.
Now think about what you would like to improve. Be specific when describing your goals and how you will achieve and measure them. (100 – 150 words)
Target Goal Action Success Criteria Completed by?
e.g. To have clear paragraphs To produce an outline before writing The reader can identify the topic/ideas of
those paragraphs
October 2017
1 To be able to complete tasks within the
time limit
Create a projected timeline and clearly
divide the available time based on the tasks
to complete
Efficient allocation of the available time November
2017
2 To complete the tasks without any
grammatical errors
Read extensively on related literature to
fathom the ideas that are being delivered
and to conceptualise on how may they be
reproduced or concisely and cohesively
understood
To understand the key issues, points and
comprehend the essence of the matter so
that any further development of the issues
with myself can be done and understood by
myself properly before proceeding with the
task at hand
November
2017
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3 Give more details and in depth ideas
about the topic and the reflecting upon
the past researches on the same
Read on the peer reviewed works and
related studies
To help the reader to learn something new
about the related current issue that develops
on the past studies
December 2017
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PORTFOLIO TASK
Week 3: Organising your ideas: Are my sources reliable?
Look at the table below. Using the sources you have found (not from GSM Learn or the reading list), answer
the questions below to determine if they are reliable. Make notes.
Source 1 Source 2
Who wrote/said it? BBC News The Telegraph
Are they qualified to speak on this
topic?
Yes Yes
Do they have a personal interest in
that issue?
No No
What type of source is it? News channel Daily newspaper
Has it been verified in any way? Can it
be proved?
Yes Yes
Is there evidence to support this
claim?
Yes No
Was the source created to persuade,
sell, entertain, inform or for another
purpose?
Inform the people Inform the general public about
the incident
Is the content relevant to your
research?
Yes Yes
When was it published/last updated? Two days ago Last week
Does this impact its relevance or
objectivity?
Yes, it does. The public opinion
on the issue has been swayed
by the reports that were
presented in the news channel
Not very. The information that
were given by the newspaper
have now become little bit
backdated and hence lost its
importance to many
Give the full references of both your sources here in Harvard Style:
To format the text, highlight the word(s) or line of text you want to change and select the required formatting
option (colour change, bold, italics etc.).
bbc.com. 2017. BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22528719
[Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].
telegraph.co.uk. 2017. The Telegraph. [online] Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541027/The-arguments-for-and-against.html [Accessed 16
Nov. 2017].
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PORTFOLIO TASK
Week 4-9: Organising your ideas: Noting down the main points
In the space below, create an outline for your essay by making notes about any information you find from class
or reading list sources and from the two sources you found. Use bullet pointsand not full sentences. Include in-
text citations where necessary. You should add to this throughout the course. (150 – 200 words)
Essay Question:
Should the NHS be privatised?
Arguments in Favour (Yes) Arguments against (No)
Economic
 The overall economy may be
benefited because more people
have to spend more to buy services
 The higher levels of income of the
NHS providing companies would
mean that the industry itself would
be boosted and hence would
expand
 This in turn would be the reason
for a number of other economic
activities and would be responsible
for creation of a lot more jobs that
are related to this industry
 Patients would have to spend much
more if NHS is privatised, rather if the
health services are provided by the
government
 The economic benefits of the scheme
would not be inclusive of all the
sections of the members of the
society
Social
 Private NHS services ensure better
and more integrated health
services
 Private companies, if they are given
the rights to provide health
services would make the services
be available in a more prompt
manner (Morningstaronline. co.uk
2017)
 Not every member of the society are
not capable to spend vast amount of
money that would be charged by the
private NHS providers
PORTFOLIO TASK
Developing your arguments: Paraphrasing/Summarising
6

Choose one aspect (e.g. Economic or Social) and summarise and/or paraphrase the main points you noted in
the outline on page 5. Use complete sentences and include in-text citations where necessary. (150-200 words).
Arguments in favour (Yes):
The social benefits of a privatised NHS system are immense. Private NHS providing processes would mean that
the time that is taken by the providers to reach a distressed patient can be radically decreased and better
treatment can be ensured to the people, which would mean that more lives could be saved with the quicker
response time of the NHS providers. The fact that the response of the NHS providers may be quicker to act out
after receiving news of the problems a patient is facing, is enough to make the NHS system privatised (the
guardian.com 2017).
Arguments against (No):
Not every person in the society are capable of spending the amount of money that would be required to be
spent if the NHS is privatised and this would mean that, consecutively, not every person can avail the benefits
of the NHS. This means that not the overall society would be benefited: some would still be left out of the
social benefits that the NHS provides and which the government aims to provide every member of the society.
PORTFOLIO TASK
Week 5: Developing your arguments: Combining sources
7

Using the summaries you wrote in the previous task, combine them below to create the first bodyparagraph of
your essay. Use the guide below to help you and highlight each part with the same colour. (250 – 300 words)
Body paragraph 1
Say why this is a key issue (e.g. Economic/Social)
(this is your topic sentence)
What is the counter-argument of this issue?
(this is the opinion you do not agree with)
What is the main argument if this issue?
(this is your opinion)
Why is your argument stronger than the counter-argument?
What evidence/examples do you have to support this?
What can you conclude from this? What are the implications?
You should use at least 2 sources in this paragraph.
Should NHS be privatised
Public healthcare system is more efficient than the private health care system. In certain countries, it has
been found that the efficient way for providing good healthcare service is run and funded by public
organiastions. These public organisations ration their care with lower cost. Moreover, the government
insurance also incurs lower per-capita cost. The patients who require continued service will be provided
better healthcare facility in the government hospitals (telegraph.com 2017).
Private organisations will provide an unprofitable service for longer period of time. As the cost of medicines
are increasing gradually with the passage of time, the patients had to pay higher cost and the private
hospitals will try to cover all these charges within that cost. Some countries had to pay extra charges for the
services which are provided by the government hospitals. The confidentiality data of the patients are
secured by the private hospitals. The privatisation of the hospitals maximises the choice of the patients and
it will make privatisation a good idea. Private health practices will put competition before the patients and
thus they will try to improve their NHS services. High quality service is essential for improving the standard
of health services which are available to the patients and thus it can ensure the best possible use of the
resources (bbc.com 2017)
It can be concluded that privatisation of the hospitals will help in providing services to the customers at an
affordable cost. The patients with chronic services will get a much better service. The private NHS hospitals
try to provide the best service for the next few years. As competition will put the patient at the centre of
NHS services, the choice remains in the hands of the patients.
bbc.com. 2017. BBC News. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22528719
[Accessed 16 Nov. 2017].
telegraph.co.uk. 2017. The Telegraph. [online] Available at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541027/The-arguments-for-and-against.html [Accessed
16 Nov. 2017].
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PORTFOLIO TASK
Making notes with confidence
This is an in-class activity. Please upload a photo of your notes here.
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