As a student of an economic university, I understand the importance of these skills as well as have chances to acknowledge which help me in school and in future career. In this paper, I discuss four main advanced academic skills that I learnt during the courses including planning, reading, group work, and writing. To make it more specific, I would give explanation, reflection and analysis about these skills. Class activities helping me improve these skills would be included as instances. Further, I would discuss how I have applied these skills in my study. Finally, I would give the future plan to attribute them in future career.
I Introduction Worldwide market nowadays has changed a lot leading to the increase in demand for everything In order to survive the storm of demands, people must learn and train harder to create more opportunities now and in the future For that reason, academic skills, especially advanced academic skills are so much necessary The advanced academic skills can be academic writing, reading, researching, working in group, and referencing, etc Such skills can be acknowledged by many ways, but learning in school gives people more benefits As a student of an economic university, I understand the importance of these skills as well as have chances to acknowledge which help me in school and in future career In this paper, I discuss four main advanced academic skills that I learnt during the courses including planning, reading, group work, and writing To make it more specific, I would give explanation, reflection and analysis about these skills Class activities helping me improve these skills would be included as instances Further, I would discuss how I have applied these skills in my study Finally, I would give the future plan to attribute them in future career II Body Before giving the specific about four academic skills that I learnt, I would give basic explanation about academic skills According to Brenda Krenus (2011), academic skills are skills needed to perform activities related to reading, writing, problem solving, etc that bring success in school and future career Such skills can be pre-academic or advanced While pre-academic skills could be learnt at prior years of a student, advanced academic skills are learnt in senior years in university helping people to be a more effective learner and developing research skills for future life As a student in an economic university, I have learnt various advanced academic skills such as reading, referencing, group working, researching, planning, and academic and evaluative writing, etc; four among of which that I have applied very well These four skills including planning, reading, group working, and academic writing are discussed specifically as below 2.1 Planning skill The very first skill that I mention in this page is planning skill, especially time management skill and investigative study planning I believe that without a good planning skill, people cannot manage their life well Theoretically, M Yuonne Estelle-Marie (2009) stated that planning skill refers to ability to organize an accomplish goals effectively in order to avoid mistakes in life My life would be messy if I have no plan for current and future life, and that is what I mastered while following instructions of classes in university To me and other people, strong planning skill definitely significant Peter Capezio (1999) believed that good planning skill, then help create opportunities for future project For example, the corporate businesses would not be interested in a company if that firm does not have a specific plan for developing products or assuring the future of the firm Having good skill in planning also affect other skills of mine For instance, I could not manage to balance my study life with social life if I was not a good time manager Then I was failure in having a critical thinking and writing In addition, with strong skill in planning, I am more creative and pursue better options for life (Sarah L Friedman & Ellin Kofsky Scholnick, 1997) One can no longer be creative if they not have basics to rely on If considering my life is a body, then without good planning skill, it would be a bunch of meat without bones Truthfully, I acknowledge this skill mainly from my daily life Although I also gained them after attending activities in classes We have presentations to explaining our daily life and plans to learn in order to examine what are milestones of our plan The class also provide case studies of famous companies and people for us to experience key for their success We also have debates in which some people give problems, and deadline and others try to solve in time Different activities help build up different experience in managing and organizing our life I also learn to promote this skill through my daily life Creating a timetable for daily life, circle what is more important to do, etc are somewhat helpful to my skill 2.2 Reading skill The second AAS that I have learnt throughout courses is reading skill Some people may think reading skill is not as important as other skills needed for further study and job, but in fact, without a good reading skill, one cannot have fully understanding about an issue to give correct solution Reading skill was defined by Peter Afflebah et al (2008) as specific ability that helps a person to read, understand, analyze, and interact with the ideas, figures or messages through written words Reading skill is significant in research skills, which would bring many benefit to the reader if it is applied correctly Because of its importance, this skill must be analyzed and explained carefully According to Pearson Education & Harcourt Education (2005), there are three main techniques of reading including scanning, skimming, and detailed reading Skimming is used when a person wants to get the general idea and impression of the whole book, story by reading the title, the first or last part of a written page, or first sentence of a paragraph Scanning, on the other hand, is used when something specific is concerned and the reader only look up for that only It might be telephone number, fact, a figure, a name, or a field in that written page Meanwhile, people use detailed reading technique when they want to read the whole page by reading every word and understanding throughout Each technique is linked to others and needed to be distinguished carefully for fully understanding In today world, a person with strong academic reading skill would have more benefits than others I believe that strong reading skill would help to build and improve other skill of people Students with good reading skill tend to have better writing, concentration and attention skill since they can learn structure, grammar, vocabulary from various sources, acknowledge the messages and applied those in their writing Through reading carefully, I figured out the mistakes made in my writing and had a better solution for an issue Moreover, good reading skill is an efficient tool to build vocabulary When reading a new book, I find myself exposed to many new words as well as the meaning of them in specific context that make me remember it deeply The better one's reading skill is, the bigger his bank of vocabulary is Further, Danielle S McNamara (2007) believed that reading skill helps people more creative which brings them more solution when a problem occurs With more information gained throughout reading, one can also achieve self-esteem Clearly, people with knowledge in many fields of life are more trustworthy to their colleagues and others; and they can feel "I am proud of myself" for what they have Strong reading skill is good, and who builds and develop skills for reading academically is more successful In courses in university, students are encouraged to read critically to improve reading skills Basically, I believe that student who reads actively is more successful in future rather than who reads passively Which means a person should read something because he loves to read, not because he is told to read In university, I have attended many activities to read purposely and actively These activities include worm-up, during-reading, and after- reading activities For the worm-up activities, the tutor may introduce, ask opinions, or check background knowledge of students about the topic Then the comprehension of students is checked during reading by outlining, matching, filling the gap, answer the question about specific part, etc (Dr Diane Sbbebinsky, 2011) In this, I have chances to work individually, pair, or group to solve the issues raised around the topic We also play puzzles, hold competitions, or give a brief about the topic to further acknowledgment And after the reading course, a summary, an overview, opinion of the topic is taken as necessary Through all these activities, I realize that my skill has improved a lot, and whenever reading a new one, I can easily reflect with the topic and figure out required information 2.3 Group working skill It is definitely that my skill in group working has been built and improved a lot through the course After all the learning, my comprehension about group working has enhance which permit me to use this skill correctly Theoretically, group work skill is the ability to work well in group to solve any issue Specifically, Nancy Prey et al (2009) stated that this skill refers the ability to corporate with other people, in order to find out what an individual's lack is then In my opinion, to be able to work well in group would bring various benefit to anyone's personal life as well as social life I remember one statement "More hands make for lighter work" of an unknown person That is the first benefit of group work that I have learnt through all the classes in university Definitely, when I have a strong group working skill, I can share with others what difficulties I have faced, then the problems will be solve easier with more solutions "More heads is better than one" is what I thought, because I can find what my shortage is in others' experience, opinion, and advice The second benefit of it, is that through working in group, I can improve and develop various skills, especially soft skills, which are increasingly significant in future world (edited by Claudia J Carson, 2004) Through various activities about group working in the university, I realize that my communication, problem solving, critical thinking skill have been enhanced; and my reflection to problems has also been improved Last but not least, I found myself be more self-confident when I have strong group working skill People may think it is not the only way to get self-confident, but to me, ability to work in group has changed so much of my thinking about myself Truthfully, before learning to corporate with others in university, I am kind of embarrassed person since I don't know if this is good and that is bad I once wondered if I have done right and have been afraid of working with others Though, my self-confidence has been built generally through all the activities in school I have opportunities to join many group working activities in classes, which brings such benefits to my school life and future career Activities like brainstorming, buzz group, debates, group roles, puzzles, or rounds, etc (Lupe Alle-Corliss & Randall Alle-Corliss, 2009)have been held frequently in classes Brainstorming helps students find out as many ideas as they can, then discover their potential in many part of life Buzz groups, meaning working in small group then lager group, helps raising active reflection toward an issue, especially when a problem suddenly comes Meanwhile, other activities are great help in creating interaction among students, awareness of keeping personal opinion, and strength of moving forward 2.4 Academic writing skill The last skill that I would like to discuss is my academic writing skill In the classes I took in university, I learnt effective academic writing skills, which is required in every future job Honestly, not many people realize the importance of writing skill until they need to write something, but it is really significant to everyone to have strong academic writing skill Effective academic writing skill, though, can be learnt Stephen Bailey (2013) denies academic writing skill as ability to write based on analysis, which mean composing essays, articles, etc based on evidences, facts, figures, etc in a logical way Good academic writing skill would create organized, reasonable, rational, and methodical written pages that are useful for any career In my personal view, academic writing skill brings me as well as others many advantages Firstly, it helps to create better performance in many activities Although academic writings is written in third-person perspective, Louise Ravell (2005) mentioned that people who succeed the skill are able to bring their personal and individual thought into the writing, and create their own image for that writing By succeeding the skill through classes, I have advantage than others when performing a task A good academic writing shows the reader the impression that its author is professional, well-organized, and logical in thinking (Liz Hamp-Lyons & Ben Heasley, 2006) Secondly, good academic writing skill contributes to the development of other academic skills such as listening, reading, speaking and critical thinking I prefer the state of Samuel Johnson that "What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure" I believe that a good writer is also a good reader and speaker When mastering the skill in writing academically, I am aware that I can speak more effectively, understand ideas under the words more clearly, and have a more logical way of thinking I am trained to be more patient when reading to figures and facts that I am once afraid of, and able to learn faster through writing carefully Finally, finding out the different between academic writing and normal writing, my confidence is fully built Be able to distinguish between academic writings and other kinds (Samuel Reid et al., 2013), I know how to write different kinds of writing correctly, which is a great help for me in different jobs Because of many activities in university, I learn how to identify my view of academic writing For example, I was able to build concentration for key point of view in a specific amount of time when I am in Free-writing activity My plan for my assignment was structured under The Three Liner activity when I have chance to make better outline I also understand more about assignment's question when doing Paraphrase And when researching case studies, I figure out what my remained mistakes and solutions for them III Conclusion I believe that I have mastered quite well these above four skill in classes However, skills can be lost along with time passing if they are not practical Therefore, I have tried my best to apply these skill in completing my assignments I also structure a specific plan to broaden these skills’function in my future professional life Four above skill are relevant in any activity of my life Since people cannot live without a plan, I myself make a plan with suitable timetable and structure In order to so, I must utilize my reading, academic writing and group working skill to figure out what is prior and what can be done later With good reading and group working skill, I easily gain experience from others and decide what is most suitable for my life By asking, learning, researching, such remained mistakes are dismissed and improvements are done Then, with strong academic writing skill, the options above are organized in logical way to produce a good plan However, I always remember that without a thought of planning, the other skills would not be practical Meanwhile, to me, these four skill have close relation to each other Having done quite well in applying these skill in current life, I am about keeping them useful for my future career by following four word They are Careful, Patient, Compliant, and Active Those four word may seem simple, but it is quite difficult to follow all of them Careful It means that when doing something, people must remember doing it carefully Without an awareness of doing carefully, one cannot figure out the necessary information in books, essays, etc and learn from community without making mistakes Of course, carefulness is not enough, but it would help reducing amount of times making mistakes in reading, writing People also prefer to work with someone having carefulness rather than smart but careless Patient Doing anything require patience Without patience, one can no longer read a thousand-page book just to figure out an option, or rewrite a problematic essay times by times I remember one regret at an exam when I had less patience The examination lasted 90 minutes and I have done in 70 minutes If I had enough patience, I would stay to the end of the examination but I was not After that, I realized that I was wrong in some question and I really felt regret for no longer stay in class Having patience also help in improving result in working group by listening to others carefully Compliant Doing anything must follow a specific rules and law They can be university laws, class rules, company rules, or even one's individual rule I cannot make a good plan if that plan goes against society's benefit, which also bring no good to my personal life Writing academically also follows fixed methods keeping the written pages be well-organized Active This is last but most importance in my thought Since people are not motivated forward if they not have positive attitude toward everything The key success in applying those in life is that one must be active to learn Be active to plan a schedule, be active to practice speaking, writing, etc., be active to interact with others, and be active to fix any problem and mistake By remembering this, one can actively decide personal life as well as professional life Life changes day by day, and everyone does not stay there to wait for some slows "Do not let life flows over your hand without doing anything" is a quote that I prefer most These four words are just my personal experience in applying skills in life effectively I believe that I still have various things to learn in school as well as in society After mastering four out of vast of skills required for a better life, I am aware of how to acknowledge their advantages, bring them in operation, and maintain them IV Appendix I have research the paper of Trinh Thi Huong Giang written about four main skills she have acknowledged after classes In my opinion, the paper has been conducted quite well but it has still remained some mistakes and need to be improved There are some good points in her paper Firstly, she had a good vocabulary with strong grammar knowledge The words were used in suitable way and they were expressed logically Secondly, the paper had specific evidence with explanation for each one Those evidence showed that she paid attention to what has been taught in classes Thirdly, the paper had a well structure in assignment part which made it be more understandable and convinced However, there were mistakes remained in her paper First, the structure was also been discussed This paper discussed the four main skill that a student has learnt after period of studying, and its structure does not include the part "Introduction about Advanced Academic Skills subject" and "Focus apply Advanced Academic Skills" Although it is necessary to introduce about the subject, but it is not the mainly focus in this paper and must be only brief The part Focus apply Advanced Academic Skills must not be separated from the Assignment since each skill need evidence to be more convinced Once again, when aligning this part in the Assignment part, it must be more specific and shorter Especially, it should related to the author's experience and knowledge but not something is easily taken from sources Second, information about skills discussed in the part Assignment had lots of theoretical knowledge They were no longer the explanation about what author has achieved through the course, but simply a guide to gain those skill Although having table and figure, they might be not related to situation of the author There were explanation, analysis of each skill, but no fact or situation aligned with the author appeared For example, with Research skill, its four types including critical thinking, problem solving, analysis and dissemination, and five tips to improve the skill were mentioned But the reader found no relatedness to the author since they did not know if she acknowledge all four types of the skill And the question is Whether she has succeed in following all five tipster only some? What is the result after she followed those tips? The paper had no discussion, and the same for other skills mentioned In the conclusion, mistake was also made when she used theoretical knowledge to introduce her plan to maintain those skill in professional life Third, the Assignment part had no evidence of class activities took when the author learnt about the subject, and how these activities help in her skill improvement Fourth, although the author use many theoretical knowledge in her paper, the reference was so simple Reader did not know where the source of such information is Was it from any source, or from personal experience? The reference should better be taken from printed copies, not from online sources, to make the paper more reliable And finally, because of the information was taken from unknown sources, the matter if the paper violated copy right was a big concern Plagiarism is one of the matter that lead the failure of any paper In short, the author must rewrite the paper in more careful way applying in her personal situation, with more reliable sources and logical structure V References Brenda Krenus (2011) Essential Academic Skill 2e OUP Australia & New Zealand Claudia J Carson (edit, 2004) Growth and Development Through Group work HAWORTH press INC Danielle S McNamara (2007) Reading comprehension strategy: Theory, Intervention, and Technology Lawrence Erlbaun Associates Dr Diane Sbbebinsky (2011) Advance academic reader: Complete guide to learning reading comprehension strategy CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Liz Hamp-Lyons @ Ben Heasley (2006) Study Writing: A course in Written English for Academic Purpose Cambridge University Press Pp 10 - 20 Louise Ravell (2005) Analyzing Academic Writing Contextualized Continuum Pp 254-279 Lupe Alle-Corliss & Randall Alle-Corlis (2009) Group work: A Practical Guide to Developing Groups in Agency Settings John Wiley &Sons Pp32-35 Nancy Prey et al (2009) Productive Group work: How to engage students, build teamwork and promote understanding ASCD M Yuonne Estelle-Marie (2009) Planning Space versus Planning Time: Analysis of Planning across context ProQuest 10 Pearson Education & Harcourt Education (2005) Teacher's Handbook Book Ginn, 11 Peter Afflebah et al (2008) "Clarifying differences between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies" in The Reading Teacher International Reading Association Vol 61, No Pp 364-373 12 Peter Capezio (1999) Powerful Planning Skill: Envision the future and making it happens Careepress Publisher 13 Samuel Reid et al (2013) Academic Writing skills Student's Book Cambridge University Press 14 Sarah L Friedman & Ellin Kofsky Schonick (1997) The developmental Psychology of Planning: Why, How, and When Do we Plan? Lawrence Elbaun Associates 15 Stephen Bailey (2013) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students Routledge Publisher 2nd ed [...]... Analysis of Planning across context ProQuest 10 Pearson Education & Harcourt Education (2005) Teacher's Handbook Book Ginn, 11 Peter Afflebah et al (2008) "Clarifying differences between Reading Skills and Reading Strategies" in The Reading Teacher International Reading Association Vol 61, No 5 Pp 364-373 12 Peter Capezio (1999) Powerful Planning Skill: Envision the future and making it happens Careepress... (2005) Analyzing Academic Writing Contextualized Continuum Pp 254-279 7 Lupe Alle-Corliss & Randall Alle-Corlis (2009) Group work: A Practical Guide to Developing Groups in Agency Settings John Wiley &Sons Pp32-35 8 Nancy Prey et al (2009) Productive Group work: How to engage students, build teamwork and promote understanding ASCD 9 M Yuonne Estelle-Marie (2009) Planning Space versus Planning Time: Analysis... making it happens Careepress Publisher 13 Samuel Reid et al (2013) Academic Writing skills 3 Student's Book Cambridge University Press 14 Sarah L Friedman & Ellin Kofsky Schonick (1997) The developmental Psychology of Planning: Why, How, and When Do we Plan? Lawrence Elbaun Associates 15 Stephen Bailey (2013) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students Routledge Publisher 2nd ed