Master in Writing and Literacy Studies

Pedagogical Milestones

MWLS primarily follows the basic pedagogical practices of School of Education. However, as an innovative interdisciplinary initiative, it ensures the following pedagogical dimensions:

• Blended, multimodal learning environment;
• Project-, and problem-based learning, and internship;
• Sharing of best writing and literacy practices across the departments and programs of School of Education;
• Collaboration among Kathmandu University Schools/department/programs;
• Guest/Visiting/International lectures through linkages established through the global engagement initiatives;
• Community-based initiatives: outreach activities through Writing and Communication Center and Continuing and Professional Education Center;
• Work- and industry-focused exposure to students in each semester;
• Student-led seminars/workshops on literacy initiatives.   

Administrative Milestones

MWLS ensures reasonable flexibility in the aspects listed below:

• Provision of non-credit courses: at least two in the second year;
• Inter-program credit transfer (in-house) of courses;
• Program audit after one cycle, and every semester in the successive years through the system established at KUSOED.

Aid/Assistantship

Students will compete for any fellowship/assistantship opportunity arranged at KUSOED. Besides, DLE will manage to award internal fellowship or grants to at least 10 percent of the competent and needy students as editors or research assistants under the Writing and Communication Center.

Essential Linkages

KU’s existing international linkages are utilized for student and faculty exchanges. The Department will explore new discipline-specific collaborations abroad. Besides, The Department will also establish collaborative linkage with relevant organizations, business houses, publishing industries and educational institutions.

Opportunities for Foreign Students

The program aims to accommodate at least 10 percent foreign students in each intake. They are selected on merit basis and may be awarded Department-initiated fellowships at par with Nepali students. The external affairs section at KUSOED facilitates their accommodation and other administrative arrangements.

Evaluation Scheme

The faculty members who are teaching the courses are responsible for the internal evaluation. Continuous In-Semester assessment carries 50% weightage and End-Semester assessment 50%. The in-semester assessment consists of various parameters, tools, and techniques. The endsemester assessment is held either through a three-hour written examination or an extended open-book project. The nature of the end-semester may vary between theoretical courses and practical courses. The assessment follows the following grading system.

In order to pass the individual course, one has to achieve at least C.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

Each letter grade is converted into the specific number of grade value associated with the grade. Grade Point Average (GPA) is calculated by multiplying the grade value of the earned grade by the number of credits for each course and dividing the total grade number of semester/term credits earned. The individual GPA of every course must be 3.0 or above at the end of every Semester/Trimester.

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

CGPA is calculated at the end of the program. The up-to-date over-all performance (CGPA) is a weighted average as below:

CGPA = (c1 g1+c2g2+c3g3…) / (c1+c2+c3…..)

Where c1, c2… denote credits associated with the courses taken by the student and g1, g2 denote grade values of the letter grades earned in the respective courses.
No student can pass examination with "F" grade in a particular course.
CGPA at the end of the degree defines the division as follows

For graduation a student must meet the following requirements:

1. Satisfactory completion of all courses prescribed for the particular area of the study in which the degree is granted.
2. A cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0.
3. One must pass the level within four years from the date of admission into the program, failing which all the grades and cumulative grades will get cancelled automatically

For MWLS grads, there are several job opportunities. People can find work at I/NGOs, diplomatic missions, media organizations, as well as schools, colleges, and universities. For advanced study (MPhil/MS and PhD), any area of education, the humanities, the arts, or the social sciences might relate to the degree. Students are assured of their professional potential through on-campus career counseling, internship opportunities, and job placements supervised by the Department/School.

Program Structure

List of Courses

Semester Wise Distribution of Courses

Semester I

EDUC 508 Theory and Practice in Education (3 crs)

EDUC 509 Research Methodology (3 crs)

EDWL 501 Functions of Literacy (3 crs)

EDWL 503 Insights from Masterpieces (3 crs)

EDWL 511 Digital Literacy Skills (3 crs)

Semester II

EDWL 502 Language Functions and Fallacies (3 crs)

EDWL 504 Rhetoric and Composition (3 crs)

EDWL 505 Creative Writing (3 crs)

EDWL 506 Research Practices in Writing and Literacy (3 crs)

EDWL 516 Writing Pedagogy (3 crs)

Semester III

EDWL 512 Literacy Assessment (3 crs)

EDWL 513 Writing for Educational Media (3 crs)

EDWL 514 Translation Studies (3 crs)

EDWL 515 Academic Writing and Technical Communication (3 crs)

EDWL 544 Research Project I (3 crs)

(Skipped in the Dissertation option; Proposal defense in the Dissertation option)

Semester IV

EDWL 535 Oriental Rhetorics (3 crs) (Elective)

EDWL 541 Internship (3 crs)

EDWL 554 Research Project II (3 crs) (Skipped in the Dissertation option)
OR
EDWL 559 Dissertation (6 crs)

Core Courses

EDUC 515 Theory and Practice Education (3 crs)

This course is about linking educational theories into practices. Educational theories seek to know, understand, prescribe and apply into educational practices. This course includes topics such as ethics of belief, politics, social values, pedagogy, andragogy, curriculum, learning, teaching, policy, plan, leadership, and culture. The course also includes different premises for twenty-first century education. Selected theories of education will be discussed to capture the different dimensions of educational thoughts. During the course of the study, students are expected to relate these perspectives, principles and thoughts in the development of education. The main aim of the course is to widen the horizon of the knowledge and ideas of students so that they can identify day-to-day educational problems and issues associated with certain theories, principles and philosophies of the broad spectrum of educational landscape.

EDUC 509 Research Methodology (3 crs)

This is a basic course in social research methodology aimed at developing acquaintance with key tenets of quantitative (i.e. positivistic), qualitative (i.e. interpretive and beyond), and mixed research designs. The course begins with introducing positivistic research traditions, thereby creating a space for interpretive and other traditions in social research and, thus, celebrating both “old” and "new” paradigms of research. In this, the insufficiency of conventionally defined efficiency paradigm shall be discussed as a way of conceiving the primacy of context-based, cultural, and humanistic dimensions in broadening the scope of social research. The discourse is further enriched by articulating methods of systematic and narrative literature review together with a host of metaphors for mapping the field of inquiry. Taking survey (and other quantitative research methods), ethnographic, phenomenological, and narrative inquiry methods at disposal, learners will chart the journey of scholarship about different research designs. In addition, students will get an opportunity to familiarize themselves with different sets of quality and ethical standards needed by qualitative researchers.

Specialization Courses

EDWL 501 Functions of Literacy (3 crs)

This course familiarizes the students with the recent local and global trends of functions of literacy and their impact on society. Going beyond the general definition of literacy, we will look at the interconnection of literacy with social, cultural, and political aspects of society. The course examines how literacy constructs and communicates meaning to understand social power relations. The course also critically analyzes literacy's role in shaping individuals' identities and promoting and maintaining social mobility and hierarchies. The course also familiarizes the impact of technologies on literacy functions considering the implications on individuals and societies. The course includes representing four key themes such as social functions of literacy, literacy and identity, literacy and media, and literacy and digital technology.

EDWL 502 Language Functions and Fallacies (3 crs)

This course explores the functions and fallacies of language, examining how meanings are conveyed through written and oral discourses in the social context. The course intends to explore how interlocutors are persuaded and shape our understanding of the world around us. The course will bring case studies and practical exercises to familiarize students with the functions and fallacies of language use across the key themes such as introduction to language functions, theoretical foundations of language functions, formal and informal fallacies, and communicating strategically with and without fallacies.

EDWL 503 Insights from Masterpieces (3 crs)

This course familiarizes students with diverse genres of writing extracted from canonical texts and treatises in the English language. The main objective of this course is to inspire creative and performative potentials in the students who are expected to be successful writers and communicators later. The students will internalize the nuances of style and develop rhetorical strategies pertaining to various genres and writing across disciplines. The course fulfils the overall objective of developing literacy in impactful and performative communication.

EDWL 504 Rhetoric and Composition (3 crs)

This course combines theory and practice in rhetorical performances. The contents include rhetorical milestones useful in the composition of discourses including oral and situational texts. Apart from internalizing the foundations of rhetoric such as modes of appeal, canons, genres and figures customized for contemporary application in public discourses, students will also compose texts representing the aspects of identification, invitation, convergence and social movement. Students will be assessed for producing quality written and oral discourses for real-life settings.

EDWL 505 Creative Writing (3 crs)

This course aims to develop students' creative writing skills in different genres, including fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction. The course covers an overview of the principles and practices of creative writing, including generating ideas, drafting, and revising. Students will learn techniques for developing compelling characters, building engaging plots, and creating vivid settings. During the course, students will learn the fundamental elements of story writing, particularly character, plot, setting, and voice, and will help students develop their unique writing styles. They will also explore the use of voice, tone, and style in creative writing and how to craft their writeups for different audiences and genres.

EDWL 506 Research Practices in Writing and Literacy (3 crs)

This course provides an in-depth and critical understanding of the trends and practices of research in writing and literacy studies focusing on theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical aspects of writing and literacy. The course contextualizes the local issues through case studies, documenting individual experiences and community writing and literacy practices giving due respect to cultural and linguistic diversity and other social aspects like politics and educational policies. The course enables the students to critically examine the role of writing and literacy in shaping identity, power, and social justice.

Professional Courses

EDWL 511 Digital Literacy Skills (3 crs)

This course familiarizes students with the use of technical devices and applications in the generation and publication of personal as well as public texts. Students get hands-on orientation to Web 2.0 skills, such as user-generated platforms like websites, blogs, wikis, and discussion forums. Prior to content generation, writing and general editing exercises, students will develop basic literacy in computers and mobile devices. Overall, the course will equip students with multimodal literacy by helping to develop competence in using contemporary technology essential for writing and publishing.

EDWL 512 Literacy Assessment (3 crs)

This course aims at building in the students adequate competence in literacy assessment. The key components of the course include principles of literacy assessment, taxonomies and instruments for formal and informal, formative and summative assessments of literacies. The course activities are designed with such standard and contextualized procedures that help students as prospective educators make instructional decisions and improve existing instructions. The course also emphasizes on the application of assessment tools in educational settings and offers platforms for discussing controversies underlying literacy assessment.

EDWL 513 Writing for Educational Media (3 crs)

This course provides a hands-on orientation to specific types of writing for mass media, with consideration of modulation for both online and print platforms covering the issues of education. Students will learn the principles of and practice in workshop settings letters to editors, opinion pieces and editorials for newspapers, features and opinions for magazines, and scripts (both opinionated and narrative) for visual representations like documentaries and short movies. Overall, the course emphasizes production of artifacts that induce societal transformations through education and literacy.

EDWL 514 Translation Studies (3 crs)

This course aims at educating students with the fundamental principles and theories of translation. The course will involve extensive seminars and practical sessions on such areas as literary translation, professional translation, technical translation, administrative translation, and ethics of translation. Students will be assessed through two tangible categories of products: translation of texts, and analysis of translated artifacts. The course will inspire students to be able to give international readership to Nepali canonical works through translation into English, or vice versa.

EDWL 513 Writing for Educational Media (3 crs)

This course provides a hands-on orientation to specific types of writing for mass media, with consideration of modulation for both online and print platforms covering the issues of education. Students will learn the principles of and practice in workshop settings letters to editors, opinion pieces and editorials for newspapers, features and opinions for magazines, and scripts (both opinionated and narrative) for visual representations like documentaries and short movies. Overall, the course emphasizes production of artifacts that induce societal transformations through education and literacy.

EDWL 514 Translation Studies (3 crs)

This course aims at educating students with the fundamental principles and theories of translation. The course will involve extensive seminars and practical sessions on such areas as literary translation, professional translation, technical translation, administrative translation, and ethics of translation. Students will be assessed through two tangible categories of products: translation of texts, and analysis of translated artifacts. The course will inspire students to be able to give international readership to Nepali canonical works through translation into English, or vice versa.

Electives

EDWL 531 Writing for Law and Diplomacy (3 crs)

This course is designed to enhance students' ability to write effectively for legal and diplomatic contexts. Students will explore the principles of legal writing, diplomatic writing, and international communication and the intersection among these three. The course will cover various legal documents and diplomatic communications, including treaties, policy briefs, policy reports, diplomatic notes, memos, and letters. In addition, the course includes content relating to the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity in legal and diplomatic writing. Students will learn how to adjust and adapt their writing to different international audiences and navigate cultural differences in communication.

EDWL 532 Writing for Social Mobilization (3 crs)

The course aims to prepare students with the skills needed to write effectively for social mobilization campaigns, focusing on using writing as a tool for social change. Students will explore the role of writing in various social movements, including civil rights, gender equality, and environmental justice. The course will also address ethical considerations in writing for social mobilization, including issues of representation, cultural sensitivity, and appropriation. Students will learn how to write persuasive and compelling messages for different audiences, including policymakers, activists, and the general public. Students will then explore the specific skills needed for writing for social mobilization, including crafting messages that inspire action, using storytelling to create empathy and understanding, writing scripts for demonstrations, and writing for digital media and social networks.

EDWL 533 Advanced Editing (3 crs)

The course is prepared to equip students with the advanced editing skills needed to work in the academic setting and professional editing field. The course enables participants to understand the fundamental principles of editing, including grammar, punctuation, and syntax and will delve deeper into the nuances of editing for various genres and mediums. The course will also cover advanced techniques for enhancing writing, such as rewriting for clarity, strengthening voice, and improving sentence flow and coherence. The course will also address the ethical considerations of editing, including plagiarism and copyright issues. Students will learn how to navigate these issues while maintaining the integrity of the author's work.

EDWL 534 Instructional Writing (3 crs)

This course familiarizes students with various technical writings in education. The course mainly engages students with hands-on practice for crafting instructional materials, curricula, syllabi, textbooks, educational projects, pedagogical resources and policy briefs. The practical sessions are enriched with inputs from the resource persons representing different educational and administrative settings.

EDWL 535 Oriental Rhetorics (3 crs)

The main aim of this course is to familiarize students with the distinct rhetorical practices in the rich cultural settings of South Asia. Based on rigorous reading and analysis of seminal artifacts representing diverse cultural and educational landscapes in the region, students attempt to understand and reproduce the specific writing, communication and literacy milestones that define the uniqueness of the Orient.

Practical Courses

EDWL 541 Internship (3 crs)

Internship is organized to provide opportunity to students to practice the learned knowledge and skills in their specialization in a real work situation. Objectives, outcomes and activities of the internship program are developed by the individual student under the guidance of work supervisor and approved by the Internship coordinator assigned by School of Education.

EDWL 544 Research Project I (3 crs)

The Research Project 1 is offered in the third semester. The main purpose of this course is to develop research proposal by the students in their areas of interest. The students will develop this proposal under three modules. Module-1 is Introduction Unit followed by Issue statement, Purpose of the Study, Research Questions, Research Hypothesis if exists, significance of the study, de/limitation, etc. or any other accepted format provided by the facilitators. Module-2 is about literature Review Unit. It consists thematic review, theoretical review, policies reviews, reviews of past researches, research gaps, conceptual framework, theoretical framework, etc. or any other accepted format provided by the facilitators. Module-3 is about research methodology section.

EDWL 554 Research Project II (3 crs)

The research project-2 is offered in the fourth semester. The main purpose of this Research Project-2 is to produce the data from the field, analyze and interpret the data, draw findings and conclusions. This research project has two modules. Module-1 involves preparing an account of the analysis and/or interpretation of the data (terminology depends on research methods). Module-2 involves drawing from, integrating and extending work in all previous modules to prepare the final project report.

EDWL 559 Dissertation (6 crs)

In the fourth semester, students will be required to carry out research in the field of writing, communication or literacy and write a dissertation. The research work and the dissertation will be supervised by a faculty. Students will choose either this dissertation research or the Research Project I and II above.