International Open University

ENES101: English Language Studies

Assignment Questions (Fall 2024)
Please read this document in its entirety before attempting your assignment

INSTRUCTION:

1. Begin in the Name of Allah SWT

2. Read the question carefully and ensure that you understand what is required of you.
3. Plan the structure of your academic research essay prior to writing it.
4. Ensure that you use the APA referencing system for your assignment with in-text citations
and a bibliography/ list of references at the end. Access online tutorials from the net to guide
your usage of APA. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the APA convention. As
you a university student, please consult various sources on the net to clarify any concepts that are
new to you (in-text citations, academic essay structure, etc.). Assignments that do not have in
text citations AND an end reference list will not be accepted.
5. Do not submit any part of the assignment as a scanned copy of handwritten text.
6. Ensure that you structure your academic research essay with an introduction, body and
conclusion.
7. Critically analyze the literature (websites, books, articles, transcripts, etc.). Ensure you
demonstrate critical analysis in the writing of your essay. Access online tutorials that can guide
you to review literature critically.
8. Adhere to the following formatting:-
a. Spacing: 1.5 (as in MS Word) You may use single spacing if completed in another
programme.
b. Regular Text: Arial, Size 12
9. Once you have uploaded your essay, please ensure that your Similarity Index (percentage) is
below 30%. Submissions exceeding 50% will automatically be rejected. Remember to
paraphrase content more often than using direct quotations as this will lower the index. All
resources, whether directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized must contain in-text citations and
full references at the end.

Essay Question
Write an academic essay of 1000-1200 words. All references must be clearly indicated (in-text
citations) with a complete reference list attached to the essay. Essays without in-text citations
and a reference list at the end will not be accepted.

Expectations: Take care of the following instructions, otherwise you will be penalized.
1. Please check the assignment due date and plan accordingly. Assignments will not be accepted
via email, or after the late submission date.
2. Structure the assignment formally and take care of transliteration/romanization where
required.
3. Please research and reference your assignment properly. Use at least 3 Credible sources that
may include books or scholarly websites. Avoid citing websites like Wikipedia. Finally, format
the references properly.
4. Kindly provide a bibliography for your assignment. Make sure it is properly formatted.
5. You will be submitting two sections for the topic that you choose. Please make sure to place
all sections in one Word document only.
1. Prewrite to get ideas. Write PREWRITING at the top of your document. Use your
prescribed book to complete this task: Introduction to Academic Writing, Second
Edition by A. Hoshima & A. Hogue.
2. Write a final copy. Write FINAL COPY at the top of this section.
3. Hand in the following (in ONE Word document only)
1. Prewriting
2. Final draft

Choose ONE topic:

1. Evaluate the impact of social media on personal relationships and communication.

OR

2. Analyze the influence of globalization on cultural identity and diversity.

ASSESSMENT RUBRIC
• Content: 60 marks
• Organization: 10 marks
• Referencing: 10 marks
• Grammar and punctuation: 10 marks
• Format: 10 marks
TOTAL / 100
 Uploading Instructions

1. Create a new MS Word file. Before typing your answer, please add the following
information on the first page:

• Student Name:
• Student ID:
• Course Name/Code:
• Assignment Question:
2. Please upload as a Word Document only; do not make a PDF file and upload it as this
hamper grading and giving comments on your work.

3. Before you upload, you should suffix your name to the file name along with the course
code. E.g., if a student is uploading AQD 101 assignment, then the file name should be as
follows: AQD101_FirstName

4. Please note that when you upload your assignment file, it is saved in “draft” mode. To
“submit,” you must press the Submit button. If you forget to submit by not clicking on the
Submit button, the file will remain in “draft” mode and will not be considered for grading.
Hence, note this point seriously and proceed accordingly.
 IOU’S Plagiarism Policy

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe and peace and blessing be upon the last messenger
Muhammad and all those who follow his path with righteousness until the Last Day.

Please read and understand this policy in details before attempting any assignments at IOU.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "He who deceives us is not one of us." (Sahih Muslim)

Definition of Plagiarism:

A common form of deception in studies is plagiarism. Plagiarism is sometimes misunderstood to refer to

copying alone; however, plagiarism is much deeper than just copying. It includes quoting without proper
references, collaboration, and stealing other people's ideas while passing them off as one’s own.
Plagiarism is the “failure to acknowledge the ideas or writing of another” or “presentation of the ideas
or writing of another as one’s own” and should be read to cover intentional and unintentional failure to
acknowledge the ideas of others. In this context “others” means any other person including a student,
academic, professional, published author or other resource such as the Internet. The International Open
University believes that failing to acknowledge the use of ideas of others constitutes an important
breach of Islamic and academic values and conventions of the institution.

IOU Stance on Plagiarism

The International Open University will not tolerate plagiarism in any form, and any student caught
plagiarizing will be penalized. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, the penalty could range from
reduction of marks to rejection of the paper itself.

With respect to the assignments, the following constitutes plagiarism:

1) Copying someone else's assignment

2) Collaboration and working together on an assignment
3) Copying and Pasting entire articles of the internet
4) Quoting someone else’s work without referencing the author
5) Using someone else’s ideas or words without referencing them

To avoid plagiarism, be sure to:

• Use quotation marks around a quote and cite the source.

• Reference all quotations and citations
• Reword/paraphrase. Don’t write word for word what you have read. Take notes first in your
own words, then write your assignment from your notes (not the text).

For more information on how to avoid plagiarism and how to properly cite a source, visit the following
websites:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/10314.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/plagiarism.html
You may also test your understanding of plagiarism by using this link:

https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/plagiarism/tutorial/whatis1.html

Similarity Indicator

IOU reserves the right to submit all academic assignments to a plagiarism checker to produce similarity
ratings for each assignment. The similarity indicator provides a rating of how similar text in the
assignment is to resources available on the Internet.

In line with universal academic writing practices, IOU prefers that text be paraphrased in the words of
the student and not quoted directly, with the original author of the knowledge being duly cited and
referenced.

As a University-wide norm, IOU recommends that the similarity indicator does not exceed 20%.

Result of Plagiarism

Assignments that contain a rating higher than or equal to 50% will be automatically rejected and
validated for plagiarism with a manual check by the tutorial assistant or relevant academic. The student
will be given a grade of 0 and there will be no second chances for submitting the assignment.

The Tutorial Assistant or relevant academic will use the similarity rating in determining the final grade of
the submission.

Remember that we are Muslims studying Allah’s religion, and so plagiarizing in Islamic Studies is a sin
and can rob your studies of reward.

May Allah bless you all with success with your coursework. Ameen.

IOU Admin.