Overview

The language learning content is skills based and maps against CEFR and IELTS level descriptors in Writing, Reading, Listening and Speaking.

The approach throughout is to direct skills learning and development towards applications within an academic environment. Attention is paid to the acquisition of formal language required for production of essays, reports and presentations, for drawing information from lectures and for an appropriate contribution to academic discourse.

Acquisition of language and skills is set within the context of higher education in the UK. Emphasis is on developing the students’ understanding of the demands placed on them by university study, of the conventions of academic study and of the notion of good and unacceptable academic practice.

The course covers the following skills and areas.

Reading and Critical reading skills: - Reading techniques – skimming, scanning and close reading. - Understanding the structure of academic journals. - Understanding the author’s point of view. - Inference of fact, opinion, and writer’s purpose. - Evaluation and appraisal of source material.

Academic Writing: - Academic expectations and conduct including avoiding plagiarism. - Use of appropriate citation and referencing language to report on others’ ideas. - Writing-as-process including understanding the title, brainstorming, planning, writing, and revising. - Essay structure including introduction, body, conclusion. - Language discourse development including sentence and paragraph level, essay structure, and discourse markers. - Use of new ideas and information gained from reading and listening activities. - Paraphrasing and summarising.

Listening to academic lectures: - Exposure to a variety of source texts including live speech, authentic videos and recorded lectures of a variety of lengths. - Predicting content from introductions. - Extracting main ideas and supporting points. - Key concepts of note taking. - Using notes to discuss topic and share ideas.

Listening and Speaking: - Taking part in seminar discussions of up to 20 mins. - Appropriate language structures for speaking in an academic context. - Agreeing, disagreeing and building on the contributions of others. - Group presentations. - Asking and answering questions at the end of an academic presentation.

Grammar and vocabulary: - The academic word list. - Passivisation and nominalisation for effective paraphrasing.

Assessment Strategy

Threshold (40% - 49% / D- to D+) Can understand the main ideas of texts within their discipline and take simple notes. Can deliver an academic presentation and participate in an academic seminar and generally be understood. However, at times speech may be incoherent. Can write an essay synthesising information and arguments from different sources. However, there are some weaknesses with structure and clarity of argumentation and some grammar and vocabulary errors.

Satisfactory (50 – 59% / C- to C+) Can understand the main ideas of texts within their discipline and take effective notes. Can deliver an academic presentation and participate in an academic seminar and be understood throughout. Can write an essay synthesising information and arguments from different sources. The essay has a clear overall structure but there may be weaknesses in coherence at paragraph level, argumentation, and some grammar and vocabulary errors.

Good (60% - 69% / B- to B+) Can understand ideas, arguments and implied meaning within a variety of texts and take highly effective notes. Can confidently deliver an academic presentation and participate in an academic seminar in an appropriate manner. Can write an essay synthesising information and arguments from a variety of sources and comment on these. The essay has a clear structure and logical argumentation. Errors in grammar and vocabulary are minimal.

Excellent (70% - 100% / A- to A*) Can understand at ease ideas, arguments and implied meaning within a wide variety of texts and take highly effective notes. Can confidently deliver an academic presentation and participate in an academic seminar in an appropriate and skilled manner. Can write an essay synthesising information and arguments from a variety of sources comment and expanding on multiple perspectives. The essay has a clear structure, logical argumentation and precise language. Errors in grammar and vocabulary are extremely rare.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate effective summarising and paraphrasing skills in written work.

• Demonstrate the speaking and interaction skills required for presentations and seminars.

• Select appropriate sources for an assignment and reference these correctly.

• Understand a variety of written texts and critically extract appropriate information.

• Understand and take effective notes on the main ideas in academic lectures.

• Write clear, detailed essays on a range of topics, including the relevant academic subjects on the programme.