| Unit name | Advanced Academic English |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LANGM0002 |
| Credit points | 10 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Miss. Lisa Hanson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
none |
| Co-requisites |
none |
| School/department | Centre for Academic Language and Development |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit is for non-native-speakers of English on the MA Chinese-English Translation who have met the Programme's minimum English language entry requirements but need to develop their English language skills further for general academic purposes. Two of the four main language skills are prioritized for these purposes: reading and writing, and they are practised in an integrated way for the purposes of academic study.
Students will follow a balanced curriculum designed to enhance their English for specific academic purposes. Students will focus on the analysis and the production of academic discourse. Throughout the unit, both fluency and accuracy are aimed at. Students will have the opportunity to use their own academic work within the course programme as a resource for commentary and reflective writing whenever possible.
Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Produce academic essays in an appropriate style with a level of linguistic accuracy sufficient to allow ease of reading and communication.
2. Analyse samples of academic discourse and critically summarise the arguments presented in such discourse
3. Understand the requirements of good academic writing in English.
Learning will be facilitated in small classes and will involve small group and pair work activities as well as some lecture style input. There will be access to a Blackboard course for support of the Independent Study element – mainly interactive activities for academic vocabulary study as well as a repository for reading texts. Students will produce written work using google drive or an appropriate equivalent each week.
100% coursework
Reading, writing and vocabulary e-portfolio to include:
1. Critical response to 4 short academic articles (4x10%=40%) (ILOs 2, 3)
2. Five drafts of a baseline academic essay (750 words) applying learning from each of the weekly objectives (style, grammar, vocabulary, coherence, analysis) (50% for final product)) (ILOs 1, 3)
3. Academic vocabulary log (10%) (ILOs 1, 2, 3)
Johannsen, K. &H. Sanchez. (2007). Professional English - English for the Humanities. (Boston: Heinle ELT) McCormack, J. and J. Slaght (2004) English for Academic Study: extended writing and research skills (Reading: Garnet) Collinson, D. and G. Kirkup (2001) Plain English (Buckingham: Open University Press) Bailey, S. (2011) Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students (Abingdon: Routledge)
