Unit information: Portuguese Lang for Joints/ML in 2012/13

Unit name	Portuguese Lang for Joints/ML
Unit code	HISP20302
Credit points	20
Level of study	I/5
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Ms. Madalena Pires
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Relevant core language unit at level C/4
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

To revise and deepen knowledge of language acquired in 1st year, to practise and develop students’ oral, aural, reading writing and translation skills; to give students further linguistic skills and cultural background in preparation for residence abroad.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a significant body of knowledge of a complexity appropriate to second year level. The content matter will normally include one or more of the following: literature; social, cultural or political history; linguistics; cultural studies; film, television or other media.

• To facilitate students’ engagement with a body of literature, including secondary literature, texts, including in non-print media, primary sources and ideas as a basis for their own analysis and development. Normally many or most of these sources will be in a language other than English and will enhance the development of their linguistic skills.

• To develop further skills of synthesis, analysis and independent research, building on the skills acquired in units at level C.

• Some options may prepare students for the experience of the Year Abroad.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will:

• be knowledgeable about a significant cultural, historical or linguistic subject related to the language they are studying;

• be skilled in the selection and synthesis of relevant material;

• be able to evaluate and analyse relevant material from a significant body of source materials, usually in a foreign language, at a high level;

• be able to respond to questions or problems by presenting their independent judgements in an appropriate style and at an high level of complexity;

• be able to transfer these skills to other working environments, including study at a foreign university and on work placements during the year abroad.

Teaching Information

3 weekly contact hours dedicated to the development of key skills. Mostly seminar based with some lectures for the delivery of grammar lessons. Ongoing e-learning tasks via Blackboard.

Assessment Information

The four key skills are; ‘Composition’, ‘Translation’, ‘Guided Writing’ and ‘Oral/Aural’.
1. Composition - assesses the students’ ability to communicate in the longer written form in the target language, which can include essay writing.

• Assessed by a 60% exam and 40% continuous assessment.

2. Translation - may assess the students’ ability to translate accurately and fluently into and out of the target language.

• Assessed by a 60% exam and 40% continuous assessment.

3. Guided Writing - sometimes also known as ‘Mediation into the Target Language’, assesses the students’ skills in reading comprehension and in expressing material in the target language in prose form (including condensing, translation into the target language, rephrasing, asking them to respond to structured or guided questions related to a given text, etc). It may also assess students’ metalinguistic and lexical competence (i.e. grammar and vocabulary).

• Assessed by a 60% exam and 40% continuous assessment.

4. Oral/Aural - assesses the students’ verbal and listening skills, communicating verbally and in comprehension of the spoken language. Split: Oral=70%; Aural=30%

• Assessed by a 100% continuous assessment.

In order to progress into Year 3, students would need to achieve a pass mark (40) in their overall language mark. Marks of below 40 in any of the four language skills would not prevent a student from progressing, as long as the overall average remained above 40. Students, who received an overall mark of below 40 for their language assessment, would be permitted to take a re-sit written 3 hour exam in the August/September. They could only progress into Year 3 with a capped mark of 40 in this re-sit exam.

Reading and References

Selection of dedicated material prepared in-house (SML).

Grammar texts and dictionaries as appropriate to language area.