Unit information: English Language and Academic Skills for Aspiring Clinicians in 2020/21

Unit name	English Language and Academic Skills for Aspiring Clinicians
Unit code	LANG00030
Credit points	20
Level of study	QCA-3
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Ms. Vanttinen-Newton
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	IELTS 7.0 overall and attainment of academic requirements for entry into the programme.
Co-requisites	Enrolment on, and engagement with, the following units: Foundations of Chemistry; 40 credit points; CHEM00001 Foundations in Biomedical Sciences; 20 credit points; MVSF00001 Personal and Professional Development (International Foundation); 20 credit points; ORDS????? - NEW
School/department	Centre for Academic Language and Development
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

English language and academic skills for aspiring clinicians is a 20 credit unit within the International Foundation Programme for Medicine and Dentistry. It aims to complement the Personal and Professional Development unit within the programme.

Through an explicit focus on the changes in communication brought about by genre and mode switching, the unit’s overall aims are to develop the following:

• Academic literacies: concerned with students’ socialisation into the institution, discipline and subject-based discourses and genres
• Textual competence: concerned with students’ ability to master the linguistic code and to use textual, contextual and pragmatic knowledge to interpret and construct texts
• Social and cultural competence: concerned with the ability to identify, interpret, shift between, and exploit repertoires of professional workplace genres and modes in order to participate effectively in the activities of a specific professional community

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, students will be able to demonstrate:

1. Awareness of the impact of the audience and purpose on choices of content, organisation and language
2. Ability to compare and contrast features (linguistic and structural) of different genres (both written and spoken)
3. Ability to switch genre
4. An awareness of spoken and written language and discourse competence sufficient for effective communication in a University environment

Teaching Information

Students on this unit will attend 4 hours of study per week. There will be 2 lessons of two academic hours per week. Learning is facilitated in small group classroom sessions, and individual and group-based work is integrated as appropriate. Close reference is made to the Personal and Professional Development (International Foundation) unit, and student experiences therein, including self-reflection. In addition to a range of authentic texts, use will be made of appropriate e-learning technologies for self-study and self-assessment as well as work in class.

Assessment Information

Formative assessments will include:

Weekly submitted written assignments with feedback, and regular feedback on oral communication skills.

Summative assessments will include:

1. Comparative analysis essay of 2 pieces of work (ILO 1, 2, 4)

Word Count: 1,500

Weighting: 50%

This will draw on work done in the Personal and Professional Development unit.

2. Re-purposing (genre-switching) of 1 piece of work (ILO1, 3, 4)

Word Count: 1000

Weighting: 50%

This will draw on work done in the Personal and Professional Development unit.

Reading and References

• Authentic materials taken from the PPD unit
• Caplan, N. (2012) Grammar choices of graduate and professional writers. Michigan: University of Michigan
• Bailey, S. (2011). Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Millican P, Heritage J. Studying Science, second edition: A guide to undergraduate success. 2nd ed. Lantern publishing. ISBN: 9781907904509