English Language with Mandarin BA (Hons) module details

With Languages: Conversation and practice sessions are held weekly throughout blocks 1 and 2, and then you undertake the intensive part of your study of Mandarin in block 3. 

Year one

Block 1: Approaches to Reading and Writing

You will develop your understanding of standard English grammar and sentence construction and knowledge of how terminology can be applied to the description of diverse forms of language and writing techniques. The module will be taught using a variety of literary and non-literary texts and modes such as, for example, poetry, dramatic monologues, myth and fairy tales, political speech, and film. You will put this knowledge into practice in your own writing alongside learning how to organise and reference writing appropriately and accurately for assignments within your discipline/s.  

Assessment: 60% wiki article and learning diary and 40% essay.

 

Block 2: Words in Action

This module is designed to introduce you to key concepts in the study of language and to instruct you how to carry out forms of linguistic analysis. Taught in workshops, the emphasis is therefore very much on putting theory into practice. Starting with the overall system of language, each week you will be introduced to an element of linguistics and taught how to apply appropriate and corresponding analytical skills in practical work and class exercises. The major areas of linguistics which are covered are: phonetics and phonology, morphology, lexicology, phrase structure and generative grammar, and clause analysis. 

Assessment: 40% group presentation, 30% report and 30% report

 

Block 3: Beginner Mandarin

This module introduces Mandarin at A1 level by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. The learning is based on introductory and basic words, phrases and structures about oneself, family, immediate surroundings and daily activities and routine. Students will also be introduced to basic social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

OR

Post-Beginner Mandarin

This module further develops the learning of Mandarin at A2 level by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. The focus is on enhancing basic and personal communication skills and moving to increasingly general topics. Students will also be introduced to basic social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

 

Block 4: Topics in Linguistics: Theory in Practice

This module develops your knowledge of the history and evolution of linguistics as a discipline, examining a range of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of language. As well as developing your knowledge base, it also increases your skills in linguistic analysis, by introducing you to various methods of examining linguistic texts, and the contexts in which such examination may occur. Typical themes and topics may include the history of linguistics, from classical approaches to examining language to the beginnings of modern linguistics (Saussure, Bloomfield, and Chomsky), cognitive linguistics, approaches to pragmatics and corpus linguistics. 

Assessment: 40% critical review, 20% creation of a wiki page, 20% a blog and 20% group presentation

 

 

Year two

Block 1: Structure and Meaning

You will examine linguistic data, primarily from English, but also from other languages, with many opportunities to describe and analyse the differences in the linguistic structures of different languages and dialects, and contextual, social, cultural, and cross-linguistic differences in concepts and meanings communicated through language. You will also be encouraged to collect your own linguistic data for analysis. Through this, you will extend your skills in morphological and syntactic analysis.

Assessment: 40% presentation, 35% three blogs posts and 25% report.

 

Block 2: Research Methods for Linguists

You will be introduced to key principles in conducting an effective research study within the specific context of linguistic study. You will consider such issues as: designing a research project. conducting an effective literature review, quantitative versus qualitative research, corpus linguistics, introspective research, the principles of fieldwork, questionnaire, and survey design, engaging with statistics, the use of mixed and blended methodologies, conducting research in an ethical manner.

Assessment: 40% critical analysis and 60% plan.

 

Block 3: Post-Beginner Mandarin

This module further develops the learning of  Mandarin at A2 level by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. The focus is on enhancing basic and personal communication skills and moving to increasingly general topics. Students will also be introduced to basic social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

 

OR

Intermediate Mandarin

This module reinforces the learning of Mandarin at B1/B2 levels, by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing beyond basic level. The focus will be on the use of a wider range of vocabulary and more complex structures and various means of communication. Students will be able to understand, without difficulty, the most familiar topics and enhance their ability to discuss and comprehend general social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

 

Block 4: Pragmatics, Theory and Practice

This module explores the nature of human communication, and the ways in which the meaning communicated by utterances goes beyond the meaning of the words and sentences used. You will examine how hearers understand indirectly communicated meanings (conversational implicatures) and a variety of kinds of non-literal meanings (for example, metaphor, irony, metonymy), and compare how these meanings are conveyed in verbal communication versus in certain kinds of text (for example literary texts).

Assessment: 60% pragmatic analysis and 40% group presentation.

Year three

 

Block 1: Year-long Dissertation

You will research and write an extended piece of work on a topic in Linguistics.

Assessment: 90% dissertation and 10% poster presentation.

Block 2: Language Acquisition and Expression

You will be introduced to different theoretical approaches to first language acquisition (including Chomskyan nativist and more recent Constructivist approaches). You will examine how children acquire the sounds, words, and grammatical structures of their first language as well as considering the psychology of learning to read and dyslexia. You will also consider the nature of bilingual and second language acquisition, and ask: is there a critical period for language acquisition or is it possible to attain native competence in a language later in life?

Assessment: 40% presentation, 35% report and 25% report

Block 3: Intermediate Mandarin

This module reinforces the learning of Mandarin at B1/B2 levels, by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing beyond basic level. The focus will be on the use of a wider range of vocabulary and more complex structures and various means of communication. Students will be able to understand, without difficulty, the most familiar topics and enhance their ability to discuss and comprehend general social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

OR

Advanced Mandarin

This module refines and perfects the learning of Mandarin to the advanced C1/C2 levels, by focusing on the development of the receptive skills of listening and reading and the productive skills of reading and writing. This level will require the use of a wider range of vocabulary and complex structures. The material covered will enable communication to a high level of competence and an understanding of general and semi-specialised social, cultural, political, historical, and artistic topics.

Assessment: 30% reading test, 25% speaking test, 25% writing test and 20% listening test.

 

Block 4: Communication, Control and Resistance

You will be introduced to the key concepts of rhetoric and oratory as a discipline and will enable you to both analyse and produce texts which employ language powerfully to persuade your target audience. You will be taking ideas and issues which have endured from Aristotle and the Renaissance to the present and will examine rhetoric in theory and practice; while you will need to acquire a detailed knowledge of rhetorical structures and figures (and the associated technical vocabulary), the main concern of this module is to consider praxis, and the way in which theory is enacted in practice. Building on theories of figures such as Bernays and Cialdini, it will introduce you to a variety of ways of analysing techniques of persuasion, manipulation and perception management, and the methods used to shape opinion.

Assessment: 40% group presentation, 25% analysis, 20% online test and 15% critical review.

Note: All modules are subject to change in order to keep content current.