English Language stage 5A

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• self-reliance, initiative, adaptability and flexibility
• communication, presentation, interaction
• the ability to work creatively and flexibly with others as part of a team
• intercultural competence.
• qualities of empathy

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Communication strategies - Use a range of strategies - repair, paraphrase, vague language - to maintain fluency of communication. - Use contextual factors to infer probable meanings in situations where communication is difficult.
• Speaking: production - Present complex topics, which are reasonably familiar to the audience, with reasonable effectiveness and precision. - Give coherent and reasonably detailed explanations and opinions and justify them in general discussion.
• Knowledge and understanding of the target language and culture - Be aware of the major situational and cultural constraints on language use, including the principles governing the use of polite forms and norms of conversation. - Begin to understand cultural allusions where knowledge is assumed by the speaker/writer rather than explicitly provided. - Have a deepening knowledge of a wide range of major aspects of the TL culture
• Reading - Understand complex factual, literary and persuasive material and some specialised texts aimed at the general reader with recourse to dictionaries, glossaries and grammar reference materials - Read longer texts at speed and extract main points and/or detail, irony and bias, as appropriate to the text and task
• Language learning strategies - Be a competent and independent language learner in that you make proficient use of a range of reference tools, that you access and learn from all available TL media, and that you set appropriate learning goals and monitor your progress. - Begin to use data other than that provided by dictionaries and reference grammars (e.g. TV, corpora, interview data, body language) to improve your knowledge and understanding of language meaning and use.
• Language knowledge and awareness - Identify and simulate fairly closely all TL sounds/sound sequences and have some awareness of how tone, stress, and intonation affect meaning. - Have sufficient command of grammar and vocabulary to begin to use the language creatively, and to use this knowledge to improvise and to generate effective approximations where forms and vocabulary are unknown. - Have sufficient knowledge to begin to use language creatively, and to extrapolate from known to unknown language and improvise effectively. - Be aware of some regional differences (where appropriate) - Know sufficient metalanguage (terminology), where necessary in English, to understand and construct accurate descriptions of grammar and of how language is used.
• Speaking: interaction - Keep up with and participate in discussion and conversation on familiar and some complex topics using a good level of grammatical proficiency and a wide range of vocabulary. - Employ a range of appropriate strategies in managing complex interactions, including informal conversation, and in presenting and defending ideas and opinions.
• Listening - Understand the propositional content of most spoken discourse dealing with issues of contemporary importance (political, economic, social, cultural) and some of its implied meanings, when delivered in real time and from authentic sources - Recognise regional variation (e.g. vocabulary, accent) and understand the significance and appropriateness of different spoken registers and varieties
• Writing - Write clearly in a limited range of appropriate styles on complex topics in several genres. Express opinions, arguments and conclusions. - Write cohesive texts which are beginning to approach comparable native-speaker standard in terms of accuracy, textual and rhetorical devices and range of expression.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• write and think under pressure and meet deadlines
• use and present material in the target language and one's own language in written and oral forms in a clear and effective manner
• take accurate and effective notes and summarise material
• access electronic resources and use information and communication technologies appropriately.
• work autonomously, manifested in self-direction, self-discipline and time management
• research effectively in libraries and handle bibliographic information
• use target language source materials appropriately

Cognitive Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• continue reflecting critically and make judgements in the light of evidence and argument
• continue extracting and synthesising key information from written and spoken sources
• further develop problem-solving skills
• continue organising and presenting ideas within the framework of a structured and reasoned argument
• continue engaging in analytical and evaluative thinking
• use language quite creatively and precisely for a range of purposes and audiences

This Stage develops linguistic proficiency by focusing on wide range of texts (both written and spoken) relevant to the target language culture(s). These texts will provide a framework for developing sophisticated language forms and uses. Authentic print and multimedia material covering a variety of styles, registers and genres will be used. Most inadequacies in your linguistic proficiency will be remedied through discussion with the tutor, who will refer you to self-access material relevant to your particular needs available in the relevant resources area and help you to develop an individual learning programme.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include: classes and independent learning

Classes

Although part of any class session is likely to involve direct teaching, the emphasis is on student participation and you will be expected to take part actively in discussion and in tasks such as small group and pair work, role play, and individual or group presentations.

Independent learning

You will be expected to spend time studying outside the class, and we provide guidance, facilities and materials to help you develop your expertise as an independent language learner. As you progress through the Stages you will learn to understand, monitor and improve your own learning style; you will also acquire some expertise as a researcher and develop the kind of key skills which are valued by employers. You are encouraged to use the facilities in the Centre for Language Study Resources Centre at the Avenue Campus and at other sites in the University, including the Southampton Oceanography Centre, the Hartley Library and Winchester School of Art. These include on-line and computer-based resources, current newspapers and magazines, language laboratories and satellite TV, and self-access materials. For this Stage, you will be asked to consolidate your class work, to read, watch or listen to material in the target language, to prepare exercises and activities for the class, to write assignments, undertake projects and continue to develop your repertoire of effective language learning strategies.

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Resources. The Library and Learning Commons is continually updating its facilities and materials and you will find many of the recommended learning and reference materials here. You will need a comprehensive dictionary for this module and there will be a large number of resources made available via Blackboard, the University’s Virtual Learning Environment.

Assessment strategy

At the beginning of the module, you will receive information about your assessment. This will include:

• what tasks you will be expected to carry out
• clear criteria against which your work will be assessed
• what the provisional date and deadline of each assessment task is.

Note that it is the responsibility of students to ensure that they have read and understood this documentation, to plan their work schedule in advance, and to keep to the deadlines. If you are in any doubt, talk to the module coordinator in good time.

Assessment will cover what you have studied in class and what you are expected to have acquired as an independent learner. The design of the tasks and the criteria by which they are assessed ensure that you will be able to demonstrate all aspects of your learning: language skills, strategies and knowledge related to language learning, and key skills. Coursework and the in-class exam will give you formative feedback on your progress, that is, feedback which will help you learn. The exam at the end of the module will test what you have achieved and also what you are able to do in real life conditions of language use where you need to think on your feet and use your own linguistic resources.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External