english language and communications - kingston university

English Language & Communication Modules for Visiting

Students 2014/15

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These modules look at language on a number of different levels: focusing on how language works and how it is composed of different sub-systems; how we make and interpret meaning; how we communicate in speech and writing; and how we use language to signal our identity. Introductory (level 4) modules introduce the basics of language – what it is, what it does, and how it can be described. Tools for linguistic analysis are introduced and real examples of language are studied, either written or spoken. Level 5 and 6 modules are more advanced and explore some of the main applications of linguistics in more depth, choosing from a variety of subjects. Updated April 2014/PJW

Entry requirements:

GPA of 2.75 or above (out of 4.0) or equivalent.

Pre-requisites:

Previous academic study of English language/literature is useful for entry onto Level 4 modules.

Level 5 and 6 modules are progressively more advanced and will require more substantial previous in language and applied linguistics.

Taught at: Penrhyn Road campus.

KEY TO MODULE DESCRIPTORS

SUITABILITY OF MODULE FOR STUDENTS VISITING KU ON STUDY OPTION ____

1 Indicates module is suitable for students visiting KU on Study Option 1 (Whole Year)

2 Indicates module is suitable for students visiting KU on Study Option 2 (Autumn)

3 Indicates module is suitable for students visiting KU on Study Option 3 (Spring/Summer)

Notes:

1. Students enrolled on Study Option 1 are required to study the entire module.

2. Whilst the University makes every effort to ensure that this information is correct at the time of updating (April 2014), it cannot accept responsibility for omissions or subsequent changes. Module availability and content may be subject to change, as part of the University’s policy of continuous improvement and development.

MODULE CODE

TITLE SUITABILITY KEY


Students 2014/15

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LEVEL 4 (INTRODUCTORY)

EN4001 Introduction to English Language 1, 2, 3

EN4002 Introduction to Communication 1, 2, 3

LEVEL 5 (INTERMEDIATE)

EN5001 Sociolinguistics 1, 2, 3

EN5002 Psycholinguistics 1, 2, 3

EN5003 Language in Context 1, 2, 3

LEVEL 6 (ADVANCED)

EN6002 Narrative 1

EN6006 Meaning 1

EN6008 Language and Emotion 1

EN6009 Discourse and Social Media 1

LEVEL 4 (INTRODUCTORY)

Module Code: EN4001

Module Title: Introduction to English Language

Credits: Full year: 8 (US) 15 (ECTS); single semester: 4 (US) 7.5 (ECTS)

Level: 4

Prerequisites: Previous academic study of English language/literature is useful .

Suitability

Suitable for students enrolled at KU for Study Option 1



Not open to Erasmus students as level 4.


Students 2014/15

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This module introduces students to the field starting with an overview of the historical development and world variations of English. From language with a small 'l', the module moves on to the study of Language with a big 'L' considering the properties that make it a unique medium of human communication and exploring its multifaceted relation to cognition. Students are initiated to the enquiry of language as a system and language as action, considering how speakers can produce and understand speech, how they can mean more than they say, how they ordinarily do things with language and fulfil a wide range of functions.

The main features of the module are (a) its focus on the description and analysis of language at different levels, namely phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics (b) its overview of the key principles in contemporary linguistic enquiry.

Autumn Semester:

Introduction to the Study of Language

The sounds of language 1 – phonetics

The sounds of language 1 – phonology

Words and their structure – morphology

Structure of words and sentences - syntax 1

Structure of heads and phrases – syntax 2

The meaning of language – semantics

Beyond words – pragmatics 1

Beyond words – pragmatics 2

Spring Semester:

Introduction: Speaking and writing.

Writing language


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What is English? Who Speaks English? What is Standard English?

Evolving English 1

Evolving English 2

Writing English

Language and Technology

Digital English

English as a global language

New Englishes

Teaching: Tutor-led lectures and interactive lectures

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1:

Take home test (50%); 1500-2000 word essay (50%)

STUDY OPTION 2: take home test (100%)

STUDY OPTION 3: 1,500 – 2000 word essay (100%)

Last updated: 01/09/14 PJW

Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer Return to top.

Module Code: EN4002

Module Title: Introduction to Communication


Level: 4

Prerequisites: Previous academic study of English language/literature is useful.


Students 2014/15

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Suitability




Not open to Erasmus students as level 4.

Course Content:

This module introduces students to language as a tool for human communication drawing on linguistics and its related disciplines. The main features of the module are (a) its focus on the analysis of language use and meaning in context and (b) its concern with key issues in intercultural communication.

Students will study language as communication in its social and cultural contexts and gain an insight into the formation of meaning and social relationships. The module will initiate students to the key concepts and frameworks for describing and analysing discourse, (i.e. language above the sentence), with specific reference to meaning in context, talk in interaction, narrative practices and discourse strategies in intercultural encounters.

Autumn Semester:

What is communication? Human language and animal communication

Communication in a social context: Theories and models of communication

How conversations work: The unspoken “rules” of conversation

Communicating with language disorders: Non-verbal communication

Oral communication skills

Language, thought and culture: linguistic and communicative relativity

Written Communication Skills

Communicative competence: Adapting language use according to context

Negotiating relationships and activities: power and politeness

Multiculturalism and the study of intercultural communication Spring Semester:

Discourse in action: steps in doing discourse

Intercultural communication in everyday interaction: Schemas, scripts and frames

Intercultural communication in everyday interaction: Genres and narrative

Intercultural misunderstandings in everyday talk: Contextualization cues

Intercultural misunderstandings in institutional talk: Power and inequality

Intercultural discourse and communication in media and advertising

Intercultural discourse and communication in media and advertising

Intercultural communication and emotion Developing your interactional and intercultural competencies

Student Presentations

Teaching: Tutor-led lectures and interactive lectures.


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STUDY OPTION 1: Portfolio (100%):

a 2,000-word essay (50%)

a group presentation commenting on everyday, institutional or intercultural communication in terms of communication aspects discussed in the classroom (50%);

STUDY OPTION 2: portfolio

STUDY OPTION 3: portfolio


Return to top. Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer

LEVEL 5 (INTERMEDIATE)

Module Code: EN5001

Module Title: Sociolinguistics


Level: 5

Prerequisites: Previous successful study in English language and communication

Suitability




Course Content:

In this module, students will engage critically with the complex relationship between language and society from a range of sociolinguistic perspectives. In the autumn semester, sessions introduce students to key sociolinguistic research and findings that shed light into how and why different speakers systematically vary their language use in relation to a range of social factors, such as class, social status, age, ethnicity, gender. Sessions then move on to explore how and why individual speakers alternate between styles and languages on different occasions drawing on sociolinguistic models of style and code-switching/code-mixing.


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In the spring semester, weekly sessions focus on the interaction between language and gender in mixed talk and single-sex talk in both private and public spheres. Lectures and seminar discussions will touch upon major debates regarding gender, sexuality and power in popular, media and scholarly discourses and will point to new directions in sociolinguistic research. Autumn Semester:

Introduction to sociolinguistics

Language variation and social class

Language style and audience design

Code-switching/code-mixing and identity

Qualitative research methods: ethnographic and ethical approaches to data collection

Transcriptions: representing spoken data

Quantitative research methods: questionnaires for a sociolinguistic study Spring Semester:

Introduction to the field of language and gender

Gender and Language variation

Gender and identity

Gender in same-sex interactions

Gender in mixed interactions

Women’s talk in the public sphere

Language and Sexuality

Debates in Language and Gender

Key directions in sociolinguistic research

Teaching: Weekly interactive lectures

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1:

2,500-3,000-word Practical Research Project (60%)

Presentation of the Practical Research Project (10%)

Unseen Exam (2 hours) (30%)

STUDY OPTION 2: 2000-word essay (choice of one from four)

STUDY OPTION 3: 2000-word essay (choice of one from four)


Study Option 1 = Whole Year


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Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer Return to top.

Module Code: EN5002

Module Title: Psycholinguistics


Level: 5

Prerequisites: Previous successful study in English language and communication.

Suitability




Course Content:

This module will appeal to students who are interested in developing their understanding of how language is perceived and processed. It focuses on first and second language acquisition and the relationship between language and cognition (debate might include questions concerning the relationship between language and thought, modularity of mind, Universal Grammar, etc.).

Students are encouraged to comprehend and explain the nature and relationship between first and second language acquisition/learning as well as first and second language learning processes, e.g. the critical period hypothesis and bilingualism or the differences between child and adult learners. The major strands of the module cover the underlying language systems and language processing; the course considers how children or adults acquire the various components of their native language, e.g. phonology, morphology, syntax and socio-pragmatic knowledge. Students examine psychological and linguistic theories of linguistic and cognitive development and review some empirical evidence of the nature and effects of input.

Students are expected to engage with the nature of researching language acquisition and the challenges this poses for researchers. Other languages apart from English will be used to highlight how language is represented in the mind of bilinguals. Students are encouraged to analyse and critique major theories and models in the light of their own learning experiences. The module is also aimed at giving students solid foundation of applied linguistics in which areas from psychology, cognition, computing and biology also enrich their understanding. The topics will cover linguistic, psychological as well as pedagogical perspectives.

Autumn Semester: Bilingualism and second language acquisition

Introducing Psycholinguistics


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Bilingual Acquisition 1 Bilingual Acquisition. Stages of child bilingual behaviour: phonological, lexical, and syntactical development patterns. Neural basis of bilingualism.

Bilingual Acquisition 2 Language processing in bilinguals. Bilingualism and cognitive development: polarisation in effects from early studies, analysis and models or language control.

Second language acquisition 1: Development patterns in L2 adults

Assignments explanation: language learning project or experiment.

Second language acquisition 2: Cognitive accounts of second language acquisition: Implicit and explicit knowledge, automatic and controlled processing.

The mental lexicon

Second language acquisition 3: The interplay between lexis and grammar

Second language acquisition 4: Individual differences: language aptitude and dyslexia

Second language acquisition 5: Complexity Theory and SLA.

Experimental research methods in Psycholinguistics researching language acquisition or doing experiments

Spring Semester: First language acquisition and language and the brain

Language development 1: The problem of language acquisition; rationalism and empiricism

Language development 2: How do they do it? The Innateness Hypothesis.

Language development 3: Acquisition as a biological process. Language as a biological process, properties that language shares with other biological processes – stages in development and critical periods (evidence from Genie etc.).

Language and the Brain 1: Evidence from pathologies. What happens when something goes wrong in the brain? Experimental evidence from research on


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deafness, aphasia, SLI, Williams Syndrome.

Language and the brain 2: Theory of mind and its role in communication (e.g. autism). The development of pragmatics, etc.)

Language and the Brain 3: The uniqueness of human language: experimental work with animal communication.

Teaching: lectures, teacher and student led seminars

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1:

report typically consisting of 2,000 words (50%), on either: a language learning project OR a word association experiment;

class seen test (50%)

STUDY OPTION 2 or 3: portfolio (100%).


Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer Return to TOP.

Module Code: EN5003

Module Title: Language in Context

Credits: 8 (US) 15 (ECTS)

Level: 5

Prerequisites: Previous successful study in English language and communication

Suitability




Course Content:

This module explores the linguistic study of style and meaning in a range of contexts, such as spoken and written mediums, including natural conversation, literary and media texts. It brings together work from the fields of stylistics and pragmatics to consider how we use and understand language in use. The topics presented in this module focus on contextual meaning and its effects, exploring aspects of language and creativity, as well as key theories and frameworks in stylistics and pragmatics to understand how style and


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meaning are created and interpreted.

Autumn Semester:

Introducing Pragmatics

Introducing Inference

Grice’s Theory of Conversation

Grice: Questions, problems and criticisms

Relevance and cognition

Relevance and communication

Applying Relevance

Understanding Metaphor

Understanding Irony

Experimental Pragmatics

Spring Semester:

Introduction to language in literature: What is Stylistics?

Foregrounding grammar and lexis

Cohesion and coherence: making a text

Reading figures of speech: figurative language

Narrative, narration and point of view

Speech and thought presentation

Dialogue and discourse in plays

Multimodality and stylistics – reading and discussion

Media discourses: the stylistics of advertising

Teaching: One-hour keynote lectures and interactive lectures

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1: portfolio (100%):

A presentation of approximately 10 minutes words (20%)

Two essays of 1,500 words each (40% each)

STUDY OPTION 2: essay of 1500 words (choice of 1 from 8) STUDY OPTION 3:

In-class presentation of a chapter on an area of stylistics (20%)

Stylistic analysis of a literary text (80%)



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Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer Return to Top.

LEVEL 6 (ADVANCED)

Module Code: EN6002

Module Title: Narrative


Level: 6

Prerequisites: Substantial previous study in English language and communication.

Suitability Suitable for students enrolled at KU for Study Option 1 only

Course Content:

This module looks at narrative story telling in both fictional and real life stories. We explore concepts within narratology to explore the theory of narrative, as a way to understand the nature, form and function of narratives. We will look at the common or universal characteristics of narrative storytelling as well as differences and find out how it is that we are able to comprehend, memorise and produce stories. We will look at narrative structure, characterisation, narration and disnarration, narrative beginnings, the narrator as witness, children's narratives and fairytales, and narratives in the media (e.g. newspapers, blogs) such as those following major world events.

Autumn Semester:

Introduction to Narrative: defining narrative and what makes a story; Narration and Disnarration: what does and does not happen.

Literary models of narrative: the Morphology of the Folktake, story grammars and schemas.

The surface of Narratives: time, character, plot.

Sociolinguistic model of narratives – Labov and Waletzky and oral narratives; Conversational Storytelling.

Children's stories: the fairy tale, wicked step-mothers and other traumas.

Narratives of trauma; narrator as witness.


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Spring Semester:

Narratives in the News

Narratives in the Media; narratives in advertising

Film viewing

Presentations & Reading

Teaching: Two-hour interactive lectures running on alternate weeks

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1:

Extended piece of writing (4000-5000 words) (60%).

One piece of practical work – 2000 words (30%)

An oral presentation (10%)



Module Code: EN6006

Module Title: Meaning


Level: 6

Prerequisites: Substantial previous study in English language and communication

Suitability Suitable for students enrolled at KU for Study Option 1


Students 2014/15

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Course Content:

This module explores ideas from a wide range of disciplines and introduces students to some of the key concepts in the study of meaning. It begins by considering work in the philosophy of language on what it means to ‘mean’ something and moves on to the distinction between the context-dependent meaning inherent in language-in-use – the domain of pragmatics – and context-independent meaning – the domain of linguistic semantics. Students will consider how different linguistic elements interact with the discourse context to contribute to the communicative act, and we will also consider the role played by extra-linguistic aspects of communication such as facial expression, gesture and body language.

Teaching: Lectures and tutorials

Assessment:

STUDY OPTION 1:

Extended piece of writing

One piece of practical work

An oral presentation



Module Code: EN6008

Module Title: Language and Emotion


Level: 6




Students 2014/15

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Course Content:

This module explores the culturally diverse forms and functions of emotion talk and discourse that pervade everyday social activities. We will consider anthropological, sociocultural and linguistic aspects of emotion employing analytical frameworks and methods that have emerged in the interdisciplinary field of sociolinguistics.

Topics covered include:

Definitions of emotion

Histories of emotion

Language, emotion and power

Language, emotion and the market

Researching language and emotion

Language has a heart: encoding affect in everyday talk

Language has a heart: encoding affect in everyday narrative

Autumn Semester:

Introduction to Language and Emotion

Emotion in multiple languages

Emotion and gender

Emotion and affect in grammar

Emotion and subjectivity in narrative

Researching language and emotion

Spring Semester:

Emotion in politics and the politics of emotion

New Developments in the field

Student presentations

Teaching:

Two-hour interactive lectures running on alternate weeks, one-to-one tutorials and two research and study skills sessions.


Students 2014/15

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STUDY OPTION 1:

Extended piece of writing (60%)

One piece of practical work (30%)



Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Return to TOP Study Option 3 = Spring/summer

Module Code: EN6009

Module Title: Discourse and Social Media


Level: 6



Course Content:

This module will explore discourse aspects of social media in our globalising world, drawing on theories and methodologies developed in linguistics, sociolinguistics, critical discourse analysis and linguistic anthropology. Students will have the opportunity to research language and communication in a range of social media, including social networking sites, such as Facebook, media sharing sites like YouTube and Flickr, wikis, and other sites of (micro)blogging, such as Twitter.

Topics covered include:

Introduction to Discourse and Social Media

Interacting Online

Online Genres

Researching Discourse and Social Media

Identities Online

Digital Emotion

Teaching:

Two-hour interactive lectures running on alternate weeks, one-to-one tutorials and two research and study skills sessions.

Assessment: STUDY OPTION 1:


Students 2014/15

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Extended piece of writing (60%)

One piece of practical work (30%)



Study Option 1 = Whole Year Study Option 2 = Autumn Study Option 3 = Spring/summer Return to TOP

english language and communications - kingston university

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