Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

IELTS 5.5 with a score of 5.5 in all skills

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module helps students to develop key skills and knowledge with regard to English for university study. Students will have ample practice and development time as this is an enhanced 40 credit module in English for Academic Purposes.

Overall aim:
To develop confidence, knowledge and skills in using English for university postgraduate study:

-       To develop skills in writing for academic purposes
-       To develop skills in reading academic texts in English
-       To develop the skills in listening to lectures, talks and discussions on academic and general interest topics
-       To develop skills in taking notes from spoken and written texts and effectively using these notes for study purposes
-       To develop confidence, accuracy and fluency in the spoken English skills appropriate for academic and social contexts

Outline Of Syllabus

Writing for academic purposes
The stylistic features and conventions of academic writing e.g. vocabulary choices, grammatical structures, use of caution
Variation of academic writing genre e.g. descriptive, argumentative
Writing English clearly and appropriately using an appropriate range of sentence structures and vocabulary.
The process of planning, writing, reviewing and editing academic assignments
The organisation of ideas and arguments in a clear and logical manner.
Using citation and referencing appropriately.
Using the work of others in academic writing - summarising, paraphrasing and quoting
Writing clearly and concisely under timed conditions.


Reading for academic purposes
Reading strategies for academic study: scanning, skimming, understanding the main ideas, identifying patterns of text organisation
Reading and understanding data: graphs, diagrams and tables

Listening skill development
Listening to and understanding the structure of academic lectures.
Taking effective notes in lectures
Developing interactive listening skills for seminars, discussions, tutorials and interviews

Speaking skill development
Taking an active part in seminars, discussions and tutorials on academic topics.
The preparation and delivery of oral presentations for an academic context
Using appropriate spoken English in social contexts
Developing spoken grammar and vocabulary with regard to both academic and social situations
Developing pronunciation skills to enable effective oral communication in academic and social contexts

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completion of this module, students will have developed the knowledge of the use of English that they will need in order to:
•       Be familiar with the nature of the academic writing process
•       Recognise the linguistic and textual features of academic texts
•       Understand the conventions and constraints of academic English
•       Cite sources and reference them with respect to academic writing conventions
•       Understand the nature and conventions of academic writing appropriate to postgraduate study.
•       Understand the expectations of tutors in terms of postgraduate written work
•       Understand and follow spoken academic discourse
•       Recognise and use different levels of formality in spoken English
•       Meet the expectations of tutors in terms of participation in seminars
•       To understand the structure and functions within academic texts in textbooks, journals, and reference materials
•       To critically assess source materials
•       To understand the discourse conventions in lectures and seminars at postgraduate level
•       To understand the process and stylistic conventions when writing up research

Intended Skill Outcomes

On completion of this module, students will have developed the ability to:
•       Use English effectively and appropriately in order to embark upon postgraduate study.

Writing for academic purposes
•       Write English clearly and appropriately using an appropriate range of sentence structures and vocabulary
•       Select appropriate vocabulary and grammatical structures for academic writing at postgraduate level
•       Organise ideas and arguments in an appropriate, clear and coherent manner
•       Prepare, draft and finalise written academic assignments.
•       Revise, edit and proof-read written work
•       Write clearly and concisely under timed conditions
•       Use citation and referencing appropriately in order to refer to reading sources correctly


Reading for academic purposes
•       Read and understand academic texts appropriate to the subject discipline.
•       Read and understand news media texts and other materials for extensive reading purposes
•       Appraise reading material effectively, having selected the appropriate reading strategy
•       Exploit dictionaries, thesauri and other study aids in an effective manner.
•       Employ skills to extract key information from written texts, record it in note form and synthesise it in a verbal or written summary
•       Gather, select and organise source material independently and critically


Listening skill development
•       Deploy a range of listening strategies appropriate to the context
•       Follow the structure of academic lectures
•       Employ skills to extract key information from lectures, talks and discussions, record it in note form and synthesise it in a verbal or written summary
•       Develop interactive listening skills for seminars, discussions, tutorials and interviews

Speaking skill development
•       Develop spoken grammar and vocabulary with regard to both academic and social situations
•       Prepare and deliver oral presentations suitable for a postgraduate study environment
•       Understand linguistic and paralinguistic cues given by a speaker in an interactive situation
•       Participate effectively in seminars, group discussions, tutorials and interviews
•       Use intonation, stress and rhythm relative to context and speech purpose

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Collaborative and interactive learning are central to the teaching and learning methodology adopted in this module. This is best developed through small group learning and pair work. Collaborative learning facilitates the development of reading strategies such as guessing unknown vocabulary from context and helps to improve students' understanding of the writing process as well as their planning, revising, editing and proof-reading skills. These skills are best developed through peer and tutor feedback on drafts. Activities which exploit the strong link between reading and writing are also important. These activities usually involve the combination of teaching and learning methods outlined above. Note-taking and summary writing tasks are examples of these activities, as is text analysis, which is used to help students understand the organisational and stylistic features of academic writing as well as the conventions governing the use of sources. Finally, the development of reading and writing skills is not possible without self-study.

Extensive reading is necessary to improve reading skills and general language proficiency and to increase knowledge and understanding of textual and organisational features of written texts. Regular writing practice in the form of homework tasks ensures that the skills learnt are consolidated. Students are exposed to audio and video extracts of a wide variety of discourse types from a range of sources e.g. lectures, news reports, everyday conversations and discussions. The use of small group work and pair work maximises speaking time in class and ensures personalised feedback on specific listening and speaking problems. Students are required to prepare for and actively participate in seminar simulations, tutorial discussions and open debates on a variety of academic and social topics. Workshop sessions and peer feedback classes are well suited to developing oral presentation skills.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The focus is on assessing students’ language competence and preparedness for postgraduate study.

Students are assessed in the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking in both semesters. The assessment is designed to measure both general language/communication skills and study skills for academic work in a UK higher education environment. The rationale for this approach is given below:

1       This approach to assessment is consistent with the programme's overall aim of developing the language, communication and study skills of international students to a level that will enable them to undertake a degree programme at Newcastle or other UK universities.

2       The assessment addresses the specific learning outcomes outlined in the Programme Specification.
3       The overall mark (the average of the marks for the four individual skills) is directly linked to a specific band in the statements of competence provided by the INTO Newcastle University Centre. This enables students, receiving schools and sponsors to interpret the grades easily and accurately.

4       The marks for the individual skills enable course leaders and tutors to make appropriate recommendations for further tuition or self-study in specific language skill areas. It is possible, for example, that a student who has satisfactorily completed an INTO Programme may require In-Sessional support in one particular skill (e.g. writing).

5       This approach to assessment is consistent with that of other INTO Newcastle University Centre programmes (e.g. Pre-Sessional, In-Sessional, English for Undergraduate Study and English for Postgraduate study), which also use skills-based assessment and a common English Language Proficiency Scale when awarding marks. This ensures a smooth transition from one course to another and gives a clear indication of progress over time. It also ensures that reporting mechanisms are standardised across programmes and that the information contained in entry standard and progress reports is easily interpreted by academic schools and sponsors.

Semester 1 assessment is summative and results are used by the tutors and students to measure student ability and progress on the module. This will provide the opportunity to identify areas where the students need to focus on improving before taking the major summative assessments in semester 2, which will determine their success on the overall programme and their university place. The aim of the assessments are to test the four skills taught and to provide constructive feedback to ensure the students transition into an academic environment more successfully.

Assessing all four language skills by final test and coursework in semester 2 makes it possible to test the full range of skills taught. Skills that are not easily assessed by means of a timed test (e.g. citation skills) are tested through the written coursework. The reading assessment is designed to assess the full range of skills taught. The nature of the listening test demonstrates the students’ ability to process, understand and infer information from extracts of prepared spoken discourse. The three recorded presentations assess the key skills of researching, synthesising, and presenting information.

General Notes

Original Handbook text: