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

The overall aim of this module is to help you develop the academic skills and English
language required for postgraduate study in the UK.
• To develop skills in writing for academic purposes
• To develop skills in reading academic texts in English
• To develop skills in listening to lectures and discussions
• 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 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 successful completion of this module, you will have developed the knowledge of the use
of English that you will need in order to:

• be familiar with the nature of the academic writing process.
• recognise the linguistic and textual features of academic texts.
• cite sources and reference them with respect to academic writing conventions.
• identify the nature and conventions of academic writing appropriate to
postgraduate study.
• recognise the structure and functions within academic texts in textbooks, journals
and other reference materials.
• critically analyse and evaluate source materials.
• recognise the process and stylistic conventions when writing up research.
• recognise the expectations of university tutors in terms of postgraduate written
work.
• identify and follow spoken academic discourse.
• recognise and use different levels of formality in spoken English.
• meet the expectations of university tutors in terms of participation in seminars.
• identify the discourse conventions in lectures and seminars at postgraduate level

Intended Skill Outcomes

On successful completion of this module, you will have developed the following academic
skills:
Reading for academic purposes
• Employ critical reading strategies to read an extended academic text
• Identify the organisation and structure of a writer’s argument
• Select relevant source texts to support academic writing
• Make accurate and effective notes on a source text
Listening skill development
• Follow the structure of academic lectures
• Employ skills to extract key information from lectures
• Make accurate and effective notes on a lecture
• Recognise the difference between informative and persuasive speech
• Develop interactive listening skills for seminars, discussions and tutorials
Writing for academic purposes
• Plan, draft, write, edit and re-write an academic assignment
• Synthesise information from different source texts
• Develop an argument in response to an assignment question
• Organise the structure of an assignment in a clear and coherent manner
• Use a referencing system correctly
• Use an appropriate academic style
• Select appropriate vocabulary and grammatical structures for academic writing
Speaking skill development
• Prepare and deliver oral presentations suitable for a postgraduate study
environment
• Participate actively and effectively in seminars

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

Assessing all four language skills by final test and coursework 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 test 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 several extracts of unprepared spoken discourse covering a variety of styles. The speaking test demonstrates the students’ ability to interact with others in the context of a given topic and situation. There is a separate oral presentation to formally assess the key skills of researching, synthesising, and presenting information. Overall, the combination of formative coursework and summative exams will provide a balanced assessment of students’ language competence (including the ability to perform under timed conditions).

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. 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 postgraduate 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 the INTO Graduate Diploma 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.

General Notes

Original Handbook text: