2017/18 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

EDUC2090 Language Description for Education

20 creditsClass Size: 50

Module manager: Dr Laura Grassick
Email: L.J.Grassick@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2017/18

Module replaces

EDUC2041, EDUC 2051

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

Are you thinking of doing some language teaching in the near future? If so, don't be caught out by those tricky grammar and vocabulary questions that students always ask. One of the most important aspects of any English language teacher's knowledge is knowledge of English itself, especially information which is likely to be useful to learners. This module should equip you with basic knowledge and a set of skills for describing language for teaching at the levels of pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and whole texts. By the end of the module, you should be able to do simple phonetic transcriptions of English, be able to identify word classes and aspects of word meaning, and describe some of the main grammatical structures of English, in particular the verb tenses. Teaching is by seminar, and includes many hands-on language analysis tasks, which are done in small groups. Assessment is by a portfolio of language description tasks in which you are asked to analyse samples of language taken from authentic texts, teaching materials or produced by learners, linking your analysis to issues relating to teaching and learning English. There are no pre-requisites for this module.

Objectives

On completion of this module, students should:

- Be able to describe language in terms of the four levels of the four levels of phonology, lexis, grammar and discourse
- Be able to transcribe simple sentences into phonemic script.
- Be aware of some different ways of describing grammar for different purposes, and able to comment on the suitability of these for teachers and learners.
- Have an overview of the structures of English, in particular the verb systems, in order to be able to use reference books and in order to be able to understand the language aims and structures of course books.
- Be able to analyse texts in terms of lexical patterns: collocation, sense relations and idiom.
- Understand the notions of form and meaning and be able to comment on how they are dealt with in reference books and course books.
- Be able to describe and apply to the analysis of texts the frameworks of conversation analysis and text structure.

Syllabus

This module aims to provide students with an introduction to ways in which the English language can be described and analysed in order to help learners of English as a foreign language. Students will learn phonemic transcription, and develop their awareness of learners' pronunciation difficulties and teaching techniques to overcome these. They will study basic grammatical categories and structures such as the tense system, with application to TESOL. They will also practice analysing texts using some basic notions from the fields of lexical and discourse analysis. The course will be structures around examples of teaching materials, reference materials and examples of learners' written and spoken language. We will also use authentic texts such as newspaper, magazine and spoken texts, for some of the analysis.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	11	2.00	22.00
Seminar	1	3.00	3.00
Private study hours			175.00
Total Contact hours			25.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Preparation and reading for lectures and seminars.
Preparation, reading, and writing up assignments.

TUTORIALS: Students are entitled to an email or face-to-face tutorial

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Progress will be monitored through contributions to lectures/seminars, and assignments.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Online Assessment	Participation in VLE discussion	10.00
Assignment	1 x 1600 words	40.00
Assignment	1 x 2000 words	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

The VLE-based assessment will check students' ongoing understanding of the language system and how to describe it. The first written assignment will check students' understanding of language description in terms of What do teachers need to know? It will do this through a task based on extant teaching materials, e.g. evaluation of course book materials. The second written assignment will check students' understanding of language description in terms of What do teachers need to teach? It will do this through a task based on a 'real' text, such as a newspaper article, and ask students to explore the ways in which they could exploit this text for teaching and learning.

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 29/09/2017

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