2021/22 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ELU0300 Academic English for Postgraduate Studies (AEPS) Level 3

Module manager: Jane Heath / Helen Butt
Email: J.Heath1@leeds.ac.uk; H.Butt@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan), Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2021/22

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

On this module, you will be developing your ability to think about an issue from a range of perspectives and come to your own conclusions. You will continue to work on developing your understanding of, and ability to use academic English in both written and spoken communication. You will focus on synthesising secondary evidence in order to write a thematic paper. You will learn about the differences between spoken and written academic discourse and take part in both a seminar and a conference.

Objectives

This module provides students with the opportunity to:

- Demonstrate a good knowledge of the language and skills applicable to academic communication;
- Demonstrate a good understanding of the issues, cultures and concepts involved in UK academic study;
- Exhibit clear competence in the use and understanding of academically acceptable forms of English, both spoken and written.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should:

1. Be able to demonstrate some awareness of genre; making choices in relation to audience and purpose at whole text level.
2. Be able to demonstrate an awareness of discourse and rhetorical functions at whole text, paragraph and sentence level.
3. Be able to demonstrate an ability to follow academic conventions in writing, such as referencing, citations, including both external sources and their own arguments, meeting word limit requirements with minor errors.
4. Be able to demonstrate a critical approach to their own work and the work of others through use of sources, counter-argument and/ or evaluation.
5. Be able to use written academic language to suit a communicative purpose, including having an adequate lexical resource, an adequate range of appropriate structures and the ability to use these with enough coherence and accuracy to allow clear communication.
6. Be able to demonstrate an ability to follow academic conventions in speaking, such as referencing, synthesising sources and their own argument, meeting task requirements, turn taking and building a collaborative understanding with minor errors.
7. Be able to use and manipulate spoken academic language to suit an academic communicative purpose, including having an adequate lexical resource, an adequate range of appropriate structures and the ability to use these comprehensibly.
8. Be able to work with others on an academic task with few issues.
9. Be able to reflect on their own learning and be developing an awareness of resources and techniques they could employ to continue their own development.
10. Be able to describe, compare, evaluate and apply knowledge of academic conventions within the academic context.
11. Be able to communicate a good awareness of the cultural and ethical issues of academic study.

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to the course and to the concept of interdisciplinarity. Introduction to seminars.
Week 2: Introduction to the theme. Exploring the theme in your discipline. Note-taking and summarising. Writing a proposal.
Week 3: Academic integrity. Using the work of others in your own work. Working effectively in groups.
Week 4: Writing an essay plan. Synthesis. Finding and evaluating sources.
Week 5: Paragraphing and cohesion. Being an independent and reflective learner.
Week 6: Presentation skills . Learning about argumentation and academic voice.
Week 7: Formative presentations. Expressing criticality in your work.
Week 8: Practice assessed seminar. Synthesising sources from your discipline. Improving academic listening skills.
Week 9: Preparing for the conference presentation. Creative project.
Week 10: Preparing an academic profile and conference proposal.
Week 11: Practice presentations. Self-assessment and reflection.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Class tests, exams and assessment	2	0.50	1.00
Group learning	2	2.00	4.00
Lecture	10	1.00	10.00
Seminar	75	2.00	150.00
Tutorial	10	0.20	2.50
Independent online learning hours			47.50
Private study hours			225.00
Total Contact hours			167.50
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			440.00

Private study

This is a full-time course. On average students will have 15 hours of tuition and 0.25 hours of consultations per week and will be expected to do an additional 4-4.5 hours of independent online study and 20 hours or more of private study each week, which will include reading and preparing for seminars, lectures and assessments using both online digital and print resources, and completing learning tasks.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Students receive regular written feedback on writing tasks submitted through TurnItIn. This allows them to improve their writing and language skills before they submit their summative assessments. Students submit a rationale, plan and draft before they submit their final thematic essay. This ensures that they are supported through every stage of the essay-writing process. As well as regular class activities in groups, students work in groups to prepare and deliver their conference presentation, which forms part of their summative assessment.
Formative tasks include:

- Diagnostic writing task (300 words).
- Summary of article 1 (150 words).
- Summary of article 2 (150 words).
- Proposal for thematic essay (250 words).
- Synthesis 1 (300 words)
- Formative presentation
- Plan for thematic essay (800 words).
- Draft academic profile and conference proposal (150 & 300 words).
- Synthesis 2 (300 words).
- Draft thematic essay (1200 words).
- Practice assessed seminar (20 mins (three) / 25 mins (four)).
- Practice conference presentation (10-15 mins (pair) / 15-20 mins (three)).

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	Thematic Essay (2000 words)	50.00
Presentation	Conference presentation (10-15 mins: pair / 15-20 mins: three students)	25.00
Tutorial Performance	Assessed seminar (20 mins: three students / 25 mins : four students)	25.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally, further attempts are offered for students who need to progress and who either do not meet the expected level of attainment or reach the required overall level but do not reach the required level on more than one assessment component.

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 09/12/2021

Disclaimer

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