BA Cultural Studies and Thai Studies

Year 4

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the programme, students should have provided evidence of being able to:
-Communicate fluently and appropriately, maintaining a high degree of grammatical accuracy, in Thai, with native or other competent speakers
-Demonstrate sophisticated receptive and productive language skills, and show some practice in mediation language skills (such as translation, interpreting, and presentation in the target language), in a variety of contexts
-Demonstrate a consolidated and extended knowledge and understanding of complex structures and registers of Thai
-Demonstrate an ability to evaluate critically one or more aspects of the literatures, cultures, linguistic contexts, history, politics, social and economic structures of Thailand and South East Asia
-Demonstrate global and cultural awareness and a particular understanding of one or more cultures and societies, other than their own, that will normally have been significantly enhanced by a period of residence abroad
-Demonstrate cultural sensitivity and an awareness of and ability to engage with and respond to the ethical issues raised by the programme of study
-Effectively communicate information, arguments and analysis in a variety of media, including undertaking extended pieces of work or projects, demonstrating independent research skills, making appropriate use of primary sources and showing coherent and detailed knowledge of different aspects of the disciplines and recent research and scholarship in the field, and demonstrating professional competencies
-Describe and comment on particular aspects of recent research and/or scholarship, appreciate the uncertainty, ambiguity and limitations of knowledge in the subject and make appropriate use of scholarly reviews and primary sources
-Demonstrate an understanding of the social, cultural and political histories from which different media and cultural institutions, modes of communication, practices and structures have emerged.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the interconnectedness of texts and contexts, and of the shifting configurations of communicative, cultural and aesthetic practices and systems.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the historical evolution of particular genres, aesthetic traditions and forms, and of their current characteristics and possible future developments.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which identities are constructed and contested through engagements with culture -Deploy accurately standard techniques of analysis and enquiry within language scholarship, area studies, and cultural studies
-Work autonomously within a structured environment
-Conform to professional boundaries and norms where applicable
-Demonstrate an ability independently to identify and critically engage with instances of cross-over between the two strands of the degree programme

Transferable (key) skills

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:
- the transferable/key/generic skills necessary for employment related to the area(s) studied;
- the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility;
- the deployment of decision making skills in complex and unpredictable situations;
- the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways to a variety of audiences;
- the ability to undertake appropriate further training of a professional or equivalent nature.

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:
- Advanced linguistic qualities and transferable skills relevant to employment and life more generally;
- An advanced ability to draw connections between language, academic learning and context;
- Advanced contextual awareness and consolidated skills of contextual immersion;
- Advanced skills of deduction, argument and both oral and written presentation;
- Advanced skills of information retrieval and synthesis;
- An advanced ability to use information and computing technology effectively as a means of communication and as an aid to learning;
- Advanced skills necessary for the exercising of personal responsibility;
- Advanced skills of time and organisational management.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
- demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of the discipline;
- work that draws on a wide variety of material;
- the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion;
- evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within the discipline;
- work that is typically both evaluative and creative.

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
- Regular written, oral and aural tests during the course of the year to ascertain students' level of progress with: the Thai script; the Thai intonation system; Thai reading and writing ability; Thai vocabulary development and use; Thai grammar and syntax; the Thai context;
- Continuous assessment, essays and end-of-semester examinations in both Thai language and in students' disciplinary modules.