This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Undergraduate Handbook 2005-2006 (archived)

Module LING2111: INTRODUCTION TO WRITTEN DISCOURSE

Department: Linguistics and English Language

LING2111: INTRODUCTION TO WRITTEN DISCOURSE

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	2	20	Available in 2005/2006	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

One Level 1 module in Linguistics.

Corequisites

None.

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To introduce students to the analysis of written discourse in contemporary social context.

Content

Discourse analysis is the study of language in use in social settings.
It considers how language is actually used across stretches of written text.
This will involve the consideration of context, participants and purpose in written text, and consider how these are realised in term of rhetorical signals and patterns, lexical, grammatical and pragmatic choices.
A number of tools for text analysis will be introduced, enabling students to understand textual choices at macro (overall text organisation) and micro (sentence) level.
This analysis can provide insights into cross-cultural contrastive features of text, critical discourse, and the teaching of literacy and language.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Students should be able to use a range of techniques and tools for analysing and commenting on written text.
This will include understanding and being able to identify text organisation and rhetorical patterns, and functional approaches to language in text.

Subject-specific Skills

Key Skills

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

Lectures will introduce students to the topics under discussion, and student understanding of these topics will be furthered through their wide-ranging reading and practical text analysis.
Tutorials will enable students to discuss the reading and carry out practical text analysis under guidance.
Through the formative and summative assessment, students will be able to demonstrate their ability to understand and identify text organisation, to discuss functional approaches to language in text and to utilise the text analysis tools presented to analyse written text.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours
Lectures	19	Weekly in terms 1 and 2	1 hour	19
Tutorials	6	2 in each term	1 hour	6
Preparation and Reading				175
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Take home examination	50%	take home examination		100%
Unseen Examination	50%	unseen examination		100%

Formative Assessment

Tutorial Assignments.

Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.