Module LING2111: INTRODUCTION TO WRITTEN DISCOURSE

Department: LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE

LING2111: INTRODUCTION TO WRITTEN DISCOURSE

Prerequisites

• One Level 1 module in Linguistics.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• 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

• 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.

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

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Tutorial Assignments.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University