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 LING3391: LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Department: Linguistics and English Language

LING3391: LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Type	Level	Credits	Availability	Module Cap	Location
Open	3	20	Not available in 2005/2006	None.	Durham

Pre-requisites

Introduction to Written Discourse (LING2111).

Corequisites

None.

Excluded Combinations

None.

Aims

To introduce undergraduates to current thinking in this area of language education and to enable students to understand the nature of the relationship between teaching english and basic education.

Content

The module begins with an examination of the basis of literacy in metaphonological and metasyntactic awareness.
It then moves on to explore issues in the teaching of reading and writing skills through the wider perspective of literacy studies.
The different methods of defining and appraising literacy are given thought.
The origin and nature of writing will be discussed as well as its effect on language.
Some of the differences in the world's writing systems will be considered as will the question of whether literacy restructures cognition.
The problems of language choice and the related issues of language rights and linguistic imperialism are also broached.
The question of how people read and write will be surveyed and issues of writing and reading pedagogy will be looked at in light of the above.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge

Subject-specific Skills

Key Skills

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

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total Hours
Lectures	22	Weekly	1 hour	22
Tutorials	3	Termly	1 hour	3
Preparation and Reading				175
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component	Component Weighting	Element	Length/Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Take home examination	50%	2500 word take home examination		100%
Essay	50%	2500 word essay		100%

Formative Assessment

Write-up of data collection (1000 words) due end of week 8, term 2. In class-presentation.

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.