Introductory description

FP-8314 English for Academic Purposes for Arts and Humanities helps students to develop academic listening, reading, speaking and writing skills to succeed in related undergraduate courses in the United Kingdom.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Academic Writing:

1. Academic style and register.
2. Producing discipline-specific genres (e.g. a philosophy essay, literary criticism).
3. Structuring and linking.
4. Introductions: stating aims, thesis and critical view.
5. Main body: constructing an argument.
6. Conclusions: restating and expanding on main thesis, drawing on insights from main body.
7. Incorporating sources: paraphrasing and quotation.
8. Reporting verbs (strong, neutral, tentative).
9. Synthesising information from different sources.
10. Citing and referencing sources.

Academic Speaking:

1. Participation and interaction in seminars, using appropriate formal language.
2. Developing strategies to enter a discussion (e.g. interrupting politely and asking questions).
3. Formulating arguments on historical, philosophical, literary and cultural topics.
4. Formulating counterarguments.
5. Referring back to and building on what other speakers have said.
6. Asking for and providing clarification.
7. Structuring and signposting a presentation, using appropriate language.
8. Creating interest and engaging an audience (e.g. through pausing and pacing, repetition etc.).
9. Developing strategies for maintaining fluency.
10. Using intonation and pronunciation features correctly and expressively.

Academic Reading:

1. Developing strategies for dealing with different types of text (e.g. poetry, prose).
2. Analysing extracts from a range of texts (historical, philosophical, literary).
3. Interpreting and evaluating texts in light of specific theories and from different perspectives (e.g. feminist, historicist).
4. Identifying main themes and key concepts.
5. Following complex arguments.
6. Critically evaluating texts (e.g. bias, reliability).
7. Features of prosody (e.g. rhyme, alliteration).
8. Understanding metaphor and symbolism (verbal and visual).
9. Inferring opinion, attitude, tone, voice etc.
10. Making use of a text to build vocabulary and lexical resources.

Academic Listening:

1. Using extensive or intensive listening skills as appropriate.
2. Using listening context to predict content.
3. Following the stages or line of argument in a lecture.
4. Following discussions and exchanges in seminars, identifying speaker’s opinion, purpose or attitude.
5. Identifying main points, supporting details and digressions.
6. Recognising features of pronunciation that could reduce comprehension e.g. connected speech.
7. Using the listening context to deduce the meaning of unknown or difficult vocabulary.
8. Understanding different accents.
9. Using an appropriate note-taking strategy e.g. Cornell notes.
10. Using listening notes to produce a written or spoken summary.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Analyse, interpret and evaluate spoken and written discourse for the study of Arts and Humanities subjects.
• Synthesise relevant information/data to produce discipline-specific written or spoken genres, incorporating own ideas.
• Communicate effectively in written and spoken genres, employing academic conventions relevant to the discipline.

Indicative reading list

Brown, Tom, and James Walters, eds, Film Moments (London: BFI, 2010)
Marggraff Turley, Richard, Writing Essays: A Guide for Students in English and the Humanities (London: Routledge, 2016)
Rampley, Matthew, ed., Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005)
Storey, William Kelleher, Writing History: a guide for students (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016)

Interdisciplinary

Students will have opportunities to draw on knowledge and skills acquired within the different modules on their pathway.

International

The international nature of the student cohort allows for the teaching and learning to be approached from and inclusive of a range of international perspectives.

Subject specific skills

• Academic listening, reading, speaking and writing skills appropriate to Arts and Humanities subjects
• Information literacy skills for the study of Arts and Humanities
• Academic integrity within the Arts and Humanities
• Critical thinking within the Arts and Humanities
• Vocabulary building for the study of Arts and Humanities

Transferable skills

• Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills
• Information literacy skills
• Group work skills
• Independent study skills
• Critical thinking