| Unit name | Advanced Language |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MODLM2040 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Foster |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Modern Languages |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit is a training unit on the MA programme in Modern Languages, and is made available to taught postgraduates on other programmes. Based on existing fluency (normally an undergraduate degree in the relevant language), it enables students to achieve advanced reading and oral skills in one of: Catalan, Czech, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish. The unit will focus on (i) the comprehension and use of the higher registers of the modern language, particularly its political, literary and academic registers, and (ii) the language of cultural and historical sources of the sort that students examine in their units on the MA programme in Modern Languages. Through intensive tuition in a fortnightly one-and-a-half-hour class throughout the two teaching blocks, some conducted in the relevant language, and through extensive preparation for these classes students will develop their ability to express themselves on political, literary and historical topics and to read and analyse sources and scholarship in these areas.
The broad aim of the unit is to develop the linguistic competence of students coming to the MA programme with a first degree in one of the available languages. Specifically it is designed to:
Students will (1) build on the linguistic knowledge acquired at undergraduate level in one of the languages taught in the School of Modern Languages. They will (2) learn to speak about literary, cultural and historical topics in this language with greater fluency and accuracy. They will also (3) learn to read source material and works of scholarship in the original language with greater facility, and develop advanced analytical skills with this type of material. They will (4) be in a stronger position at the end of the course to proceed to research which will demand immediate fluency and familiarity with source texts in the relevant language or to work at higher level with their language in a professional context.
Fortnightly tutorials. Some will be conducted in the relevant language and will develop oral fluency in various registers enabling students to discuss and present academic material at a high level. Other classes will focus on analysis of academic texts, and on advanced reading comprehension of such texts in the relevant language.
The unit is taught fortnightly in 1.5-hour tutorials.
(1) a portfolio of written coursework dealing with the analysis of academic texts on a literary, cultural or historical topic [outcomes 1, 3]; and an end-of-year examination, consisting of (2) an oral examination that will focus on discussion of literary, cultural or historical topics [outcomes 1-2] and (3) an advanced reading comprehension [outcomes 1, 4].
The three elements contribute one third each to the overall unit mark. The portfolios are around 1500 words in length (3X500) - but it is important to consider that they are written in the foreign language so standard word lengths should not apply.
Key reading will vary according to the language of study.
