Unit name | Language and Communication Studies |
---|---|
Unit code | LANG00017 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | QCA-3 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Ms. Katherine High |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
Students require a proficiency of at least 6.0 in IELTS (min. 5.5 in writing and 5.0 in other components). |
Co-requisites |
None. |
School/department | Centre for Academic Language and Development |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit provides an introduction to key areas of language and communication combined with some key related frameworks of analysis. Topics range from language in text and in context, to communication in art, film, and other media. Communication is viewed broadly, including the more concrete mechanics of linguistic and visual communication as well as more abstract approaches to meaning. This implicates areas such as rhetoric, discourse analysis, semiotic theory, and related concepts of narrative and myth. These are examined within a variety of domains, such as gender, ethnicity, and politics, across a range of mediated contexts. The overall aim is to develop foundation analytical and critical skills related to study of the arts and humanities through a focus on expression, signification and representation.
At the end of this module students should be able to:
ILO2: Express an understanding of the role of language and other signifying systems in the construction of meanings, social relationships and identities;
ILO3: Analyse discourse at text level and go beyond this to critically unpack underlying assumptions and ideological positions
ILO4: Identify basic aspects of textual and visual communication and understand their constitution as generic categories and cultural products.
Students will attend 3 hours of study per week. The sessions are in the form of a seminar, which will consist of a series of mini-lectures interspersed with discussion of the content of the mini-lectures and the reading or other set material for that week. Students will be taught using a communicative approach in small groups to allow for such discussion. Students will be expected to prepare and follow up weekly sessions using the set materials as well as materials on Blackboard.
Formative assessment:
Summative assessment:
Marsen, S. (2006). Communication Studies. London: Palgrave Macmillan.