ObjectivesFoundation level research training for academic or professional contexts
Academic titleMRes Language, Discourse & Communication
Course descriptionProgramme description
- teaching from staff with international reputations in the field.
- flexibility and choice over the duration of the programme enables an account of new interests and changing concerns.
- students are able to undertake professionally focused research that reflects their specific interests.
This MRes has been designed to bridge the gap between undergraduate degrees and more advanced, doctoral level research. In contrast to conventional MA programmes, the MRes offers a strong foundation in social science research methods to provide students with the skills to conduct high-level independent research, either in an academic or a professional capacity.
The MRes has four compulsory modules on research methodology; a pilot research study and two modules selected from a range offered across the College. Optional modules include, for example, Language Contact, Bilingualism & Black Englishes; Language, Identity & Culture; Linguistic Approaches to Narrative Analysis; Principles & Practice in ELT; English for Academic Purposes; and Transplanted & Transformed: An Introduction to World Englishes.
Programme format and assessment
The MRes has four compulsory modules; a pilot research study; and two modules selected from a range offered across the College. Details of coursework will vary from module to module and full details will be given out during each module. Coursework will typically be assessed by means of an essay or equivalent.
Programme modules for MRes Language, Discourse & Communication
Effective Language Practices in Multiethnic and Multilingual Classrooms
This course is designed for those who are involved in the education of language minority students in the primary, secondary and FE sectors in the UK. Students will gain an understanding of: policy, theory and practice in the teaching and learning of ESL/EAL in school/college settings principles and practice of integrating language and content teaching assessment of ESL/EAL development.
Issues in Teaching & Learning Modern Foreign Languages
By the end of the course, participants will be able to articulate the key concepts in second language acquisition theory; understand how these concepts have been applied in MFL teaching practices; critique various teaching and learning approaches and the theoretical precepts which underpin them and relate this broader understanding to participants' own teaching contexts. The course develops knowledge and understanding of a range of theoretical frameworks on teaching and learning in MFL education and the seminal texts and literature in these areas.
Language Contact, Bilingualism and Black Englishes
This course is designed for teachers, lecturers and others who are interested in examining some of the societal and individual linguistic consequences of the encounters between peoples and languages. The course will include the analysis of concepts such as bilingualism, multilingualism and the formation and function of languages like Caribbean Creoles and the Black Englishes of the United States and the UK.
Notions of English
By the end of this course participants will have an understanding of key elements of an epistemological framework for the teaching of English; a knowledge of the competing philosophies of English, the history of these positions and their current manifestations; an understanding of the cognitive activities distinctively involved in English; an ability to reflect on their own assessment practices and an awareness of the assumptions underlying their own pedagogical practices and an ability to reflect on their efficacy in relation to the teaching of English The course develops knowledge and understanding of aspects of psychological, philosophical and aesthetic and literary theory relevant to a theoretical foundation for an arts-oriented English and key issues in the debates about the place and relative importance of the arts in education
Philosophies of Jewish Education
This course will introduce students to the key characteristics of major philosophies and theories of Jewish education, and enable them to articulate and critique different visions of Jewish education. Students will study key classical and contemporary texts on views of teaching, learning and education, and reflect critically on what it means to be an educated Jew.
Quantitative Methods for Social Science Research
The first part of this course focuses on collecting quantitative data and introduces survey and questionnaire design; sampling and error measurement; and the access and use of major public databases such as the census. The second section covers basic techniques of quantitative data analysis, including: descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis; statistical inference; regression analysis and measures of association; and provides computer training in the use of Excel and SPSS. This course is taught by the Department of Management.
Duration
One year FT, two years PT, September to September.