HENK00031U English, 2017 curriculum - Free topic 1: Writing in a Foreign Language: Process and Product + Cross cultural pragmatics and language teaching

Volume 2017/2018
Content

Writing in a Foreign Language: Process and Product

Literacy skills form an important part of the teaching of English as a foreign language in the Danish sixth-form college. Therefore, the aim of this course is to give participants a specialised background for discussing, evaluating and researching different aspects of writing in a foreign language. The focus of the course will be on writing processes and on the written product (the student essay). Theoretical models of writing processes and empirical investigations of these processes with regard to writing in the foreign language as well as in the mother tongue will be dealt with. The written product will be discussed in relation to discourse analysis and in relation to empirical studies of student texts. To appreciate results of empirical investigations of writing in a foreign language, familiarity with research methods is essential. To illustrate some of the issues, learner data from a research project at our department will be used. Finally the question of the language learning potential of writing in a foreign language will be addressed and implications for the foreign language classroom will be discussed.

 

Cross-cultural communication and foreign language learning and teaching

This course explores cross-cultural norms for communicative behaviour from a foreign language learning perspective: rules governing how to engage in conversation and how to express different speech acts in a polite and appropriate manner. All these conventions of communication differ across cultures and social groups and acquiring pragmatic competence to deal with communicative needs is a difficult and often frustrating task for the foreign language learner. During the course we will look at research on cross-cultural communication across different language groups and discuss developmental studies of pragmatic competence and the transferability of pragmatic skills across languages. A number of theoretical and pedagogical issues related to teaching cross-cultural norms and different proposal for a classroom methodology will be discussed.

Writing in a Foreign Language: Process and Product

The list of essential reading will be available 4 weeks before the course starts.

Readings will mainly consist of a number of research articles on the course topics, selected from scholarly journals.

 

Cross-cultural communication and foreign language learning and teaching

Course material will be based on Ishihara, N. and Cohen, A.D. (2010) Teaching and Learning Pragmatics. Where Language and Culture Meet. Longman Applied Linguistics and a number of research articles.

Classes, with particular emphasis on reading primary and secondary texts, oral discussion and developing proficiency in English.
This course leads to exams Free Topic 1, Free Topic 2, Free Topic 3 and Free Topic 4 with Written and Oral Proficiency in English and Foreign Language Acqusition with Written and Oral Proficiency in English (4G).
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Class Instruction
  • 56
  • Preparation
  • 353,5
  • Total
  • 409,5
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Portfolio, A joint portfolio for both courses uploaded in digital exam: Deadline June 12th 2018
TBA
Exam registration requirements

This course leads to exams Free Topic 1, Free Topic 2, Free Topic 3 and Free Topic 4 with Written and Oral Proficiency in English and Foreign Language Acqusition with Written and Oral Proficiency in English (4G).

Criteria for exam assesment
Credit
15 ECTS
Type of assessment
Other
Exam registration requirements

This course leads to exams Free Topic 1, Free Topic 2, Free Topic 3 and Free Topic 4 with Written and Oral Proficiency in English and Foreign Language Acqusition with Written and Oral Proficiency in English (4G).

Criteria for exam assesment