Module manager: Milena Marinkova
Email: M.D.Marinkova@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable
Year running 2024/25
English language requirement: minimum IELTS 6.0.
ELU2006 Language Through Literature and Place: Reading Yorkshire
This module is approved as a discovery module
This module will give you the opportunity to consider the link between place and writing by exploring a variety of texts with a Yorkshire connection while being physically present in Yorkshire yourselves. You will not only work with well-known works of literature in the classroom but will also be encouraged to examine first-hand the sites where these texts were produced, circulated and consumed. You will develop your awareness of and sensitivity to different cultural contexts, analyse cultural texts in a situated manner, interact with peers and locals, communicate your findings via different channels, and enhance a range of transferable and employability skills such as criticality, independence, reflexivity and task management.
This module aims to:
1. Enhance the ability to communicate effectively in a range of settings for a variety of purposes.
2. Improve the ability to analyse a range of cultural texts in a situated manner.
3. Develop intercultural awareness and understanding of a range of cultural contexts in the UK.
4. Develop the ability to work as autonomous and reflective learners.
On completion of the module, students should:
1. Improve their ability to use and manipulate written and spoken language in academic and non-academic settings to suit a clear communicative purpose, including to describe/report information, to narrate, to persuade, to create and to reflect. [MO1]
2. Demonstrate understanding of a range of genres and discourses, making appropriate choices at sentence, paragraph and text level. [MO1]
3. Be able to articulate and critically analyse their own response to a cultural text by drawing on a range of sources, building arguments and counter-arguments, and developing a clear position. [MO2]
4. Through the study of literature, show understanding of a range of cultural contexts in the UK and ability to relate them to their own discussion of texts produced, disseminated and consumed in these contexts. [MO3]
5. Demonstrate the ability to recognise, discuss and use key concepts with reference to specific cultural texts and contexts. [MO3]
6. Act as autonomous and reflective learners, taking initiative, conducting research, and managing effectively individual and group projects. [MO4]
The module will cover four themes, each addressing the link between place and writing. Themes indicative of the type of areas that may be covered on this module are:
Yorkshire in 12 objects
Places that make us
“The fiction makes us real.”
Writing/Places as a work in progress
Each thematic block will be based on two cultural texts. To ensure engagement, a variety of materials will be used – poetry, fiction (19th century to contemporary), non-fiction (essays and articles), films, TV programmes, websites and videos. Students will also be given the option to supplement the reading list by 2 cultural texts of their own choice. Texts will be used as a springboard for discussion of relevant cultural contexts and concepts, such as:
- the sights and sounds of Yorkshire;
- place and identity;
- the local and global manifestations of Dracula;
- literary tourism and place branding;
- adaptations and creative re/writing.
The cultural texts will also be mined for language development purposes to ensure that students develop their understanding of the source materials and relevant issues, while enhancing their linguistic competence, academic skills and intercultural awareness. The approach to language will be integrated, with the following functions to be covered:
- language to describe,
- language to narrate,
- language to persuade,
- language to create,
- language to reflect.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| presentation | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Fieldwork | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| Group learning | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Group learning | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Seminar | 11 | 2 | 22 |
| Independent online learning hours | 60 | ||
| Private study hours | 94 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 46 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
Students’ progress will be monitored by:
- in-class informal observation of students’ performance (in lesson and self-study tasks) and engagement;
- checking and providing formative feedback on students’ performance in formative task 1: 400-word class wiki, due in week 5;
- checking and providing feedback on students’ performance in formative task 2: 20-minute team screencast (~5 minutes per student), due in week 10.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 15 minute individual presentation | 50 |
| Assignment | 800 word blog entry | 50 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
The blog is an engaging medium in which students could present their findings and experiences. - As a genre, blogs are fairly flexible - both in terms of content and form. They can incorporate elements of description, narration, persuasion and creativity, which are the four functions that the module will cover. Students will therefore be expected to demonstrate their ability to produce and manipulate language appropriate to this genre (LO1 and LO2) - Blogs also encourage the development of a distinctive voice: expressing a position (i.e., presenting a point of view / argument), being creative (i.e., using the literary and rhetorical devices covered on the module such as metaphor or hyperbole) and making oneself relatable (i.e., showing awareness of different cultural backgrounds). (LO1, LO3, LO4 and LO5). - Their reader-friendly and anecdotal form makes blogs suitable for the experiential nature of module as students will be expected to reflect on their personal interpretation of literary texts and first-hand experiences of places (linked to these texts). (LO1, LO2, LO4 and LO6) - Putting together a blog requires the careful consideration of its content and layout; thus, students will be expected to deploy their autonomy, task management and critical thinking skills. (LO6) Resit arrangements: a) 800 word blog entry - same format; b) 15 minute presentation - same format; if students are away from the UK, alternative arrangement will be made, e.g., presentations via MS Teams.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 4/29/2024
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team