Module manager: Angela Hulme
Email: a.l.hulme@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: 1 Jun to 31 Jul View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This 4 week introductory module is an English language content-based pre-sessional designed to support students who either do not meet the English language requirements for their chosen post-graduate programme or who wish to gain a better understanding of the academic language and literacy practices in their area of study. This module will help students develop the language skills, knowledge and understanding required for postgraduate study in the fields of Social Sciences and Arts. Students will study subject specific content to help them develop their language competence and ability to communicate at an appropriate academic level within their chosen field of study. The first four week period will introduce students to the culture and context of postgraduate academic life in the UK and begin to develop facility in sourcing and analysing appropriate texts, planning and organising academic work and developing the ability to communicate with others in an academic context. After that, students are taught on a 6 week module in partnership between academics from both the University of Leeds Language Centre and from relevant academic departments, allowing the learning of language to be integrated and built around key content areas, and students to develop a deeper understanding of how knowledge and theory are communicated in their own subject.
This introductory module provides students with the opportunity to:
1. Begin to develop their language skills in order to meet the language requirements of their future academic programme;
2. Begin to display linguistic and literacy skills to a level that will enable them to communicate competently within their discipline specific academic context at post-graduate level;
3. Develop an awareness and understanding of the culture, context and discourse of academic study in the field of Arts and Social Sciences;
4. Develop the skills to be able to reflect as learners with a demonstrable ability to work both autonomously and in a group situation, with a cultural awareness and understanding of ethical academic practices.
On completion of this introductory module students should:
1. Be improving their ability to use and manipulate written and spoken academic language to suit a clear communicative purpose, including having a wide lexical resource, a range of appropriate structures and the ability to use these coherently, accurately and fluently [MO1]
2. Have begun to develop an awareness of subject specific genre, discourse and rhetorical function; making appropriate choices in relation to audience and purpose at whole text, paragraph and sentence level. [MO2];
3. Have begun to develop an ability to follow subject specific academic conventions in both spoken and written tasks, such as referencing, citations, synthesising sources and their own argument, meeting task requirements, turn taking and building collaborative understanding [MO3]
4. Be developing a critical approach to their own work and the work of others through use of a range of sources, counter-argument and/ or evaluation; development of an argument with a clear position [MO3]
5. Be able to work effectively with others on a discipline specific task; [MO4]
6. Have begun to critically reflect on their own learning and demonstrate awareness of resources and techniques they could employ to continue their own development [MO4]
7. Be able to communicate an awareness of the cultural and ethical issues of academic study within the field of Arts and Social Sciences. [MO4]
The first four weeks will introduce students to the culture and context of postgraduate academic life in the fields of social sciences and arts in the UK and begin to develop an ability to source and analyse appropriate texts, plan and organise academic work and develop the ability to communicate with others in an academic context.
- Noticing the structure and style of academic texts.
- Reading, understanding and critically reflecting on written texts.
- Note-making, summarising.
- Structuring written academic work, developing argument.
- Proof-reading and Editing Skills.
- Academic vocabulary and style
- Coherence, cohesion and general language accuracy
- Listening to lectures and note-making
- Using Lecture content in Seminars, discussion skills
- Academic Presentation skills
- Self-Reflection in Journals
- Independent Study Tasks to Develop Language and Academic Skills and Peer Discussion.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-line Learning | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Lectures | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| Seminars | 10 | 2 | 20 |
| Tutorials | 4 | 0.2 | 1 |
| Group learning | 12 | 2 | 24 |
| Private study hours | 103 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 57 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 160 | ||
This is a full-time course. On average students will have 16 hours of tuition per week. However, this may vary each week. Students will also be expected to do up to an additional 19 hours or more of independent study each week.
Independent online learning = reflective journal
Private study = reading and planning for language enhancement and formative assessments.
Progress will be monitored through:
- Checking, and formative feedback of, students’ weekly performance on tasks such as short essays, presentations and seminar participation
- Checking, assessing and giving feedback on students’ progress with weekly written tasks and student reflection
In class informal observation by teachers on students use of language and level of engagement
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 30/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team