Module manager: Chris Pajak
Email: c.pajak@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: 1 Jul to 15 Sep (2.5mth) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
This 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. The module is taught in partnership between academics from both the University of Leeds Language Centre and from the School of Law, 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 module will help students develop the language skills, knowledge and understanding required for postgraduate study in the field of Law. 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 strand will be based around a content lecture. Students will work on understanding this content and the language used, alongside that of core texts, through a series of language classes and seminars. Students will have the chance to work both individually and with others. The final assessments will be based around an individual piece of work, involving some element of independent research.
This module provides students with the opportunity to:
1. Meet the language requirements of their future academic programme;
2. 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 Law;
4. Develop as autonomous, reflective learners, with a cultural awareness and understanding of ethical academic practices.
On completion of the module, students should have begun to develop:
1. a use of e 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. an awareness of subject specific genre, discourse and rhetorical function; be able to make appropriate choices in relation to audience and purpose at whole text, paragraph and sentence level [MO2];
3. 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. 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. an ability to critically reflect on their own learning and demonstrate awareness of resources and techniques they could employ to continue their own development [MO4];
6. an ability to communicate an awareness of the cultural and ethical issues of academic study within the field of Law [MO4].
The following is an example of a possible module syllabus:
Strand 1: Making the Law and Legal Concepts.
Strand 2: Depending on your destination master's you can study content covering aspects of either International Human Rights Law, Corporate Law, WTO Law, or Intellectual Property Law.
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectures | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Seminars | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| Tutorials | 6 | 0.2 | 1.5 |
| Class tests, exams and assessment | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group learning | 33 | 2 | 66 |
| Independent online learning hours | 15 | ||
| Private study hours | 152.5 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 82.5 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 250 | ||
This is a full-time course. On average students will have 16 hours of tuition per week, however, this may vary each week. You will also be expected to do up to an additional 19 hours or more of independent study each week.
Students will be reading, preparing and synthesizing knowledge for seminars and assessments, and will be completing tasks. While doing this students will engage in independent research, and recording of, language.
Progress will be monitored through:
- Checking, and formative feedback of, students weekly performance on tasks, presentations and seminar participation
- Checking, assessing and giving feedback on students’ progress with weekly written tasks.
- In class informal observation by teachers on students use of language and level of engagement.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1,500 words | 70 |
| Presentation | Seminar performance | 30 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Resits are offered for students who need to progress and who either do not meet the required overall score, or reach the required overall score but fail to reach the required score on more than one assessment component.
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