| Unit name | Language and Communications |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EDUCD0100 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | D/8 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Kiely |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Understanding Educational Research |
| Co-requisites |
Language and Communication, Researching Language Classrooms, Testing and Assessment in Language Learning |
| School/department | School of Education |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This unit focuses on the description and analysis of language and communication across a range of discourse settings. Through a focus on discourse analysis, we examine how language enacts social and cultural perspectives and identities using quantitative and qualitative approaches, perspectives which draw on the paradigm issues introduced in Understanding Educational Research. We introduce conceptual and methodological means of exploring the social, cultural and cognitive processes involved in constructing meaning through language use. This includes consideration of techniques for the elicitation, construction and analysis of linguistic data. Indicative content areas include the nature of discourse, conversation analysis; critical discourse analysis; the analysis of institutional talk and learner language; linguistic ethnography; politeness theory and relational work as a framework for the analysis of talk; and corpus linguistics. Participants in the unit will have opportunities to explore language learning and language use issues in their own professional context through focussed linguistic analysis.
