| Unit name | English for Academic Communication in STEM |
|---|---|
| Unit code | LANG00063 |
| Credit points | 40 |
| Level of study | QCA-3 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Mr. Hartley |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
English for Academic Communication in STEM English for Academic Communication in Arts, Law, and Social Sciences |
| School/department | Centre for Academic Language and Development |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts, Law and Social Sciences |
Why is this unit important?
This unit aims to prepare you to excel in your future studies in STEM through the development of your academic communication skills. The unit is divided into two complementary parts. In one part, you will use the University of Bristol research themes as a context to develop your general academic language and literacy. In the other part, you will apply this developing knowledge to the disciplinary subjects you are studying on the IFP. You will focus on noticing how knowledge is created, understood, and communicated in general and discipline specific academic contexts. This combined approach will provide you with transferable tools to continue your learning in new contexts that you will encounter in your undergraduate studies and beyond.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
English for Academic Communication in STEM is a core unit for all students on IFP STEM and aims to provide the foundations of academic communication skills required for undergraduate study. Learning on this unit is designed to be applied across all your IFP units. The assessment grade on this unit will be used to determine whether you have achieved the appropriate language profile requirements for your undergraduate study.
An overview of content
How you learn is what you will learn. As well as learning about knowledge building practices and academic language, you will be learning how to develop your reflective and analytical skills both in the context of your own development goals and for future encounters with academic communication. You will develop an ability to analyse and produce written and spoken texts. Through this analysis the language practices will be made visible and you will be better able to make informed choices in the production of your own texts for different audiences and purposes.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
The immersive and supportive environment is structured so that you will be guided to critically reflect on your own learning and language abilities, and plan your continuing development of academic language communication relevant to your discipline. You will be challenged to develop your curiosity and appreciation of different perspectives through developing your feedback literacy, engaging with the University of Bristol Research Themes, and exploring a range of texts. You will have further developed your confidence in evaluating your progress in order to articulate who you are as a learner as well as a member of a disciplinary community. You will approach your studies with greater confidence as you start to understand the expectations of your disciplinary community.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:
Describe how language is used to construct and communicate knowledge in and between disciplines;
You will be taught in small groups that focus on activities such as text analysis, drafting, peer feedback, reflection, and evaluation. Your class work will typically involve 8 hours a week, divided between general academic language learning and academic language specific to your disciplinary interests. This student-centred, interactive approach is also used to develop your oracy and confidence in speaking in various situations on your undergraduate programme. You will develop confidence through individual and group-based activities in discussing language and content and adding your voice to co-construct knowledge with your peers. Active learning environments will provide many opportunities to apply your learning, give and receive peer feedback, and develop the experience to adjust to various teaching styles at the University of Bristol on your undergraduate programmes.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
A number of formative tasks will include analysing and deconstructing texts, constructing and revising drafts through peer, self, and tutor feedback, and evaluating and selecting appropriate evidence of your academic communication for the summative end of unit portfolio.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Your assessment will be structured over the year to reflect the cumulative nature of academic language development The final portfolio will allow you to present your development achieved over the year and your plan for continued development as you enter into undergraduate study. These components are:
When assessment does not go to plan
Any student registered on the International Foundation Programme will be offered a conditional place on an undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol. Students must meet the entry requirements to be admitted onto an undergraduate degree at the University of Bristol, including requirements associated with Language Profiles, where different degree programmes have different entry requirements. If progression requirements associated with Language Profile are not achieved in this unit, students may be offered a further opportunity (i.e. two attempts in total) to meet the entry requirements for their intended degree programme at the University of Bristol by re-taking a relevant assessment for the purposes of progression. Marks are not capped for this purpose.
If a student is absent or their performance in assessment is significantly affected due to exceptional circumstances, they may re-take the relevant assessment on a failed unit at the next appropriate time, without penalty.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. LANG00063).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The assessment methods listed in this unit specification are designed to enable students to demonstrate the named learning outcomes (LOs). Where a disability prevents a student from undertaking a specific method of assessment, schools will make reasonable adjustments to support a student to demonstrate the LO by an alternative method or with additional resources.
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
