Assessment tasks are designed to enable students to demonstrate the Learning and Employability outcomes for the relevant level of study. Level Learning Outcomes are embedded in the assessment task(s) at that level. This enables a more integrated view of overall student performance at each level.
This module builds on the skills and understanding developed through ENG4633 Language and Society and elements of ENG4683 Stylistics to allow students the opportunity for more detailed and systematic study and comparison of how language use interacts with social context, identity and power. The first half of the module will focus on sociolinguistic approaches to language variation, identity and language change. Students will then use cultural theory and discourse analysis to focus on power in public discourses that shape our social identities and our identity as political and economic subjects (eg social media, government communications, advertising, journalism, broadcasting).
Seminars
Hours: 50
Intended Group Size: 15
Guided independent study
Hours: 250
Further details relating to assessment
Assignment 1: a 2,000-word essay, comparing and contrasting two different approaches, their methods, and findings in sociolinguistic research.
Assignment 2: a 5–10 minute podcast comparing theories underlying sociolinguistics and critical discourse analysis and their implications for our understanding of identity.
Assignment 3: a 2,500-word essay, conducting close critical analysis based on a case study of media texts supported by cultural theory.
Formal assessment will be preceded by some formative exercises (eg practice analysis, referencing exercise, brief report on a research task) and an ‘assessment unpacking’ session.
001 Essay; 2,000 words; end of sem 1 30%
002 Podcast; 5-10 mins; end of sem 2 30%
003 Analysis of Media Texts; 2,500 words; end of sem 2 40%
Module Coordinator - ROD HERMESTON
Level - 5
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 5YL