ENG4503 - English Skills & Employability

Objectives:

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.

Content:

During both semesters students will be encouraged to audit and reflect on their employability skills and career plans. They will reflect on how the academic skills exercised in the first two elements of assessment are applied to their employability, for example preparation, attention to detail, clear and precise communication. At the end of the module they will engage in a Professional Challenge project or work placement.

In Semester 1, students will be given the opportunity to develop skills in reading narrative texts closely, critically and analytically. The module will focus on a selection of short stories from a range of different eras and cultural settings.

In Semester 2, students will be given the opportunity to develop their skills in reading poetry critically and analytically, focusing on a selection of poems representing various traditional forms and periods including early modern, romantic and modernist. They will think about how poems are represented online, in education, and in the media, and work towards presenting their own discussion and analysis of a poem in a podcast or other artefact.

Learning and Teaching Information:

Seminars
Hours: 60
Intended Group Size: 30

Professional Challenge Project / Work Placement Preparation
Hours: 10
Intended Group Size: 30

Professional Challenge Project or Work Placement
Hours: 20
Intended Group Size: 1

Guided independent study
Hours: 210

Further details relating to assessment
The Semester 1 Close Reading and Skills Audit assessment is a short exercise in close reading and comparison of prose narratives, research into specific terms used for the analysis of narrative, and application of those terms, as well as application of the APA referencing system. Completion of these elements of assessment will be preceded by practice exercises for formative assessment.

The Semester 2 Negotiated Assessment is the creation of an artefact about a selected poem from the module selection, with a recorded recitation (this can be one they have found online but students are encouraged to record their own) plus a commentary.

This module will culminate in a two-week Professional Challenge project or a two-week work placement. Students will have the chance to choose which path they want to take during the course of the module. Guidance regarding the options will be included in the Module Handbook and supported by briefings at the beginning of Semester 2.

A pass in the Professional Challenge assessment will be achieved through participation in specified key tasks throughout the project. A pass in the work placement will take into account input from the employer.

After completion of the Professional Challenge project or Placement, students will complete a Reflective Statement outlining their learning and skills development from their experience at Level 4.

Formative assessment exercises (eg analysing poems and evaluating recitations) will be scheduled during each semester as preparation towards the summative assessments.

Please note that paragraph A4 2.2 of the Programme Design and Approval Handbook states that ‘students must pass the Professional Challenge / Work Placement in order to pass the module’.

Assessment:

001 Close reading & skills audit; 1,000 word equiv.; end of semester 1 40%
002 Negotiated assessment; 1,000 word equiv.; end of first part of semester 2 50%
003 Professional challenge (20hrs min) OR placement (50hrs min); pass/fail; end of semester 2 %
004 Reflective statement; 1,000 words; end of semester 2 10%

Fact File

Module Coordinator - Richard Storer
Level - 4
Credit Value - 30
Pre-Requisites - NONE
Semester(s) Offered - 4YL

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