English Language and Linguistics Programme Review Document for incoming Level 2 Students

The following is designed to help you reflect on what you have learnt at Level 1 and prepare you for English Language and Linguistics modules at Level 2.1 As well as indicating many of the skills and topics we have covered so far, it should encourage you to develop those skills you feel least confident about, and consolidate those areas where you feel your knowledge is strongest. Please work your way through this review in advance of your Personal Tutor group meeting. You dont need to show your answers to anyone. The point is just to honest about what youre already doing well, and what you might want to focus on to do even better.

Skills and Abilities

In the last year (please circle as appropriate):

1. I actively contributed to workshop classes

always

mostly

once or twice

never

2. I prepared workshops materials in advance

always

mostly

once or twice

never

Participation in small group classes can help to develop ideas and consolidate the knowledge learnt in the module. If you dont contribute, you miss opportunities to reflect on your knowledge. Also, if you dont understand something, its likely others dont either, so workshops also give your tutor the opportunity to identify which things the class need help with and everyone learns more effectively.

3. In lectures, I took notes

always mostly once or twice never

It is understood that dual honours students will have picked up some of these and other valuable skills outside of the ELL programme; similarly some skills and abilities listed here may be less relevant than others.

4. After lectures, I re-read my notes and followed up suggested reading

always mostly once or twice never

Taking lecture notes can help you to remember things and re-reading these notes will highlight what you have and have not understood. Further reading develops your understanding. Your tutors job is not to teach you everything, but to provide you with the information you need to develop your own learning.

5. I started to think about my assessments

weeks ahead a week ahead a few days ahead the night before

6. After receiving my marks, (tick those which apply): I collected my assessment and read the feedback I visited my tutors office hours to explore any feedback I did not understand I checked through subsequent work to ensure I had not repeated any mistakes

You are unlikely to improve your work if you havent put some time and energy into figuring out what you need to do and then reflecting on what you could have done better. Many tutors have empty office hours each week and would be happy to help you to deal with reoccurring misapprehensions or mistakes.

7. When preparing to write, I make an outline before I start writing

always

mostly

every now and again

never

8. When I have finished writing, I leave time to read through my work to check the grammar, spelling and punctuation

always

mostly

every now and again

never

Writing fluently requires planning. You wont provide a good argument unless your work is structured well. You need to make sure that you explain the pros and cons of any argument which relates to your piece of work. Your work will also be less effective if it is hard to read as a result of silly presentational errors.

9. I back up my arguments by referring to (tick those which apply):

My personal experiences

Websites

Published academic work (journals, books)

10. I know how to present my work effectively, using (tick those which apply):

The author-date citation system

A full list of references

Being persuasive requires good evidence. Whilst you might have personal experience which relates to data you are analysing, your own personal experiences may have been affected by numerous factors which havent been controlled. Likewise, many websites just reflect one persons experience. Published academic work is subject to peer review, validation and empirical and controlled testing and re-testing. Referencing properly also helps you to be more persuasive its not just about style. If someone reading your work cant easily follow up your references, then they wont be able to substantiate your argument. You can find the Schools style guide here: http://uspace.shef.ac.uk/docs/DOC-34166

In preparation for your Personal Tutor group meeting, please reflect on the answers you have provided above. Which skills and abilities have your mastered and which could you do better? How can you improve?

Subject-Specific Skills At Level 1, you completed core modules, which provide the foundation to your degree in English Language and Linguistics. Please reflect on the aspects of subjectspecific knowledge that are covered in Level 1. This is not an exhaustive list, but do you feel confident that you have a good working understanding of these terms, concepts and skills? No one knows everything, but reflecting on what youve covered is an important step in progressing.

Sounds of English knowledge of the ways in which speech sounds are produced a knowledge of the organisational principles guiding the use of speech sounds within the English language and other languages knowledge of variation in the use of English sounds and the ability to describe this variation using the appropriate technical language growing practical skills in listening, production and transcribing a basic understanding of the relationship between articulated sounds and the abstract representations thought to underlie them

Structure of English knowledge of the organisational principles of English sentence structure, and of the formal constraints on grammatical analyses knowledge of syntactic variation across English varieties, and the ability to describe this variation using the appropriate technical language an appreciation of the nature of theory and of what constitutes a linguistic explanation a basic understanding of the relationship between syntax and other subdisciplines of theoretical linguistics, especially between syntax and morphology, and between syntax and semantics. the ability to present knowledge in written form and to talk about the syntax of English in ways generally acceptable within the discipline, including by means of tree diagrams

History of English a thorough understanding of the development of English from the AngloSaxon period to the present day an appreciation of variety in the language both across and within periods be able to situate linguistic records within their historical context be capable of employing a variety of techniques for the study of language and linguistic records

Varieties of English an appreciation of the extraordinary diversity of British dialects the ability to relate these dialects to their social, historical and cultural circumstances

an understanding of the ways in which dialects are evaluated and how these perceptions can lead to social inequality an ability to access dialect archives and to describe variation using appropriate linguistic terminology

KNOWLEDGE UPDATE: List any aspects of the above modules that you need to work on most

Sounds of English

Structure of English

History of English

Varieties of English