Introductory description

Listening and Speaking classes are offered to international students to develop their confidence in taking part in seminars and giving presentations. Individual sessions are of one hour's duration and students may study for one, two or three terms. It is recognised that active participation in small-group teaching, often perceived as being the ' norm' in UK universities, may be new and unfamiliar to students who have previously worked in other contexts. This can trigger anxiety, such that small group situations can become potentially face-threatening events. By engaging in a range of interactive tasks, students who may be relatively new to the UK academic culture will gain structured support to scaffold their accuracy and fluency in comprehension and active language use. Students will receive informative feedback on their speaking from the tutor, relating to pronunciation, useful idioms and expressions, and wider strategies to engage critically in formal discussion. An understanding of spoken English, delivered at a normal pace through the medium of selected podcasts and recorded lectures, is also a key feature of the module. Listening skills are further developed through a range of interactive tasks on an accompanying Moodle site.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The course is structured to help students to progress from an emphasis on supported small group work based on audio-visual input in term 1, to individual presentation work in terms 2 and 3. This reflects a developing emphasis, throughout the students' own academic programmes, on more formal presentation-type assessments. By way of stimulus, a range of topics of general academic interest are included in the module including issue in the workplace such as recruitment; aspects of diversity, inclusion and well-being; the English language and inter-cultural skills. Students also develop their professional/academic skills in terms of being able to cite sources and present facts, figures and data.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Participate with greater confidence in seminar skills situations;
• Use language functions more accurately and fluently when agreeing and disagreeing, making suggestions, interrupting, and dealing with interruptions;
• Use spoken language to cope with difficulties in communication, such as rephrasing, clarifying and asking for clarification;
• Develop an awareness of linguistic ability in order to self-audit, correct and work on improving features of spoken interaction;
• Be more aware of patterns of verbal and social interaction and dynamics within a group, including being an active and encouraging listener;
• Be better equipped to engage confidently in groupwork within home departments;
• Understand the 'gist' when encountering fast speech, and be able to extract specific information;
• Take effective and appropriate notes during academic speech events.

Indicative reading list

Comfort, J., & Franklin, P. (2014). The mindful international manager: How to work effectively across cultures. Kogan Page Publishers.
Hartley, P., & Dawson, M. (2010). Success in groupwork. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Holliday, A. (2010). Intercultural Communication & Ideology: SAGE Publications. Sage.
Lawson, C., Gill, R., Feekery, A., & Witsel, M. (2019). Communication skills for business professionals. Cambridge University Press.
Rossette-Crake, F. (2020). ‘The new oratory’: Public speaking practice in the digital, neoliberal age. Discourse Studies, 22(5), 571-589.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

International

This module is designed specifically for international students. It seeks to foster the pragmatic and intercultural skills that students need to become more fully integrated into the university environment.

Subject specific skills

Key skills:

• Knowledge of the components of communicative competence when using English as a lingua franca ;
• Awareness of the nature and structure of spoken English, including segmental and supra-segmental features of English;
• Knowledge of registers and styles of speech, ranging from more to less formal;
• Familiarity with the characteristics of dialogue and conversation in English;
• Acquisition of idioms and expressions for communicating in spoken language.

Transferable skills

Key skills:

• Pragmatic and strategic competence in spoken language;
• Awareness of how to maximise positive impact on the listener;
• Confidence in entering into and sustaining a discussion;
• Strategies for managing potential breakdowns in conversation;
• Ability to listen selectively to academic speech events and to identify key points.
• Ability to handle fast speech when this is encountered;
• Effective note-taking during academic spoken events.

Cognitive skills:

• Ability to extract key details from stretches of spoken language;
• Ability to plan and structure spoken interaction appropriately.