The aim of this course is to build on the skills and strategies acquired in Language Mastery I. Using their skills of critical thinking and analysis, participants will be required to investigate the techniques used in advertising and other forms of discourse to persuade an audience. Structure, lexis and stylistic features will be looked at, as appropriate, through the examination of texts and by means of analysis and production of spoken and written discourse. Summary writing and argumentative essay-writing will both be practised in class and at home. The main goal of the course is to help students become fully-independent learners of the English language. Learning outcomes: By the end of the course students should be able to:
use the skills and strategies required for effective study and learning (with more demanding texts)
understand text organisation and subtext
work autonomously on areas of weaknesses
use their analytic and synthetic skills and to formulate arguments, by means of analysis and production of spoken and written discourse
write an argumentative essay on quite complex and controversial issues by providing supportive evidence
summarise newspaper articles
analyse advertisements
Corpus is available.
Assessment: Grades will be awarded on the basis of a system of continuous assessment and a final exam. In particular:
60% of the final total will be awarded for the final compulsory 2½ written exam in which participants are expected to demonstrate their ability to produce one or more pieces of effective expository writing, inc. argumentative essay-writing, summary writing and advertisement analysis.
20% for a series of home-written and in-class assignments.
20% for oral performance. This will be based on in-class participation and presentations (group project presentation, a poster presentation, class discussions/debates, etc., as determined by the instructor).
Course Outline
