The module is intended to develop the English language and academic literacy skills of inbound exchange students to enable them to study more effectively in an English-speaking academic context.

The course will be focused on talking about texts, analysing texts and producing texts in different academic contexts. We will draw on a wide variety of text types such as newspaper articles, academic journals, podcasts, vlogs and lectures to carry out three common academic tasks: argumentative essay, seminar discussion and group presentation.

Spoken and written discussion is a key part of this course. You will apply dialogic talk principles to have inclusive and engaging discussions that build shared critical understandings of source materials. Through this approach, you will develop confidence and a critical disposition.

The course will be contextualized within a range of social, political and cultural topics contemporary to the UK. Given that the course is based around using English in a UK academic context, the course acknowledges the colonial histories that have contributed to the positioning of English as the global language of academia and topics will explore (de)colonial perspectives and seek to challenge rather than reproduce linguistic, national, racial and cultural prejudices.

There will be two iterations of this module, one in semester one and one in semester two.