IL1ABMN-Academic Skills and Language for Business and Management

Module Provider: International Study and Language Institute
Number of credits: 0 [0 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites:
Co-requisites:
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2020/1

Module Convenor: Ms Sarah Mattin

Email: s.mattin@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

This module focuses on the academic language and literacy skills needed to perform more effectively at undergraduate level in Business and Management. It is primarily designed for students whose first language is not English. The module closely maps to core Business and Management modules to develop students’ academic language, literacy and study skills for successful participation in their degree programmes and completion of assessed coursework tasks.

The module is non-credit-bearing and designed to support students’ disciplinary study, the expectation being that students will apply the skills they have learnt on IL1ABMN in their credit-bearing work. Therefore, for the module itself, there is no assessment or expectation of independent study hours.

Aims:

This module aims to support undergraduate Business and Management students whose first language is not English with their transition to the UK HE context and academic culture. It focuses on the key academic language and skills needed to successfully complete undergraduate coursework assignments and exam tasks. 

By the end of the module, students will be better able to: 

• accurately interpret coursework assignment instructions/briefs


• effectively use task and discipline appropriate reading-to-write skills


• employ task-appropriate language (grammar and lexis)


• critically evaluate their own and others’ writing


• understand the expectations of Presentation assignment tasks in Business and Management 


• read disciplinary texts employing appropriate reading skills and strategies to critically engage with them


• identify key ideas in lectures and seminars


• communicate fluently and accurately within their discipline by building their subject-specific vocabulary and grammar

Assessable learning outcomes:

N/A

Additional outcomes:

Outline content:

Classes will focus on the following:

• Recognising and responding to the key written assignment genres in Business and Management, e.g. the Essay, including:
  
  
  
  • expected structural & argumentation patterns 
  
  
  • reading-to-write and source use and synthesis processes
  
  
  
  


• Grammar for academic communication, including verb tense and form and sentence structure


• Building discipline-specific Vocabulary for Business and Management


• Reading skills and strategies for dealing with a range of Business and Management texts and reading purposes, e.g. 
  
  
  
  • strategic reading to identify: 
    
    
    
    • specific sources or concepts (search reading)
    
    
    • individual words or phrases (scanning)
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Speaking and oracy skills and strategies for dealing with Business and Management presentation tasks, e.g. 
  
  
  
  • organising and signposting spoken language communication/texts
  
  
  • pronunciation, including sentence stress and intonation
  
  
  • non-verbal communication (e.g. eye contact)
  
  
  
  

Global context:

This module supports internationalisation at Reading by facilitating successful and equal inclusion of students whose first language is not English in UK degree programme study.

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

The module will utilise written and spoken texts from Business and Management to develop students’ receptive and productive disciplinary language knowledge and reading and listening skills. 

Teaching will be learner-centred, taking a task-based approach to:

• guided ‘noticing’ of key organisational and linguistic features in context


• exercises practicing use of relevant lexical/grammatical items


• scaffolded written-language and spoken-language tasks 

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Seminars	16	16
Guided independent study:	0	0	0
Total hours by term	16	16	0
Total hours for module	32

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method

Percentage

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Formative assessment methods:

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/qualitysupport/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

Reassessment arrangements:

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

Last updated: 8 January 2021