Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE ELP2010

 
TITLE English Communication 2: Advanced Writing & Public Speaking

 
UM LEVEL 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL 5

 
ECTS CREDITS 4

 
DEPARTMENT Centre for English Language Proficiency

 
DESCRIPTION The purpose of this study-unit is to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to engage in extended writing and the introduction to public speaking in English. It addresses some of the difficulties students often encounter when writing different text types, or engaging in presentations and public speaking during their studies at undergraduate level. It also aims to familiarise and equip them with the necessary tools to consolidate and improve their competence in English.

With respect to advanced writing, the study-unit gives importance to students’ use of process and genre approaches to the writing of a range of text types used in academic and professional domains. Students learn about the importance of style and tone in writing, and they are helped to develop their reading, synthesising, and paraphrasing skills. They are also made more aware of the importance of cohesion and text organisation in writing, and they are exposed to the necessary tools to improve the way they proofread and edit their own writing.

In terms of its focus on longer presentations and public speaking, the study-unit enables students to master the knowledge and skills needed to prepare and deliver presentations which focus on persuading and/or conveying information and/or explaining a concept/idea. Additionally, the study-unit looks at nonverbal communication such as body language. It furnishes students with an understanding of public speaking and an awareness of other important communication skills so that they can continue to develop effective communication behaviours throughout their lives in a variety of contexts. The study-unit improves students’ ability to structure and deliver ideas and messages whilst giving them the confidence to voice their opinions and beliefs.

Study-Unit Aims:

- To consolidate students’ accuracy, appropriacy and fluency when engaging in advanced writing, presentations and public speaking;
- To develop students’ knowledge and skills in relation to planning and producing an extended piece of writing with a specific focus on the academic tone and a reflective style;
- To develop students’ knowledge and skills in relation to planning and delivering a presentation in front of an audience;
- To provide students with the necessary language tools for becoming autonomous learners, able to identify their linguistic weaknesses and analyse their own production independently;
- To adopt critical skills when presenting their argumentation and evaluation in their writing and presentations.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- demonstrate an improved awareness of the accurate and appropriate use of a broad range of vocabulary;
- demonstrate an improved awareness of the accurate use of a broad range of sentence structures varying in complexity;
- demonstrate familiarity with some models of reflective writing;
- identify the basic conventions governing a range of academic text types;
- identify what is appropriate in terms of register and tone in their written and spoken production;
- demonstrate an awareness of a range of reading strategies when engaging with a variety of text types;
- follow the stages involved in process and genre approaches to writing;
- demonstrate an awareness of critical thinking skills;
- identify main ideas and keywords in preparation for a presentation delivered in front of an audience.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- use an improved range of vocabulary in speech and writing;
- use a broad range of sentence structures but ensure incisiveness;
- use discourse markers strategically and effectively;
- practise critical thinking skills which allow them to achieve understanding, evaluate different perspectives and solve problems;
- organise and structure extended arguments coherently and cohesively with a view to communicating messages, opinions and ideas effectively;
- employ various strategies to engage the reader/audience;
- analyse and evaluate their extended writing or the content of the slides;
- use the right length of text for each slide in a presentation;
- deliver the content of a presentation with confidence;
- produce a select number of text types following their respective conventions;
- use reflective writing to interpret real-life events and practical situations;
- practise in a controlled manner different kinds of commentary in their written and spoken production;
- examine their own thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, values and assumptions;
- evaluate prior experiences and knowledge;
- employ various strategies to engage the reader/audience;
- use note cards effectively when delivering a presentation;
- speak clearly and in a varied tone when delivering a presentation or speech;
- control voice and intonation to adapt to different audiences;
- use an appropriate tone and register to address audiences when engaging in advanced writing or delivering a speech;
- deliver a speech with confidence, fluency and good eye contact;
- deliver a presentation and speech within a set time frame;
- conduct further English language study independently.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Resources will be made available to students as required.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Reassessment is 100% Examination.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Seminar & Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM1 Yes 30%
Examination [See Add. Notes] (2 Hours) SEM1 Yes 70%

 
LECTURER/S Lorraine Bugeja

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit