MA Language and Cultural Diversity 2016/7
Programme Structure
There are two modes of attendance: Full-time students must complete the programme in
one academic year. Part-time students must complete the programme in two academic
years.
Full-time students complete the following modules:
 7SSEA005 Researching Linguistic Diversity (20 credits)
 7SSEA011 Language, Identity and Culture (20 credits)
 Optional modules totalling 80-100 credits
 7SSEA007 Dissertation (60 credits)
Part time students complete the following modules:
Year 1
 7SSEA005 Researching Linguistic Diversity (20 credits)
 7SSEA011 Language, Identity and Culture (20 credits)
 Optional modules totalling 40-60 credits
Year 2:
 Optional modules totalling 40-60 credits
 7SSEA007 Dissertation (60 credits)
Compulsory module descriptions
7SSEA006 Researching Linguistic Diversity (20 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Melanie Cooke
This module covers methods for research on spoken language data, including basic
procedures such as transcription, linguistics techniques (elicitation of linguistic structures,
grammaticality assessments), basic sociolinguistic methods (ethnographic fieldwork,
transcontextual and micro-analysis), techniques of endangered language recording and
preservation. It thus introduces students to social, cultural and cognitive research
perspectives on language and speech.
7SSEA011 Language, Identity and Culture (20 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Alexandra Georgakopoulou
This module will appeal to students with interdisciplinary interests in linguistics,
anthropology and cultural studies. The main aim is to draw on the cross-fertilizations of
those areas to examine critically the interrelationships between language, identity and
culture as attested to both at the level of theorizing and at the level of empirical work. More
specifically, the course will demonstrate the role of language in the reproduction but also
construction of social and cultural practices and relations. To do so, it will look into case
studies of language use in a variety of communication contexts ranging from small group to
organizational and mediated communication. It will also refer to studies of the examined
phenomena in different cultures, societies, speech and language communities, with the aim
of providing students with further insights.
Optional module descriptions
7SSEA012 Analysing Stories and Identities (20 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Alexandra Georgakopoulou
How we tell stories and what our stories reveal about us, our lives and our relations with
others has attracted the attention of numerous strands of social scientific inquiry. It is
notable that narrative research interviews constitute the main qualitative method for
identity analysis. Discourse and sociolinguistic studies of storytelling have drawn on this
diversity of social scientific work but they have also infused it with vital insights into how
everyday life stories are told in interaction with other people and in specific contexts. The
aim of this module is to familiarise you with the main frameworks within discourse and
sociolinguistic studies for the analysis of stories and identities. The presentation of
concepts and analytical tools will become tangible with close analysis of a wide range of
stories from various everyday life contexts: cafés, classrooms, the workplace, social media
platforms, etc.
7SSEA003/4 Directed Data Analysis in Language and Communication (30 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Ben Rampton
This module is designed for students committed to pursuing MPhil/PhD research, and it
enables them carry out a limited piece of empirical analysis, working under the supervision
of a tutor who has worked on broadly the same data. The student is provided with a
manageable dataset and some relevant texts, and they are then required to identify their
own research question, to re-process the data in ways that relate to their question, to
conduct the analysis (noting strengths & weaknesses), and to write a report and archive the
reprocessed data. The student is also required to attend any MPhil/PhD data sessions
running concurrently.
The module involves less classroom contact time than other modules, and requires a high
level of self-organisation on the part of students, who would also benefit from some prior
experience of empirical data analysis. It runs by special request and with prior agreement
of the tutor involved. If you are interested, please contact Prof Ben Rampton.
7SSEE002 English for Academic Purposes (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Chris Tribble
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
All students need to be able to meet the linguistic demands of a course of study - and this
need is critical if they are studying in a second or foreign language. This module focuses on
the central problem of written communication in academic contexts, and gives participants
an opportunity to develop an understanding of the language and teaching issues that are
central to EAP programmes. The module draws on a range of important theoretical and
descriptive frameworks in building an account of how best we can help EAP students - in
particular functional systemic linguistics, genre analysis, and corpus linguistics. It also give
practical insights into how to use this understanding in preparing practical courses for
students studying in English.
Apart from this focus on teaching writing, this module gives students the chance to focus
on important issues in EAP - in particular: preparing for the IELTS test, study skills, needs
analysis and the management of EAP courses.
The topics to be covered include:
 Spoken and written language - why is academic English the way it is?
 Genres and registers - a systematic approach to EAP
 Corpus informed approaches to the teaching of writing
 Using ICT in the writing classroom
 Needs analysis and curriculum development
7SSEE003 English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL): teaching migrants in the UK (15 credits)
Module organiser: Melanie Cooke
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
This option scrutinises the ‘standard’ principles and theories of language teaching against
the backdrop of the socio-political context of English dominant settings such as the UK,
USA, Canada and Australia. It places the teaching of migrants in the broader contexts of
globalisation, migration, ‘superdiversity’ and public policy, with particular reference to the
backgrounds of adult migrants and ESOL/ESL teachers. We will explore some key social
theories, e.g. theories of identity, Bourdieu’s theory of capital, which have been applied to
English language teaching and learning in English dominant settings. Current issues from
recent ESOL research will be discussed and students will have the opportunity to relate the
issues arising in the module to their own contexts, through discussions and tasks in class as
well as through the assessed coursework essay.
The topics to be covered include:
 Broader contexts of English language teaching to migrants: globalization, mass
migration and ‘superdiversity’
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The socio-political and educational contexts of ESOL: the learners, their
communities, their linguistic repertoires, classroom settings.
The history of ESOL in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and other English dominant
countries
Current curriculum and pedagogic issues in ESOL, e.g. the ESL/EFL divide, literacy,
individualised learning, link to Adult Basic Education, citizenship, refugee education,
training for work.
The stories, lives and roles of ESOL teachers
Current research in the field
7SSEE019 Interculturality and Culture in ELT (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Clyde Ancarno
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
This module introduces students to key issues and concepts in the study of intercultural
communication and cultural representations in English Language Teaching (ELT). The
module explores key concepts in intercultural communication within transnational and
cosmopolitan paradigms and uses this theoretical knowledge to critically analyse ELT
materials.
7SSEM022 Issues in Teaching and Learning Modern Foreign Languages (30 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Jane Jones
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
This module aims to extend students’ understanding of the key concepts of foreign/second
language learning and acquisition theory including mentalism, behaviourism and social
constructivist approaches. We also explore the communicative language teaching
approach, motivation, the increasingly important topic of learning/learner strategies,
content-based language learning, and the linguistic and cultural representations modelled
through film in the classroom. The module then examines how these concepts are applied
in language teaching practices. MA students examine a range of teaching and learning
approaches and the underlying theoretical precepts and relate this broad understanding to
their own cultural and educational contexts. The module is interactive, being based on
active learning methods and very student-focused. The session formats are varied and
involve both personal reflection and collaborative learning. The module draws on a variety
of key texts and draws on a wide range of international research to explore the key issues in
language teaching and learning. Students choose to focus on one of the topics in greater
depth for their end-of-module essay which will be agreed by the module tutor.
7SSEM023 Language and Power (30 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Ben Rampton
This module addresses a number of perspectives on the relationship between language and
power. It sets up a dialogue between theories and methods from social theory, critical
discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. It examines
the dynamics of language and power in, for example, gender and sexuality, race and
ethnicity, education, informal, institutional & mass-mediated discourse, and global and
local interaction. The module also helps students to conduct their own analyses. By the end
of this module, participants will have an understanding of relations of language and power
in a wide range of domains and communicative settings, and an understanding of how
relevant research approaches might be practically applied.
7SSEE004 Language Assessment (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Jo Lewkowicz
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
Assessment of student performance plays an important role in measuring student progress,
evaluating pedagogy and providing public accountability. In second language education,
assessment, particularly in the form of large-scale high-stakes standardized testing, also
serves a powerful function of selection and gate-keeping for university entrance and
employment.
This module aims to consolidate and build on the theoretical and experiential knowledge of
language testing and assessment that module participants have acquired in their previous
academic studies and professional practice. It aims to offer an up-to-date account of
current developments and thinking in the field of language testing and assessment, with
particular reference to English Language Teaching in different world locations.
Discussions on theory and practice will be explicitly referenced to the two established
paradigms in language assessment: psychometrically oriented language testing and
classroom-based teacher language assessment. The module is designed to provide
participants with both theoretical understanding and practical experience in developing a
variety of assessment procedures from their specification stage, through the development
of the assessment procedures and the rating of student performances, to the interpretation
and use of the results. Issue of ethics in language testing and assessment will be considered
in relation to design and use in different social contexts.
The topics to be covered include:
 Psychometric theory of testing
 Teacher assessment, including formative assessment
 Issues of validity and reliability
 Interpretation of test scores
 Ethical issues in assessment
7SSEA005 Language, Culture and Mind (20 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Jill Hohenstein
This module covers various aspects of how research has attempted to explore and delineate
the interaction between language and mind. In the course of our discussions, we will aim to
familiarise the group with a variety of theories that have driven much of the research in this
field. In addition, the potentials and limitations of research methods will form a significant
part of our discussions. In the past, research has been focussed on Western languages,
mainly English, ignoring the majority of people in the world, who speak one or more nonEnglish languages. We will discuss the consequences of equating language and mind
processes across the world and attempt to uncover the nuances of more recent research
that addresses the ways speakers of different languages think. One of our main goals is to
highlight the ways that theoretical perspectives and research methods can both guide and
blind researchers to the conclusions they draw from their studies.
7SSEA010 Language, Culture and Society (20 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Ben Rampton
This module examines the ways in which language and discourse are used to construct
cultural difference and social identity, both in face-to-face interaction and in public
representations. We address issues of power, ideology and social change, as well as the
dynamic relationships between class, ethnicity, gender, and generation, and we consider
some major 20th century cultural theorists (e.g. Bakhtin, Foucault, Bourdieu, Goffman). We
will also draw on and develop your skills of language and discourse analysis, and we will
provide opportunities to engage with our own ongoing research.
7SSEA014 Language, Discourse and Social Media (15 credits)
Module organiser: Professor Alexandra Georgakopoulou
The analysis of communication on social media is rapidly becoming a key-area in
(socio)linguistics and discourse studies. This module introduces you to the main methods of
data collection and analysis of language and discourse for a variety of social media
contexts. The module combines familiarisation with frameworks of analysis with practical
steps on how to approach data. A variety of case-studies of social media afforded practices
(e.g. sharing, tagging, Like & Follow) ranging from YouTube to Facebook and Twitter
illustrate the role of a range of language and multimodal resources in presenting ourselves
and relating with others online. Throughout the module, you will be encouraged to bring in
your own experiences of social media engagements and gradually put together your own
techno-linguistic biography.
7SSEE009 Linguistic Politeness (20 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Eva Ogiermann
Linguistic Politeness looks at different ways of conceptualizing politeness; from folk
definitions and lay perceptions of what constitutes polite language and behaviour to
politeness theories. It introduces you to pragmatic and discursive approaches to politeness,
as well as having a strong practical component which will involve investigating how
politeness can be best captured in everyday interaction and compared across groups. We
will discuss different types of data and different methodologies and cover the full range of
politeness phenomena, including impoliteness.
7SSEE007 Materials Development in English Language Teaching (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Nick Andon
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
This module will examine the role of materials within the ELT curriculum, and provide
participants with tools to investigate learners’ needs, plan courses for ESP and General
English classes, and analyse, design and adapt tasks and materials for their students. The
module builds on work already done in all the previous modules, especially on task-based
instruction and SLA, descriptions of English, curriculum design and pedagogy. Participants
will have the opportunity to apply theory and principles from these earlier modules and put
them to practical use.
This is a theory-informed practice-oriented module and quite a large part of class time will
be used for workshops where participants will work together in pairs and groups,
evaluating, adapting and designing materials, and planning courses based on the needs of
their students, with the help of the tutors. Some of the outputs from these workshops may
be included in participants’ assignments. Participants will be expected to find time
between sessions to do further work on materials development tasks that they start in the
workshop sessions, in addition to reading the key texts. It is also recommended that during
the module participants spend some time looking carefully at published materials as a
source of ideas on content, topics, task types, layout and design, methodology and
syllabus. The assignment for this module can be in the form of a piece of professional work
in materials design or materials evaluation, rather than a traditional academic essay.
The topics to be covered include:
 the role of materials in the curriculum
 materials evaluation and selection
 evaluating and analysing classroom tasks
 authenticity, text selection, grading issues
 skills and task-based materials design
 form-focused materials
 design & layout, teaching notes and instruction rubrics
 integrating skills and language focus, designing a series of activities
 editing and adapting materials
7SSEA001 Medical Discourses (20 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Gabriella Rundblad
This module offers an introduction to the role of discourse in health, illness and medical
practice. Discourse analysis explores social life through the analysis of language in its
widest sense (including verbal interaction, non-verbal, images, symbols, documents). In this
module, we will study genres of language including case reports, scientific papers, drug
advertisements and media health stories, as well as interaction in consultations and
research interviews. There will be a particular focus on introducing students to relevant
methods in the study of medical discourses.
We will focus on themes such as how discourses about scientific evidence or patientcenteredness regulate medicine and how illness is negotiated, represented and socially
constructed. Students will cover a range of different methodological perspectives including
conversation analysis, sociolinguistics, discursive psychology, text analysis and Foucauldian
approaches.
7SSEE017 Social and Psychological Aspects of Second Language Learning (30 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Jo Lewkowicz
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
The module will explore the nature of language acquisition and learning primarily from a
second language perspective, but it will also look at aspects of first language acquisition in
order to better understand the challenges of learning a second language. It will introduce
students to key concepts in psycholinguistics and the role of the brain, the mind and
memory in language learning. It will provide insights into how languages are learned by
both children and adults.
The module will provide students with an extensive overview of SLA theory and research,
identifying key trends and principles relevant to both classroom-based and informal
pedagogies. It will explore the individual and social processes involved in the development
and use of a second language, highlighting how in contrast to more conventional
approaches to the field, SLA can be framed within a bi/multilingual development
perspective. It will explore the ongoing debate between theorists adopting a psychocognitive perspective and those adopting sociolinguistic perspectives.
Throughout the module students will be encourage to evaluate critically established
psycholinguistic and SLA theories in light of their own experience of language learning and
teaching, and to apply these to a range of contexts in order to describe and explain the key
issues involved. They will undertake a language learning experience which they will report
on as part of the assessment for the course.
The course will cover the following key issues:
 The relation between the brain, cognition and language;
 How language is produced, both in spoken and written from, and how it is
understood;
 Similarities and differences between first and second language acquisition;
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The roles of explicit and implicit learning of language;
Input and output hypotheses;
Form and meaning focussed learning;
Task-based interaction;
Socio-cultural theories in SLA;
Motivation in language learning;
Learner identities
7SSEE012 Sociolinguistics (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Martin Dewey
This module aims to provide English Language Teaching professionals with an overview of
the field of sociolinguistics, both micro- and macro-, along with an opportunity for the indepth study of those areas within the field that have particular relevance to their
professional lives. The module embraces both traditional variationist approaches to
sociolinguistics and more recent socio-political approaches, and includes the following:
 Key concepts and issues in sociolinguists
 The difficulty in defining ‘standard’ English
 The global spread of English
 World Englishes, English as a Lingua Franca and implications for ELT
 Pidgin and Creole language
 Language, thought and culture
 Gendered language
 Politeness theory
 The role of sociolinguistics in ELT
7SSEE013 Teacher Education (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Martin Dewey
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
For teachers who have little or no experience of teacher training, this module will provide a
thorough overview of the field and introduce participants to the key issues. For those who
are already teacher educators or responsible for teacher development in a managerial role
the objective will be to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of the central
issues in teacher training, education and continued professional development in English
language pedagogy. The module will familiarise participants with the relevant literature
and encourage critical evaluation of this in the light of individual experience in order to
develop awareness of the key choices available to a teacher educator in terms of
approaches, methods and materials. This will involve the development of teacher training
skills through collaborative workshops and through simulated teacher supervision and
evaluation.
In addition to discussion of teacher education literature, there will be consideration of
recent developments in applied linguistics. This will involve reflection on the implication of
these with regard to the nature of curricula in existing teacher education programmes, and
in relation to the planning and implementation of training/education/development
initiatives in different teaching contexts.
The topics to be covered include:
 the nature of language teacher competence.
 the different goals of teacher training, teacher education and teacher development
 initial and in-service teacher education
 approaches, methods and materials for teacher education
 collaborative planning of workshops and materials design
 the practicum and the role of the supervisor
 simulated teacher supervision and evaluation
 action research: the teacher as researcher
7SSEE015 The Digital ELT Classroom
Module organiser: Dr Cristina Ros i Sole
Please note this module is only suitable for students with teaching experience. Please contact
the module organiser for further clarification.
This module will introduce students to the latest technologies and on-line learning
environments used in language teaching. These will be presented in the context of
theoretical discussions on their pedagogical value and in terms of their applicability to a
range of learning contexts. Students will also be able to try these tools in hands on sessions.
The assessment will give students the opportunity to design and develop their own lesson
plan and/or materials applying pedagogical principles relevant to the digital classroom and
using one or more of the on-line and digital technology tools introduced during the module.
7SSEE014 Working With Texts (15 credits)
Module organiser: Dr Chris Tribble
Professionals with an interest in materials development, ESP course development,
literature, genre analysis, critical discourse analysis or cultural studies, need to understand
how texts work and how to work with texts. This course is designed for students who are
interested in developing critical knowledge of texts for use in language teaching, applied
linguistics or literary research. Although written texts will be the major focus of the option
course, students will also be able to use these principles in the analysis of spoken texts.