B.A. (Honours) in Contemporary English Studies
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Genres of Speech and Writing
Eng 209
Year 2
3
Presentation and discussion
3 seminars
Required course
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
Brief Course Description
The course will sensitize students to the generic features of a variety of spoken and
written texts. These represent genres that students are likely to encounter in their
everyday life. The texts are selected from the fields of journalism, academia, literature
(poetry and song) and current affairs. Students will examine the lexico-grammatical,
paralinguistic and discoursal features of the texts and base their own productions on the
structure and techniques of these models.
Aims
To develop effective academic speaking and writing skills.
To increase awareness of academic register in speaking and writing through the study of
a variety of texts: poetry, song, factual reporting, feature and documentary film,
newspaper journalism, and interview techniques and reporting.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
1. apply the study skills they master to facilitate their study
2. analyse their own needs, monitor their language development and become selfdirected learners.
3. analyse extracts for structure, grammar and use of language
4. understand the need for grammatical accuracy and variety of expression
5. recognize techniques of good writing through analysis of sentence structure, varied
vocabulary and paragraph coherence
6. demonstrate improved aural comprehension and oral performance in English
7. understand techniques of good speech through analysis of intonation, use of
colloquial expressions, discourse markers and various speech acts, as well as
techniques of persuasion
8. identify obligatory and optional moves in texts, and select and sequence moves in the
texts they produce
9. apply the techniques of given genre models to their own written and oral production
in English
10. demonstrate an increased vocabulary, skill at grammatical analysis, analysis of
content components of texts
11. demonstrate improved oral skills by giving oral presentations of written texts and
comparison of print and video versions or print and spoken versions of the same texts
12. demonstrate developed skills in giving presentations in groups, analyzing texts or
comment on the texts other students produce
13. produce texts according to the features and techniques derived from analysis of the
models
14. analyze individual needs and produced a negotiated programme to meet their needs
15. demonstrate developed skills in analysing language needs and monitoring language
development
Indicative Content
1. The language of speaking: basic terminology, the differences between speech and
writing, role playing, interview types, interviewing skills, question types and
questioning techniques. Sample interviews: Kazuo Ishiguro, Seamus Heaney.
2. The language of criticism: description and analysis: poems (Shapiro, Frost) and songs
(Amos, Vega, McLean). Factual texts.
3. Narrative and documentary film – film analysis techniques, writing a review.
4. The language of newspapers, magazines and advertising. Editorial writing.
Teaching Method
Seminars, workshops, tutorials.
Measurement of learning outcome and assessment
Class discussion, individual and group presentations, written exam, written assignments
Interview: students will interview a friend, fellow student, tutor or relative and
produce a written report (20 marks). (Outcomes 4,5,6,7,9,11,13,14,15)
Literary criticism: Group presentation of a song or poem. Presentations should
demonstrate appropriate analysis. The presentation should be accompanied by a
single written text summarizing the main points of the presentation (this should
be included in the portfolio – see 6. below). (10 marks) (Outcomes 1-15)
Text commentary. (10 marks) (1,2,3,4,5,8,10,13,14,15)
Documentary and feature film analysis.
Group presentations of
chosen documentary film. Submission of
documentary film analysis worksheet to be included in folio (see 6. Below).
(10 marks)
Group presentations of chosen feature film. (10 marks)
Completed feature film analysis worksheet to be included in portfolio (see 6.
Below). (1-15)
The language of newspapers.
A collection of editorial samples from
newspapers of your choice should be included in the portfolio. Editorial writing
will be part of the test in the final week of term. (1,2,3,4,5,8,10,13,14,15)
Portfolio: This should be handed in the last week of term and should contain:
(a) A written text summarizing the presentation on a song or poem (group response)
(b) Documentary film analysis worksheet of two documentaries (individual response)
(including the one used for the group presentation)
(c) One Feature film analysis worksheet (individual response) (the one used for the
group presentation)
(d) A sample of newspaper editorials with appropriate analysis (suggested number
around five) (20 Marks) (1,2,3,4,5,8,10,13,14,15)
End of term test: (20 marks) (1,2,3,4,5,8,10,13,14,15)
Required Readings
No textbook is prescribed. Instead, students will be provided with:
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Selected texts from everyday genres in journalism, literature and local and
international affairs.
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Handouts with tasks for self-access learning, linguistic and discoursal analysis and
assignment guidelines.
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Teaching notes on linguistic and discoursal features of the texts.