French / German Reading Skills for Research 2: Intermediate

Please note that Intermediate level courses may be offered subject to sufficient demand.

Reading Skills for Research 2: Intermediate courses are part of our offer for University Researchers, PhD students and Postdocs. Information including the schedule and fees can be found here. 

Prerequisites

• Reading skills corresponding to B1 of the Common European Framework (such as an AS-level or an equivalent qualification) or higher, subject to decision by the LFA Language Lead

Aims

• To promote self-motivated study of the language as a preliminary to, and as providing an essential tool for, research in the general field of History and other disciplines that require a reading knowledge of the language.

Content

• Academic reading skills.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• demonstrate a knowledge and an understanding of the basic underlying grammar of the target language;
• demonstrate a knowledge of vocabulary used in general academic discourse in Arts and Humanities in the target language;
• demonstrate a knowledge of specialised vocabulary used in their field of study.

Subject-specific Skills:

• On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
• extract relevant information and understand original written sources in the target language with the requisite aids such as dictionaries, grammars and commentaries to hand.
• acquire various reading strategies such as skimming and intensive reading
• make effective use of reference materials such as grammars and dictionaries (standard and online)
• use a range of language-learning techniques and skills by independently developing strategies to extend the lexis in their subject-area and their knowledge of grammar
• understand and translate passages in the target language of the type and difficulty level likely to be needed for their research
• integrate academic literature into their research projects

Key Skills:

• At the end of the course students will have enhanced their ability to:
• work as independent learners and researchers
• use reference materials
• apply reading skills and strategies effectively for academic purposes

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• This module is delivered through seminar style classes and one-to-one tutorials.
• There will be one 2-hour seminar per week for 9 weeks