English: Applied linguistics and research methods

Teacher(s)

Thewissen Jennifer;

Language

English

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

By the end of the course, students will be able to read academic papers and explain the terminology related to learner corpus research and second language acquisition. They will also be able to apply the concepts and methods covered in the course to a specific study of a learner corpus sample.

Content

The course proper first will take the shape of a research seminar on Second Language Acquisition and learner corpus research. Once the basic terminology and methods have been acquired, students will take part in collaborative learning: students will engage in a project which aims to study one aspect of learner language. They will be actively guided by the teacher in this project.
The exercise sessions will tackle the four language skills (speech, writing, reading, listening). Teacher-led sessions will emphasise productive skills (speech and writing) via a variety of activities: pronunciation exercises using up-to-date technologies, oral debates on current affairs, writing exercises linked to the topics tackled in the sessions. Students are required to create a weekly podcast to actively train oral proficiency skills (global assessment).
In addition, students will continue to study the Oxford Word Skills Advanced (Oxford University Press) vocabulary book (see GERM1240A).

Teaching methods

For the course proper:

• Reading scientific papers in SLA/learner corpus research;
• Collaborative learning/project work.

During the exercise sessions, students will do a variety of activities in the teacher-led  sessions (phonetics, oral debates, writing exercises, etc) and will combine this with weekly online tasks to be done individually or in groups (pronunciation, reading and listening). Formative tests will be organised during the term to assess learners with respect to the different language skills.

Evaluation methods

• Written exam in June which includes theoretical questions as well as a section on English proficiency.
• Weighting theory and exercises: 60% & 40% of the total score.
  • Assessment of the linguistic project (50% of the total score for the theoretical section of the exam);
  • Podcasts (global score): 40% of the total score for the exercise section of the exam.

Bibliography

• Articles scientifiques mis sur Moodle par le professeur ;
• Gairns, R. & Redman, S. (2008). Oxford Word Skills (Advanced). Oxford University Press. (chapitres sur Moodle)

Faculty or entity

PHLB