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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES


FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION – SCHOOL OF
TEACHER EDUCATION
------------------------

Course Guide
LANGUAGE AND MEDIA

1. ABOUT THE LECTURERS


Full name
Major research
and academic Faculty Email
interests
degree
Dr. Duong Thu Faculty of Foreign language teaching duongthumai@
yahoo.com
Mai English methodology, language
Language testing and assessment,
Teacher teacher training
Education
Tran Van Dung Faculty of Discourse analysis, cross- tvd_179@
yahoo.com
(MA) English culture, foreign language
Language teaching methodology
Teacher
Education
Le Diem Phuc Faculty of Language testing and houseonpasture@y
(MA) English assessement, foreign ahoo.com
Language language teaching
Teacher methodology
Education

2. COURSE DESCRIPTION

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Course title : Language and Media
Course code : ENG3055
Course status : Selective
Semester :7
Number of credits :3
Hours of work/week :3 credit hours/week
Prerequisites :English 4A, English 4B
Code of Prerequisites :ENG2083, ENG2084
Required Level : C1 (According to the Common European Framework of
Reference)
.
3. COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course Language and Media, students will have been able to:
+ Understand complicated texts with implied meanings at different length at C1
level (CEFR),
+ Analyse and evaluate the language aspect of various media types using textual
analysis and critical thinking skills.
+ Create detailed, clear, well structured language products in various types of
media. Enhance English language speaking and writing competence at level C1 in the
area of media.
+ Implement active learning methods based on media materials, such as in team
working and presenting tasks.

4. COURSE CONTENT SUMMARY


Language and Media has been designed with the combination of the two approaches
“task-based” and “content-based” for third-year students majoring in Applied linguistics,
having achieved the C1-level language competence according to the Common European
Framework of Reference and wishing to apply theoretical linguistic knowledge into a
practical professional area. The subject aims to equip students with more in-depth

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knowledge about English language used in the media, a critical part of the humans’ daily
life. In this subject, students have the chance to learn and practice not only language,
language learning methods but also critical textual analytical skills when being exposed
to various types of media such as advertisements, news, interviews and reports. After
completing the course, students will be more self-confident in taking jobs related to the
media in the future.
5. COURSE MATERIALS
Required materials:
• Duong, T.M et al (2014). Language and Media (2014) – compiled materials for internal
use. Vietnam National University: ULIS-FELTE
• Durant, A., Lambrou, M. (2009), Language and Media, Routledge.
• McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press

Supplementary materials:
• Manovich, L. (2002). The language of New Media.
• Griffin, E., (2011). A first look at communication theory - 8th edition. McGraw Hill.
• Baran,S., Davis, D. (2011). Mass communication theory - 6th edition. Cengage
learning.
• Marshall , J., Werndy, A.(2002). The language of television. Routledge.
• Adams S., Hicks W. (2009). Interviewing for Journalists. Routledge.
• Rosenthal A. (2007). Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and
Videos. Southern Illinois University Press, America.
• Nichols, B. (2001). Introduction to Documentary. Bloomington: Indiana University
Press
• Meskill, C. (2002). Teaching and learning in real time: Media, technology and language
acquisition. Houston, TX: Athelstan
• Raman, M. (2002). Using News Media in ELT Classrooms at the University Level. Paper
presented at the 25th All India Conference of the Linguists,Calcutta Unversity,
Kolkata.November 26-28

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7. COURSE SYLLABUS
SB: students’ book; TB: teachers’ book
Week Objectives Content and in-class activities Materials Homework
1 - Introducing the course - Teacher introduces the course SB Lesson 1 Required
- Lead-in activities: individuals, whole class or pairs
- Understand fundamental TB - reading lesson
(hand-out, youtube videos)
concepts in Language and Media Teachers’ 2
- Teachers’ lecture on media definitions, features,
- Have an overview of the popular handout Group 1 and 2
classifications, media language, and critical media
genres of media lesson 1 to prepare for
analysis
- Have an overview of the - Students work in pairs or groups to complete the Powerpoint the
discourse analysis skills exercises of lesson 1 lesson 1 presentation on
+ matching key definitions in media
necessary for this course Assignment 1
+ classifying media types
- Understand the (language) + creating media analysis form
- Group formation for assignment 1 and 2
learning strategies involved in
this course
-
2 SB Lesson 2 Exercises of
- Understand the features of - Student groups give presentation on Assignment 1
TB: Lesson 2 (SB)
advertisements in general. - Teacher and class members listen to the presentations
Teachers’ Assigment 2
- Be able to analyse linguistics and discuss on the analysis of the presenters, basing
hand-outs
features of advertisement in on the required readings of lesson 2.
Power Point
terms of phonological, lexical, - Teacher sums up linguistics features of lesson 2
grammatical and semantic advertisements.
aspects.
- - Students analyse some commercials chosen by
- Apply advertising language teacher (hand-out), basing on the summed up
features to create advertisement linguistics features that teacher has provided
3 texts at C1 level – CEFR SB lesson 2 Required
- Teacher provides relevant practicing exercises:
- Creat an advertisement with the TB handout readings for
Teacher corrects the exercises of Lesson 2
focus on language. lesson 2 lesson 3
- Students work in group of 4 or 5 to discuss and create
Power point Group 3 and 4
- Read long complicated texts a commercial for an imaginary products applying
lesson 2 prepare for
- Work in groups linguistic features of advertisement.
- Student hand in a detailed analysis of features they presentation of

have used for their commercials. Assignment 1


- - Groups present their commercial in front of the
class. Other class members give comments on the
commercials, based on the analysis form (SB lesson
2).

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4 - Groups present Assignment 1 SB Lesson 3 Exercises of
- Understand the features of TV news
- Teacher and class comment before teacher’s lecture to
Powerpoint Lesson 3
in terms of content, structure, and
correct (if necessary) and reinforce students’
lesson 3 Assignment 2:
language.
knowledge of the language features of TV news.
TB handouts Writing the
- Understand long complex texts + news worthiness
+ plot and information density lesson 3 scripts
- Apply discourse analysis skills in + pronunciation
CD Lesson 3
+ structure
analyzing TV news with a focus on + word choice
topics, plots, language elements. - Students work in pairs to do TV news sample analysis

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5 SB Lesson 3 Required
- Produce scripts for TV news at level More practice
Powerpoint readings of
C1 CEFR Exercise 1:
lesson 3 exercise 4
- Practice team work and presentation -Students work individually to revise the given sentences
Teachers’ Group 5
skills to make them more appropriate for TV news based on the
hand-outs prepare for the
proposed principles.
lesson 3 presentation on
Exercise 2:
Assignment 1
- Students work in pairs
1.Watch the TV news, note down the topics covered in
the news report and explain which description(s) of
newsworthiness the topics match.
2.Look at the provided script, choose on piece of the
news report, analyze its structure and language features
using the form below.
Exercise 3:
- Students work in groups to write TV news scripts based
on the provided Vietnamese news pieces in e-newspapers
(Handout 1, 2, 3, 4) that were released on 30 April 2014.
Then, do role-play as newscasters for your own scripts.

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6 Interviews - Group in charge presents Assignment 1 SB Lesson 4 Exercise for
- Teacher and class comment before teacher delivers a
- Understand basic requirements, CD Lesson 4 Lesson 4
lecture to correct (if necessary) and reinforce
techniques, and languages for Assignment 2:
interview students’ knowledge of the language features of
Acting out the
interviews.
- Analyze the language used for an scripts
+ types of interviews
interview, focusing on questions for + types of questions
interviews. + qualities of good questions
+ techniques for interviews
- Students work in pairs to do TV news sample analysis

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7 - Apply appropriate techniques and Exercise 1 – Identify good or bad interview questions SB lesson 4 Required
complicated language to conduct an TB teachers’ readings for
interview . Students do this exercise individually
hand-outs Lesson 5
Exercise 2: Identify good or bad interview
lesson 4
Students watch two job interview videos, listen, take
notes and identify which interview is good or bad.
CD lesson 4
Exercise 3: Discuss more characteristics of a good
interview

Students watch part of an interview of David Beckham


on Ellen Show and in pairs use the list from exercise 2 to
identify whether it is a good interview.

Students discuss what characteristics of this interview


make it good or bad interview.

Exercise 4 – Role play

Students work in pairs, create a list of 10 interview


questions for Monica, an international graduate student
based on her biography.

Monica’s biography is provided (students’ book)

Exercise 5 – Practice

Students conduct interviews in the class using a provided


interview format

8 SELF-STUDY
9 MID-TERM TEST

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Group 6 and 7 prepare for the presentation on Assignment 1
10 Report - Student groups present on Assignment 1. SB lesson 5 Exercises for
- Teacher and class members listen to the presentation
- Understand newspaper reports TB lesson 5 Lesson 5 (SB)
and discuss the analysis of the presenters, based on
and the language of newspaper CD - Assignment 2
the knowledge from Required Readings.
reports Power Point
- Teacher sums up linguistics features of newspaper
- Analyze the content and
reports + headlines. lesson 5
linguistic features of a newspaper
+ paragraph structure
report + complexity of lexical choices
- Apply appropriate techniques and + sentence types/structures
English language at C1 level + cohesive devices (both intra-paragraph/sentence
(CEFR) to write a newspaper and inter-paragraph/sentence)
report - Students analyse the sample reports chosen by
teacher, based on the analysis form (SB Lesson 5).

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11 - Teacher assigns tasks for students to work individually Preparation for
or in pairs with language practice, discourse features and presenting
production. Assignment 2:
+ Exercise 1: Match the headline with the news story
Analysing and
+ Exercise 2: Match the headline with the lead
evaluating the
+ Exercise 3: Find synonyms used in the report
+ Exercise 4: Write headlines for the news story products
+ Exercise 5: Find synonyms and verbs in passive
voice
+ Exercise 6: Understand the structure of a news
report
+ Exercise 7: Report a story using reporting verbs
+ Exercise 8: Understand the formal language in a
newspaper report
- Students work in group of 4 or 5 to write a news report
with a detailed analysis of features they have used for it
(Exercise 9)
- Groups in turn give the copies of their reports to class
members who will give comments using peer evaluation
check list provided by teacher.
- Teacher wraps up and gives the final comment

12 SELF STUDY TO PREPARE FOR PRESENTATIONS


Groups send the detailed presentation to the teachers

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13 Presentations Students’ group presentation of Assignment 2
14
15 Revision More practice on the language for all the media types TB

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8. COURSE POLICY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS OF THE LECTURERS
Students are required to participate in 80% of the class hours. One or two assignments of
the students who are absent from more than 20% of the class hours will not be graded.
Students are allowed to do the second assignment on the condition that they complete the
first assignment and the mid-term test on the required dates.
9. TESTING AND ASSESSMENT
Assessment Weighting Objectives Description
forms
Ongoing 20% This assignment aims to Task: In groups of 3-4, students
assessment: help students: collect 2 articles/recordings of one
ASSIGNMENT  Understand the media type introduced in the course
1: characteristics of types then analyse the type’s
CRITICALLY of Media, especially the characteristics, which are shown
EVALUATING language characteristic; through the chosen
MEDIA  Understand and analyse articles/recordings, based on the
PRODUCTS the language of types of available instructions in each lesson.
media; Students present their examples and
 Develop independent analysis in class in the scheduled
thinking and critical week and then make corrections
thinking skills (by self- according to the feedback of the
studying, analyzing and lecturer.
evaluating the examples Submissions to the lecturer:
of media language);  2 examples of the chosen media
 Practicing writing and type:
presenting in English - Hard copies are required as for
about the language of articles.
media. - Soft copies are required in the
form of CD/VCD as for
recordings.
 Version 1 of the analysis of the
media product’s characteristics
shown through the two examples
which are chosen (without the
lecturer’s feedback);
 Powerpoint presentation used in
class (printed in hard copy form);
 Version 2 of the analysis of the
media type’s characteristics
shown through the two examples,
which are chosen (with
adjustments to Version 1
according to the lecturer’s
feedback);
 Assignment assessment scale
(Copied from Part 4 as
undermentioned)
Deadline for submission:
A week before the presentation: 2
collected examples and the first
version of the analysis (Except for
Group 1. This group will submit their
work 3 days prior to their
presentation.)
One week after the presentation: the
rest of the assignment
Ongoing 20%  Understand the Students answer to short questions
assessment: characteristics of types about the characteristics of the media
MID-TERM of media language about which they have
TEST  Analyse a type of learnt.
media; Students write an analysis about a
 Using English writing piece of news or an interview.
skills to analyse media

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language.
Summative 60% This assignment aims to Task: In groups of 3-4, students
assessment: help students: choose a type of media in the course
ASSIGNMENT  Review the (different from the one chosen for
2: characteristics of types Assignment 1) to produce a written
PRODUCING of media; or spoken text on an issue belong to
A MEDIA  Produce and evaluate the topics provided with by the
TEXT media language lecturer. Students present their work
 Use the skills of writing in class.
and presenting in Submissions to the lecturer:
English in the area of 1. A full script of the media
media genre, using special media

 Boost teamwork skills language:

and self-evaluation skill.  Hard copies as for written


texts;
 Soft copies and scripts in
CD/VCD as for spoken texts
 If the printed advertisement
form is selected, the written
text should be at least 300
words long. If TV news and
interviews are adopted, the
length should be 5 minutes.
Reports should range from
300-700 word
2. An analysis on the
characteristics of the media
language produced, based on
the corresponding analysis
form
3. Self-evaluation on the

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strengths and weaknesses of
the work based on the
assessment criteria for
Assignment 2
4. Powerpoint presentations
Deadline for submission:
1. Week 12A: a detailed
Powperpoint outline of the
presentation
2. All products: week 13 and 14
3. Week 15: A revised package
based on the teacher and class
comments

4. ASSESSMENT SCALE FOR ASSIGNMENT 1


The assessment scale is designed as a 4-point Likert-type scale from 1-4 with the
following assessment criteria:
5. Discourse analysis of the characteristics of the media type (60%)
Presenting the most important characteristics about the discourse of the chosen media
type
Contrasting the basic differences in Vietnamese and English about the chosen media type
The analytical points are supported by many arguments and examples.
6. Presentation (40%)
The presentation content is sufficient and meets the requirements
The organization of the presentation is clearly and coherently presented.
The English language used in th presentation is well used (equivalent to Level C1)
- Vocabulary is complex enough and always precise.
- Sentence structures and phrases are flexible, accurate and complex.
- Basic syllables in English are pronounced accurately.

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- Good intonation
Audios and visual aids are used to illustrate the presentation.

7. ASSESSMENT SCALE FOR ASSIGNMENT 2


The assessment scale is a 4-point Likert-type scale from 1-4 with the following
criteria and weighting.
8. Format 5%
Including enough components as mentioned
The components do not violate regulations about plagiarism and
format.

9. Content of language products created 15%


The content of the work deal withs the chosen topic.
The issue presented in the product is helpful for the target audience
10. Media language products created 30%
+ have the linguistic characteristics of the chosen media type
+ The accuracy of the language (English language in general and media
language in particular): Students do not make mistakes in vocabulary and
structures, there might be some unintentional mistakes.
+ The complexity of vocabulary and structures : Level C1
11. Analysis of the media language product created 20%
+ Presenting the most important characteristics about the discourse of
the chosen media type in the group work.
+ The analytical points are supported by many arguments and
examples.
12. Presenting the work 30%
The presentation content and the analysis of the characteristics of Media
language are fully presented in the complete work.
Various evidence supporting the analysis is provided.

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The organization of the presentation is logical and easily understandable.
Using language at level C1 while presenting the work (sufficiently complex
and accurate vocabulary and sentence structures)

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