EDLA514 English Curriculum Studies

10 cp
(Karachi)

This unit is designed to prepare the students to teach English in secondary schools in Pakistan. It builds on the existing language skills of the students and develops their use of language in a teaching situation. It ensures that they have the content knowledge and appropriate teaching skills required in the secondary classroom.

EDLA517 Language and Literacy Education

10 cp

This unit focuses on the theory and pedagogy of language and literacy education in primary classrooms. The role of language and literacy in learning and living will be explored, in particular, the role of literacy in empowering the individual. A special focus will be on highlighting the range of skills learners require for effective participation in today’s information-rich society. Students will examine different theories of language and literacy to explain the nature and processes involved in learning to read and write and to use language for a wide range of purposes, and how to apply appropriate instructional practices to suit the needs of diverse learners. Students will study the reading and writing processes, the relationship between spoken and written language, the way language structures are used to construct meaning in different text types, and critical literacy. A range of literary, non-literary, media and multi-modal texts will be studied as resources for literacy pedagogy. Students will examine, using the relevant curriculum guidelines, a range of principles and practices for teaching speaking, listening, viewing, reading and writing in diverse classrooms.

EDLA601 Literacy in Society and in the Classroom

10 cp

The unit is designed to deepen participants’ knowledge of literacy and language education. In this unit participants will examine the nature of literacy and literacies. They will review the social, political and historical development of the concept of ‘literacy’ in society and in education. Participants will consider how literacy practices vary in different social and cultural contexts and they will be presented with research bases for a socio-cultural view of literacy. Unit participants will examine current research in areas that impact on literacy learning such as emergent literacy, home and community literacies, critical literacy, visual literacy, multimodality, multi-literacies, and the pedagogical implications of recent research in these areas. These will all be considered within the context of current syllabi, curriculum documents and participants’ own teaching situations.

EDLA609 Socio-Cultural Contexts of Language and Literacy Practices

10 cp

In this unit, students will focus more closely on the different effects of social and cultural background on second language learning and literacy practices. Aspects of classroom discourse will be examined. Critical literacy pedagogies will be examined along with the implications for second language learners’ ‘readings’ of factual, literary and multi-modal texts. Students will be led to investigate areas for appropriate research in their own teaching situations, considering the needs of different ethnic, cultural and language groups.

EDLA612 Assessment and Curriculum Design in TESOL

10 cp

In this unit students will develop understanding and skills which will enable them to recognise learner strategies at the phonological, grammatical and discourse levels and assess their language proficiency. Students will conduct a needs analysis of an individual learner and design a program to meet those needs. The unit will also explore the programming, assessment and evaluation cycle for language learning in the context of relevant syllabus documents and in a variety of settings such as mainstream school classrooms, New Arrival programs, English for Special Purposes.

EDLA614 Language, Culture and Communication

10 cp

This unit examines the interface between language and culture. It addresses those particular elements that constitute the speech act and explores facets of communication that both empower and disempower the individual. The link between ideology, power and language will be studied together with concepts of class and gender. The impact of the information revolution on the development of language and the globalisation of English will be examined from the perspective of changes on intercultural communication.

EDLA615 Literacy in the Early Years

10 cp

This unit will explore contemporary understandings of the intersection between play and literacy and the implications for early childhood and primary teachers. These connections offer new ways of thinking about children’s literacy learning and provide rich potential for practice where children engage in open learning opportunities. Literacy is currently recognised as taking place within a range of social and cultural contexts and most children experience multiple literacies while engaging in everyday practices at home, in early childhood contexts and in the wider community. Students will examine research in early literacy, develop an understanding of emergent literacy and critique issues relating to literacy and diversity, literacy and families and literacy and gender. Contemporary pedagogical issues and the monitoring of early literacy development also will be examined.

EDLA616 Literature for Children and Young Adults

10 cp

This unit challenges participants to extend their reading and knowledge of literature for children and young adults. It introduces them to recent developments in literary theory, the application of these developments in educational contexts and an understanding of the processes involved in constructing critical literacies. Participants will consider the wider socio-cultural impact of the children and young adult literature ‘industry’ and develop critical awareness of the texts and contexts of ‘children’s’ literature.

EDLA617 Researching Curriculum Literacies

10 cp

In this unit participants will examine the interdependence of literacies and learning in different curriculum areas. They will distinguish the range of literacies needed for Humanities, Mathematics and Science subjects as well as the English curriculum, across K-12. This unit will address the interconnectedness of learning in content areas, developing participants’ knowledge of the linguistic forms of curriculum area texts. This knowledge will offer a resource for teachers to enhance their teaching of the curriculum. Participants will be required to complete a small research project on the literacy of a specific curriculum area whereby they examine the classroom applications of this research.

EDLA618 Teaching Strategies for TESOL

10 cp

In this unit, students will explore a variety of current approaches such to the teaching of English as an additional language in different classroom settings. Communicative Language and Task-Based language learning will be examined in the light of current research into second language acquisition. Students will also apply their understanding of the systems of English to design activities which develop learner competence in speaking, listening, reading, writing and viewing. In addition, students will be expected to construct units of work which cater for specific groups of learners in a variety of contexts.

EDLA619 Language and Learning

10 cp

This unit introduces students to the study of the grammatical and phonological systems of English in order to provide practical skills for observing, describing and analysing language in use in a variety of social contexts. The unit will also explore a variety of theories from linguistics, socio-linguistics, psycholinguistics and education as a foundation for understanding the processes of first and second language acquisition. Knowledge and skills acquired in this unit will provide a foundation for developing strategies and designing programs to support learners of English.

EDLA620 English in a Socio-Cultural Context

10 cp

This unit introduces students to the impact of culture on learning. It compares different cultural conventions, celebrations and ways of life, values, education and schooling. How this impacts on student learning and what is studied in national curricula will be explored. In addition the unit allows students to examine the changes to local and national culture resulting from the spread of English and influences of Western culture. In particular, the impact of globalisation of English for intercultural communication and education will be examined from the perspective of the dynamics of cultural change.

EDLA621 Foundation Studies in TESOL

10 cp

This unit introduces key theories and practices informing productive pedagogy. Students will explore basic techniques to establish and maintain quality language teaching and learning environments in a variety of instructional and cultural settings. The focus is on developing essential classroom communication skills, critical literacy, effective lesson planning, resource development and classroom management strategies. Students will develop the professional knowledge, skills and values relevant to a reflective professional practitioner in the language classroom.

EDLA622 Linguistics for TESOL

10 cp

This unit continues the study of the grammatical systems of English and how these function in a variety of contexts. After exploring socio-cultural and historical aspects of the English language, students will examine the sound and writing systems of English and the paralinguistic features that accompany both systems. Students will then review the theories presented in the earlier linguistics unit, especially the functional Context-Text model of language and the range of genres available in English. They will then be guided through the processes of English discourse analysis and text production, in order to develop practical skills in observing/listening, describing, analysing and producing both oral and written language (texts) in a variety of social contexts.

EDLA624 Language for Learning and Teaching

10 cp

In this unit, participants will analyse the nature of English and the place of language study within current curriculum contexts. Participants will examine the relationship of language learning to literacy and the construction of meaning in written and visual texts. They will extend their knowledge and proficiency in English grammar and develop classroom strategies for the effective and explicit teaching of grammar. Within their study of language, participants will consider the role of language in constructing what counts as critical literacy. These concepts will be applied to the teaching and assessment of language and literacy in different curriculum areas K-12.