Language testing is a common activity in language education, ranging from low-stakes progress tests through to high-stakes proficiency exams. The aims of this module are to familiarise you with the ways in which tests are constructed and validated, to enable you to construct and validate your own tests, and to enable you to critically evaluate test items. The module begins with an overview of basic concepts in language testing before focusing on the test design process. You will gain practice in using statistical methods to analyse test scores and test items (questions), and to interpret those statistics together with qualitative item analysis. You will then focus on methods for testing four macro-language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. The module involves a variety of ways to engage with content, including theoretical input through lectures and discussion, readings from up-to-date literature, and a range of hands-on tasks (e.g., analysis of test items, development of test tasks). You will work independently, in pairs and in groups. The assignment will draw together the knowledge and skills introduced during the module in a practical way that will be particularly useful for those involved in language teaching and assessment.

The aim of this module is to support the development of your academic reading, writing, and presentation skills, through a structured programme of workshops and seminars, poster presentations, and writing retreats.

The module reviews the principles, thinking and history underlying contemporary second language teaching practices. It explores what we know about the processes involved in language production and reception in a second language and uncovers implications for teaching of the language skills. It also reviews the developments in the teaching of the grammar and vocabulary of a foreign / second language and outlines the methods of language learning monitoring and provision of feedback in second language classrooms. The module consists of nine lecture sessions and nine seminar sessions. The lecture sessions will equip you with the necessary input on the principles and ideas associated with contemporary language teaching methods. The seminar sessions will give you space to discuss in small groups issues and concepts introduced in the lecture sessions, opportunities to critically engage with scholarly literature and opportunities to participate in experiential learning tasks.

This module deals with theoretical, ethical and methodological issues that are central to the study of applied linguistics and TESOL. It will enhance your knowledge of research methods and techniques of obtaining, analysing and presenting research data, will equip you with the necessary skills to conduct qualitative, quantitative and mixed- methods research in applied linguistics and TESOL, and will prepare you to independently conduct research in the fields of applied linguistics and TESOL. The module will run over one term and will be comprised of nine, two academic hours long, combined lecture and seminar sessions. Indicative topics in this module include: nature of research and issues in research design; qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods research paradigms; experimental designs; design and administration of questionnaires; designing and conducting interviews and focus groups; observation methods, including participant observation, observation protocols, and field notes; think aloud and verbal protocol analysis; coding and analysis of qualitative data; statistical analysis using t-tests and correlations; and research ethics.

This module will introduce you to dominant theories of second language acquisition and will support you in drawing connections between these theories and the field of language education. It will explain how theories of second language acquisition draw on ideas from disciplines such as linguistics, psychology and sociology to theorize how we learn an additional language and will connect these theories with the questions researchers ask about language learning, language learners and language teaching. The module will also provide a basis for critiquing how theories influence curriculum and teaching practices. During the module you will explore theoretical and empirical issues in the field, with language learning being examined as both a cognitive and social achievement. Readings for this module will be comprised of a mixture of seminal works, theoretical overviews, and current research papers. This module will require online as well as offline interaction with peers and tutors.

This module provides an in-depth introduction to the subject of bilingualism and multilingualism, viewed from the perspectives of individual language practice and its implications in social life. We will look at a variety of contexts and sites, among those education, the legal system, the economy, and the state. This module is designed to provide a better understanding of current issues, methods and theoretical developments in the study of bilingualism and multilingualism in society. By drawing on examples from empirical research in this field, this module aims to introduce you to different research approaches and to enable you to take a critical perspective on how social structures as well as language policies and -ideologies shape language practice. In doing so, this module puts a perspective on multilingual repertoires within social-, political-, and economic contexts. In teaching we will draw on your own experiences of bilingualism and multilingual societies (even ‘monolingual’ societies are very often multilingual in reality) as well putting multilingualism into wider political-economic and language-ideological contexts.

The central aim of this module is to familiarise you with modern experimental methods in the study of the bilingual mind, and present to you current theories and debates regarding the relationship between language and cognition in bilinguals. Workshops of this module are underpinned by the idea that bi/multilingualism has become the norm in modern societies and that understanding how humans process two (or more) languages in one mind, or how bilingualism can affect other aspects of cognition (e.g., executive functions, perception, decision-making) has become of central relevance in psycholinguistic research. Starting with our current understanding of bilingualism and the mind, paying particular attention to the methodological issues that are particularly relevant in bilingualism research, you will then come in contact with the growing body of behavioural and neurophysiological experimental research that inform us about how additional languages are acquired, processed and used at the mental and neural levels. Hereafter, a central concern of the module will be the cognitive consequences of holding two (or more) languages in one mind, covering topics such perception, cognitive control, emotions, and decision-making.

This module introduces the field of Cognitive Linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics presents a radical revision of orthodox linguistic theory making three central and related claims: (i) that language is not an autonomous cognitive faculty but instead relies on principles and processes found to function in other domains of cognition like memory, perception, reason and action; (ii) that meaning is conceptual in nature, derived from patterns of embodied as well as cultural experience; and (iii) that linguistic knowledge is usage-based. This module introduces key concepts and foundational theories in Cognitive Linguistics, including radial categories and prototypes, frames and image schemas, and conceptual metaphor theory, before exploring Cognitive Linguistic approaches to grammar and discourse. The modules also introduces recent empirical methods in Cognitive Linguistics in the form of simulation semantics and gesture studies.

This module is designed to expand your design capacities as a language educator. Increasingly, English language learners need academic rather than everyday language, must negotiate technical language and engage with English-speaking suppliers and clients, and/or work with international stakeholders in commercial and non-profit settings. English is the medium of instruction in high school science classrooms in Hong Kong, in mainstream classrooms across Africa, and in a range of disciplines in global post-secondary institutions. As language educators, we are tasked with supporting learners in developing English for these purposes. In this module, you will explore analytical frameworks for identifying the linguistic demands of academic and professional contexts, engage with techniques for planning relevant lessons and courses, and consider the implications for classroom practice. You will also have the opportunity to discuss the professional challenges of working with content educators, the issues of professional identity that arise, and the experiences of language educators who have taught in such contexts. The module usually combines theory, research and practice to provide a professional knowledge base for participation in this field.

Corpus linguistics is a methodology whereby large collections of electronically transcribed texts are used in conjunction with computer tools to investigate language. This module aims to give you a general introduction into corpus based language study. It centres around two main parts – corpus methods for exploring linguistic variation and the applications of corpus linguistics such as language teaching, forensic linguistics and discourse analysis. In this module you will learn how to use corpus analysis packages such as CQpWeb, #LancsBox and Antconc.

Critical Discourse Analysis is a particular area of discourse analysis concerned with the way social identities and relations are encoded in and enacted through texts. This module will introduce you to foundational approaches and recent advances in critical discourse analysis, which draw on and apply a range of theoretical frameworks in linguistics, including systemic functional linguistics, pragma-dialectics, cognitive linguistics and corpus linguistics. A variety of discourses will be studied, including discourses of immigration, war, civil disorder and corporate responsibility, as they are articulated in and across a variety of communicative modes and genres. Text types analysed will include print news media, political speeches, party manifestos, campaign leaflets and digital social media. The aim of the module is to enable you to identify and analyse the semiotic features of texts and conceptualisations that are involved in the discursive construction of ideology and the discursive legitimation of social action.

Being grounded in empirical research evidence, informed by second language acquisition and learning theories, and driven by practical considerations, this module introduces key principles and procedures of language curriculum design to students with limited or no prior knowledge of curriculum design. It specifically focuses on (1) an examination of factors that inform course construction, (2) an exploration of the course’s key components and ways in which they are structured, sequenced and assessed, (3) an examination of methods used for curriculum evaluation, and (4) on developing understanding of ways in which change can be introduced to an existing course, including considerations given to teacher beliefs and teacher training provision. This module is comprised of five lecture and five seminar sessions.

When linguists talk about grammar, they essentially refer to human ability to produce language. In this module you will learn about different models that have been used to explain the cognitive processes that allow human beings to produce linguistic meaning and structure. At the same time, you will learn about the conceptual mechanisms that trigger language change, language acquisition and ones that may inhibit those processes. You will finally be equipped with some applied knowledge of statistical analysis for linguistic data in RStudio, so that you will also be able to carry out your own case studies independently. Two live online sessions will be devoted to this, respectively in Week 8 and Week 10, in which we will work on two case studies and produce together some results at peer-review publication level.

The central aim of the module is to introduce you to modern experimental methods of measuring the ubiquitous relationship between language and cognition, which is a basic theoretical tenet of Cognitive Linguistics. In particular, it will begin by presenting language acquisition as a general learning process, and looking at interactions between linguistic and social-cognitive development in children. It will then explore the growing body of experimental research that investigates how an individual’s linguistic and cultural background informs their view of the world, and impacts on their thinking processes in adulthood (also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis). The module then explores the cognitive characteristics of the bilingual individual, focusing on lexical processing and representation, as well as the way in which bilingualism affects cognitive processes such as perception, cognitive control, and moral judgments. The final sessions focus on the cognitive mechanisms by which languages are learned and processed, examining the role of implicit learning and statistical learning in the acquisition process.

This module will introduce you to issues in experimental phonetics, as well as the practical skills necessary to undertake a research project in this area. You will learn how to use acoustic analysis software, such as Praat, and also learn to carry out data processing and analysis using R (a statistical programming language). We will also cover appropriate statistical methods and aspects of phonetic and linguistic theory. This module is suitable for students who have already got some undergraduate background in phonetics (we assume knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet, articulatory descriptions, basic acoustic phonetics).

This module introduces you to the broad arena of forensic linguistics.

You will look back over some of the seminal cases in the field, and reflect on its rapidly evolving present and future. You will formulate your own understanding of the potential and actual range of applications, and you will be given the opportunity to develop a practical skillset by, e.g. conducting analyses of texts through various forensic linguistic lenses.

You will also be introduced to the intricacies of presenting and understanding scientific evidence within various legal arenas, as well as the challenges that can arise when communicating results and conclusions.

In short, this module gives you the chance to develop both the knowledge and skills necessary to apply forensic linguistics to a wide range of real-world contexts from intelligence analytics and security sector roles to law enforcement and private consultancy.

This module provides an overview of: the main approaches to culture that have informed research in intercultural communication (‘big’, ‘small’, ‘high-context’, ‘low-context’, discursively constructed); the core traditions of research in the field of intercultural communication (‘intercultural’, ‘cross-cultural’ and ‘inter-discourse’); the main methodological approaches used to investigate culture and interculturality; the different definitions of intercultural competence; and the methods that can be used for developing intercultural competence. The main focus is on developing a critical understanding of core concepts, methodological approaches and traditions of research in the field of intercultural communication.

Lectures in this module are underpinned by the idea that culture and interculturality are integral to various domains of interaction in our everyday and professional lives. These include, but are not limited to, studying, travelling, going to the doctor, attending a workplace meeting, dialling an emergency phone line. The focus will be on how linguistic techniques of analysis can be applied to study interactions in such domains and on developing intercultural competence through research-based group work in small intercultural teams. Starting from the assumption that the media is one of the key sources of intercultural learning and vicarious intercultural contact, you will work in small intercultural teams to examine how the media constructs different social groups and/or issues relevant to intercultural encounters and how this may impact on communication.

This module will familiarise you with different theories in discourse studies and will provide practical skills and methods for analysing spoken, written and multimodal texts of different genres. It will involve hands-on practical work with texts which will help you acquire sufficient technical knowledge of linguistic description. More specifically, in this module we will approach discourse in two principal ways: on the one hand, we will regard discourse as structured use of language consisting of more than one sentence. The analysis of discourse in this sense will involve looking at the ways in which words, phrases and sentences hang together and make sense in context. On the other hand, we will consider discourse as language use as social practice that is influenced by, and influences, discourse practice and the wider social context. For example, we will speak of media discourse or political discourse and ask questions about their linguistic characteristics. We will also relate the texts that instantiate these discourses to the context of their production, distribution and reception, as well as to their wider social context.

This module considers how meanings are constructed in communication. It aims to cover the major areas in pragmatic theory, to introduce the latest developments in those areas, and to apply the theory to real data. The module’s content focuses in turn on various components that are central to communication. In the first two weeks, we focus on topics, such as referring expression and presuppositions, that more clearly overlap with the formal language system, falling on the border between semantics/grammar and pragmatics. The following two weeks, focus on topics that involve hearer inferencing and comprehension. Relevant frameworks include schema theory, Grice and Relevance Theory. Next, we focus on speaker intentions and frameworks for describing speech acts or pragmatic acts. The following week focuses on context, and considers various ways of describing it. We then focus on the interpersonal dynamics of interaction, and consider politeness and impoliteness theories. The final week concerns the application of pragmatics to cross-cultural situations. The emphasis of the module is on the application of pragmatic theory to 'real' data, and how that application affords insights into both the data and the theory. Data will mainly be spoken interactions, including material from films and documentaries, but will include other data types too.

This module will introduce you to fundamental concepts and approaches involved in the study of the ways in which language reflects society. We will study how variation in language relates to social factors like gender, age, social class, and ethnicity. We will also consider the social contexts under which language varies, and connect the variation found in everyday speech to the larger forces that drive language change over time. This module will feature hands-on research, allowing you to collect data on how people use language in real life, as well as quantitative analysis skills.

This module aims to broaden and deepen your capacity to create, implement and evaluate designs for digitally-mediated language teaching in both blended and fully online teaching contexts. Its first unit covers established design principles for developing online courses and materials, principles that have much in common with teaching any subject online. But after the first unit, we focus on research specific to language teaching. We look at designing for interaction and for developing sociolinguistic and/or pragmatic competence; for implicit and explicit teaching of grammatical forms; and for furthering self-efficacy and self-management of language learning. We consider the advantages and disadvantages of synchronous and asynchronous communication, of audio, video and written texts, and of a range of formative assessment activities. The module adopts a research-informed stance to language teaching and engages you in critically evaluating online language teaching resources and environments against what the research has shown.

Corpus research has been playing an increasingly important role in current approaches to language learning and teaching. Corpus linguistics is a powerful method of language analysis, which is now used in the development of major language teaching resources such as textbooks, dictionaries and grammars. This module is designed to equip you with up-to-date knowledge and skills which will enable you to use corpus resources with confidence in your language teaching practice and research. The module explores different ways in which corpus linguistics can assist language teachers and materials developers in effective language teaching. In a series of lectures and tasks, we will focus on the understanding of the principles of integrating corpora into language teaching, discussing topics such as discovery learning, data-driven learning and authenticity in language teaching materials. In hands-on sessions in a computer lab, we will develop skills in the practical use of key corpus methods. Finally, this module will equip you with the skills necessary for developing effective classroom materials and activities using corpora and corpus methods.