Chinese Studies and Spanish Studies BA Hons - 2020 Entry

Course Structure

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.

The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.

Year 1

Core

• Part I Chinese Studies (Advanced/CEFR: B1)

  The CHIN101 Part I Chinese Studies (Advanced) course at Lancaster University combines Chinese language learning with study of Chinese in context.

  The CHIN101 course will give you the opportunity to undertake a range of language learning activities that will consolidate your skills gained at 'A', 'A/S' or equivalent levels. It aims to further your level, taking you from B1 to B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The course will provide you with an understanding of language necessary for more advanced study. It also aims to teach Mandarin Chinese from the perspective of how to teach/how to do research with Chinese, with comparatively more specialised tools to learn about Chinese grammar and pragmatics and to compare it with English and other languages (i.e. corpus approaches and so on).

  There are five language classes and three supplementary activities per week. The classes consist of one lecture and four hours of tutorials, taught by qualified language teachers. The four hours of tutorials are based on a textbook, and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Chinese grammatical structures. Listening and speaking skills are developed under the guidance of Chinese native speakers using audio and video materials. Language contact hours will be supplemented by weekly activities: i) Independent Learning Hour (guided learning with set online tasks per week and feedback from tutors); ii) Chinese Caf, (1.5 hours each week where students discuss with native speakers and keep a learning diary in Chinese characters of their learning at the Cafe); and iii) fortnightly screening of Chinese films. The Independent Learning Hour is compulsory, the Chinese Cafe and film-screening are optional. Students are encouraged to attend the optional activities and borrow materials from the Languages and Cultures department and the Confucius Institute, join the Confucius Institute's language partner programme, visit Chinese-speaking countries during the vacation, and to take every opportunity of listening to and speaking the language.

• Part I Chinese Studies (Beginners to CEFR: A2)

  Would you like to be able to communicate using Mandarin Chinese? Do you want to acquire key elements to become an expert of Chinese culture, society and institutions? We focus on teaching absolute beginners how to speak, listen and read so you can confidently use day-to-day Chinese. You’ll also be given the opportunity to learn about Chinese culture, history and contemporary society.

  Learning a language so radically different from English offers an incredible insight into linguistics in action. You’ll also have the opportunity to explore Chinese culture and gain experience in Chinese ICT (Information and Communications Technology).

  You will have the opportunity to learn:

  • Chinese phonetics including pronunciation and intonation
  • The basics of Chinese grammar and key sentence structures
  • Academic insights into the uniqueness of Chinese as a world language
  • Expertise in listening, speaking, reading and writing Mandarin
  • Insights about the graphical element of writing, such as the significance of types of strokes, radicals and their ancestral meaning.
  • Elements of Chinese culture, philosophy, economy, institutions and contemporary challenges

  “Being a management student, I believe that having a knowledge of Mandarin will be very useful in dealing with the international business world.” Sofia Guimaraes, BBA Management

  To explore Chinese culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in Chinese history have shaped contemporary Chinese culture, we will look at examples including films, plays, and novels.

  Beginner modules usually have four classes per week.

• Part I language studies

  All DeLC first year language programmes are supported by a series of plenary sessions and film screenings designed to offer students further opportunities to expand and consolidate their knowledge and skills base. The DELC100/101 programme runs for 22 weeks and consists of language-specific film screenings relevant to their course(s) in addition to skills-based plenary sessions. The module is non credit-bearing but students are expected to attend so as to acquire complementary skills useful in areas such as oral presentations, essay-writing and engaging with culture alongside useful strategies to enhance autonomous language learning outside the classroom. Towards the end of the programme, to help students prepare for their exams, plenary sessions offer help and advice on managing revision time efficiently and identifying strategies and techniques to suit individual learning styles and needs.

• Part I Spanish Studies (Advanced/CEFR: B1)

  This module is designed for students who have already completed an A-level in Spanish or whose Spanish is of a broadly similar standard. The language element aims to enable students both to consolidate and improve their skills in spoken and written Spanish. A further aim is to provide students with an introduction to the historical and cultural development of Spain in the twentieth century, and also to contemporary institutions and society.

  Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be conducted by a Spanish native speaker. In tutorials the emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Spanish grammatical structures. You will have the opportunity to develop listening and speaking skills usually under the guidance of Spanish native speakers using audio and video materials.

  To explore Spanish culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in Spanish history have shaped contemporary Spanish culture, we will look at examples including films, plays, and novels

  Advanced modules usually have three classes per week.

• Part I Spanish Studies (Beginners to CEFR: A2)

  This module is designed for students having little or no knowledge of the Spanish language. Consequently, a substantial part of the module is devoted to intensive language teaching aimed at making the student proficient in both written and spoken Spanish. At the same time, students will be introduced to aspects of Spanish culture and society.

  Each week, we aim for one of your language classes to be conducted by a Spanish native speaker. Tutorials are based on a textbook and emphasis is placed on the acquisition of vocabulary and a firm grasp of Spanish grammatical structures. Listening and speaking skills are developed under the guidance of Spanish native speakers using audio and video materials.

  To explore Spanish culture, you are given the chance to examine how key moments in Spanish history have shaped contemporary Spanish culture, we will look at examples including films, plays, and novels

  Beginner modules usually have four classes per week.

Year 2

Core

• Chinese Language: Oral Skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year. Students who have taken the Intensive language course in their first year normally follow this course throughout the second year.

  The module aims to enhance students’ linguistic proficiency in spoken Chinese in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations as well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

  This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern Chinese-speaking societies, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

  By the end of this module, we hope you will have enhanced your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that they may encounter in Chinese-speaking countries.

• Chinese Language: Oral Skills (post-Beginner CEFR: B1)

  Information for this module is currently unavailable.

• Chinese Language: Written Skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

  This module aims to consolidate skills gained by students in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise themselves with the culture and society of countries where their studied language is spoken.

  The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding written Chinese, as well as in the writing of Chinese (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Chinese; and the systematic study of Chinese lexis, grammar and syntax.

  The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

• Chinese Language: Written Skills (post-Beginner CEFR: B1)

  Information for this module is currently unavailable.

• Second Year Programme for Academic Skills, Employability and International placement preparation

  This module is a non-credit bearing module. If you are a major student going abroad in your second or third year you are enrolled on it during the year prior to your departure, and timetabled to attend the events. These include: introduction to the Year Abroad and choice of activities; British Council English Language Assistantships and how to apply; introduction to partner universities and how they function; working in companies abroad; finance during the Year Abroad; research skills and questionnaire design; teaching abroad; curriculum writing and employability skills; welfare and wellbeing; Year Abroad Preparation Week in the Summer Term.

• Shaping Contemporary China: Moments and Movements

  Information for this module is currently unavailable.

• Shaping Contemporary Spain and Latin America: Moments and Movements

  This core module is usually divided into three topic areas usually comprising of the following:

  (1) Power and Resistance in Spanish America from the Colony to the 21st Century;

  (2) War, Dictatorship and Transition in Spain in the 20th and 21st Century;

  (3) Culture and Resistance in Catalunya in the 20th and 21st Century.

  You will study texts which both encourage an engaged reading of Spanish and open up alternative avenues towards traditional fields of study in Hispanism (empire and colonialism, nineteenth-century nation-building, revolution, dictatorship, Francoism, regionalism, neo-liberalism, and globalisation.) Firstly, you will examine the theme of power and resistance which and how this concerns you in various ways. Secondly, we divide the module by geographical region and study varying cultures and histories in the Spanish speaking world. We will examine texts associated with the main theme and throughout, you will be encouraged to interrogate the meanings of terms such as colony, revolution, rebellion, republic, empire, dictatorship, and democracy. You will have the opportunity to examine close readings of cultural texts which themselves question the assumptions which underpin these terms.

• Spanish Language: Oral Skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the Written Skills module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

  This module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken Spanish in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

  This module also aims at broadening students’ knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions in order to prepare them for residence abroad in their 3rd year.

  By the end of this module, you will have had the opportunity to enhance your comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in Spanish-speaking countries.

• Spanish Language: Oral Skills (post Beginners/CEFR: B1)

  This module comprises of both oral and aural skills, to be taken alongside the corresponding Written Language module. It builds upon skills gained in the first year.

  The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency in spoken Spanish in a range of formal and informal settings (both spontaneous and prepared). Specific attention will be given to developing good, accurate pronunciation and intonations well as fluency, accuracy of grammar, and vocabulary when speaking the language.

  This module also aims at broadening your knowledge about different aspects of modern society, politics and culture, and contemporary issues and institutions.

  By the end of this module, you have hopefully developed enhanced comprehension of the spoken language, as used in both formal speech, and in everyday life situations including those that you may encounter in Spanish-speaking countries.

• Spanish Language: Written skills (CEFR: B2)

  This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

  This module aims to consolidate skills you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable them to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourself with the culture and society of Spanish-speaking countries.

  The module aims to enhance your proficiency in the writing of Spanish (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Spanish; and the systematic study of Spanish lexis, grammar and syntax.

  The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

• Spanish Language: Written Skills (post Beginners/CEFR: B1)

  This module comprises of reading and writing skills to be taken alongside the Oral Skills module.

  This module aims to consolidate you have hopefully developed in the first year of study, and enable you to build a level of competence and confidence required to familiarise yourselves with the culture and society of Spanish-speaking countries.

  The module aims to enhance your proficiency in understanding spoken Spanish, as well as in the writing of Spanish (notes, reports, summaries, essays, projects, etc.) including translation from and into Spanish; and the systematic study of Italian lexis, grammar, and syntax.

  The module aims to enhance your linguistic proficiency, with particular emphasis on reading a variety of sources and on writing fluently and accurately in the language, in a variety of registers.

Optional

• Economic and Social Change in France, Germany and Spain since 1945

  This module explores how post-war economic change has affected European societies, and how socio-political factors in turn have influenced the patterns and outcomes of economic development, over the second half of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty first century.

  The module is structured on the basis of three country-specific modules (France, Germany and Spain), examining how these countries have confronted key moments of economic change, and what the longer-term consequences of that change have been. While the module emphasis is on broad national developments, discussion also covers examples relating to particular industries and major companies.

  In lectures, workshops and seminars we will explore the context of reconstruction after World War II and the pattern of subsequent economic development; the relationship between social and economic policies; the development of the three country's economies; the changes of the 1980s and their impact on subsequent years; and the consequences of specific momentous events, such as the re-unification of Germany and how the financial crisis of 2008 affected, and still affects, France, Germany and Spain.

• Language and Identity in France, Germany and Spain

  This module will introduce you to the role that the language used by institutions plays in shaping individual perceptions of identity. It aims to provide you with a basic theoretical framework that allows them to understand the relationship between language and power as reflected in current language policies at regional, national, and supranational levels. It will give you the opportunity to recognise forms of prestige and stigma associated with varieties of the three main languages under study. We aim for this module to raise critical awareness of the portrayal and representation of linguistic variations in the media and in the sphere of literature.

  The main topics covered in the course include Language and Power; European language policies; German as a pluricentric language and ‘Gastarbeiter’ language and policies; regional variations of France: Linguistic Diversity: A threat to French National Identity?; The languages and language attitudes of Spain (Castilian Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician).

  This module is taught in English.

• Professional Contexts for Modern Languages

  This module seeks to support you to apply your linguistic and cultural understanding in a specific professional context. This module gives you the opportunity to spend time on a work-based placement in the UK or abroad. You will be given the opportunity to develop, reflect on and articulate both the range of competences and the linguistic and cross-cultural skills that enhance employability by working in language-related professional contexts and reflecting on key issues in relation to their placement organisation. There is the opportunity to join a local work placement developed by the department, or for you to source your own placements (subject to departmental approval). Workshops before and during the placement will provide preparation and guidance on sourcing, confirming and then reflecting on academic work. Students will share their experiences and learning with each other by means of end-of-module presentations.

• Society on Screen: The Language of Film

  How do films deal with topics like terrorism, immigration, resistance and city life? Do they entertain viewers, instruct them, or both?

  This module explores European and Latin American films in their social and historical contexts. The main aim is to make connections between the films and such contexts not only on the level of narrative, characterisation and dialogue, but also on that of form and technique.

  To these ends, there will be introductory lectures on cinema and society and on film aesthetics and content in the first week of the module. The connections mentioned will be the focus of seminars and presentations within the four core topic areas: terrorism, migration, the city and resistance.

  The module usually consists of four strands on cinema and society: Terrorism, Migration and Hybrid identities, The City and Collaboration/Resistance.

  Each strand will be introduced with a lecture and followed by seminars on the set films. Students will give a presentation on a short sequence within their allocated film.

• Understanding culture

  This module aims to give you a background to and insight into the diversity of twentieth and twenty-first century thought and contemporary definitions of culture.

  Some key questions explored on the module include: What is 'culture' and how does it work? How do 'art' and 'culture' relate to each other? What do we mean when we talk about the production and consumption of culture? Why does popular culture arouse conflicting responses? What role does the body play in our understanding of culture? How does culture define who we are? Can a work of culture be an act of resistance?

  With these questions in mind, this module focuses on texts which raise questions about class, race, gender, and subcultures.

Year 3

Core

• International Placement Year: Intercultural and Academic Reflection

  As part of The International Placement Year you will normally spend at least eight months abroad in your third year. You will have the opportunity to:

  • analyse the contemporary relevance of a tradition, contemporary social, political or economic issue, or a living part of the regional culture.
  • reflect critically on cultural differences observed in everyday life such as social relationships, politics, attitudes to food, drink, religion, etc., explaining them in the context of various historical, social and cultural developments.
  • think analytically about your intercultural position and understanding of the relevant culture(s).
  • reflect on language use (different registers, varieties of pronunciation and accents, dialects, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, and aspects of grammar) and the process of the acquisition of skills in the relevant language(s).

  The module also aims to enhance and develop your language skills, with all assessments being written in the target language. If you have started a language as a beginner in year one you will spend a minimum of four months in a country where that language is spoken. If you are a joint honours student who is studying two languages, you may choose to spend the year in either of the two countries concerned or, if appropriate arrangements can be made, you can spend a semester in each country.

  Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner. Students conduct either a study placement at a partner University, a teaching assistantship placement with The British council or an appropriate working placement with a vetted employer abroad or a combination of placements (please note that there are some restrictions on British Council placements which usually last for the whole of the academic year).

  Joint honours degrees

  If you are a joint honours student who is combining a language with a non-language subject, your placement year will provide the opportunity to develop your language skills and cultural awareness, but will not necessarily relate to the non-language aspect of your degree.

  Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of your International Placement Year.

Year 4

Core

• Chinese Language: Written Skills (CEFR: C1/C2)

  Information for this module is currently unavailable.

• Spanish Language: Oral Skills (CEFR: C1/C2)

  This module is a half unit and is integrated with the Spanish Language: Written Skills module.

  This module together with the written skills module consists of three hours tuition per week. Both the oral and the written language modules focus on particular topics of cultural and contemporary interest. The general aim of these half unit modules is to develop the abilities you gained during their second year and your year abroad.

  By the end of this module, we hope you will have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. We aim for you tohave acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

• Spanish Language: Written Skills (CEFR: C1/C2)

  This module is integrated with the Spanish Language: Oral Skills module.

  This module has two main aims. The first one is to enhance your linguistic proficiency with emphasis on understanding of spoken and written Spanish, the speaking of Spanish (prepared and spontaneous) in both formal and informal settings, the writing of Spanish, and the systematic study of Spanish lexis, grammar and syntax. The second aim is to increase your awareness, knowledge and understanding of contemporary Spain.

  By the end of this module, we hope you will have developed an informed interest in the society and culture of the Spanish -speaking world. We aim for you to have acquired almost native-speaker abilities in both spoken and written language.

Optional

• Chinese Culture and Society

  Contemporary Chinese culture is profoundly influenced by its historical, political and philosophical traditions. This module will provide you with a general knowledge of the key aspects of China's history, culture, and society and its increasingly prominent role on the world stage in a global perspective.

  This module gives you the opportunity to develop informed positions on topics covering Daoist, Legalist and Confucian philosophies, political strategies and cosmologies; art and literature; family, gender, and sexuality; language and education reform; the use of social space; the foundation of the Communist Party and its leaders from Mao to Deng to Xi and beyond.

  Particular emphasis is placed on showing the diversity and transformation of culture and society in China throughout China’s history. You will have the opportunity to develop critical reading and discussion skills in relation to key topics in Chinese cultural studies.

  Your lectures and seminars will give you the opportunity to explore (inter-) cultural, political and historical knowledge. The seminars are usually interactive sessions that are designed to give you the opportunity to reflect on and discuss the topics covered in the lectures, through careful analysis of textual and audiovisual sources.

• Contemporary Cities in Literature and Film

  This module introduces you to major themes that shape the experience of contemporary city dwellers: gender, social inequality, and practices of citizenship. These interlinking themes will be introduced through novels, poetry and films on the following European, North American (with the emphasis on immigrant communities within its cities) and Latin American cities: New York, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile, Barcelona, Berlin, and Los Angeles.

  Each topic will be covered though an introductory lecture and a core text, followed by a range of additional texts for students to analyse. During workshops students will share their findings and opinions, emphasizing on identifying links between the topics studied, aiming to encourage discussion.

  The format of the module encourages cross-referencing between the themes of the module (for example, gender and sexuality are relevant to an analysis of social inequality, and vice versa).

• Full Unit Dissertation

  This module is assessed entirely through coursework. You are given a chance of pursuing a topic of their own interest, which is not covered in taught options. A dissertation consists of approximately 10,000 words written in English. The topic of dissertation must relate to French/German/Spanish language, or a comparison between two or more, or a general European issue. The other two restrictions on topic choice are: it must be capable of and approached from a serious academic angle and it falls within the range of expertise of a member of the Department’s staff.

  Each student will be assigned a supervisor - one of the lecturers from the Department, who will provide regular supervision, and feedback on the first draft of the completed dissertation. The topic is agreed and discussed with the supervisor in the Summer Term of the second year, and preparatory research should begin during the Year Abroad.

• Mirrors across Media: Reflexivity in Literature, Film, Comics and Video Games

  The module consists of a combination lectures and seminars. The lectures will introduce you to the broad lines of the history of self-reflexive phenomena in Western culture from Renaissance paintings through Baroque literature and the 18th-century novel to the boom of metafiction and related phenomena in Modernism and contemporary popular culture. At the same time, it aims to provide theoretical bases by introducing key concepts such as self-reflexivity, the fourth wall, frame, metafiction and metanarration, narrative levels, metalepsis, and the way these can manifest in different forms of art. The seminar discussions will serve to put these concepts into practice in the analyses of the texts, films, and mixed media and interactive products. Examples of potential topics might include classics of metafiction in literature (Cervantes, Sterne, Fielding, Diderot, Unamuno, Borges, Calvino, Pirandello, Queneau, Barth..), film (Charlie Kaufman, Almodóvar, Woody Allen…), comics and visual art.

• Translation as a Cultural Practice

  What makes a good translation and how do translations do good? This module aims to help you understand the practice of translation as it has evolved historically from the 18th century to the present across European and American societies. The materials we study include historical textual sources (philosophical essays on the craft of translation from French, German and Hispanic authors of the 19th and 20th centuries), representative fictional texts reflecting on translation processes, and contemporary documents from the EU directorate on translation, PEN and the Translators' Association. We will also make considerable use of contemporary online resources as exemplified by Anglophone advocates of intercultural exchange such as Words Without Borders. Our aim is to look at translation as both a functional process for getting text in one language accurately into another and a culturally-inflected process that varies in its status and purpose from one context to another. We will pay particular attention to the practical role that literary translators play within the contemporary global publishing industry and consider the practicalities of following a career in literary translation in the Anglophone world.