University of Surrey - Guildford
Registry
  
 

  
 
Registry > Module Catalogue
View Module List by A.O.U. and Level  Alphabetical Module Code List  Alphabetical Module Title List  Alphabetical Old Short Name List  View Menu 
2010/1 Module Catalogue
 Module Code: MFC1006 Module Title: INTRODUCTION TO TEXT DESIGN
Module Provider: English Short Name: MFC191
Level: HE1 Module Co-ordinator: DOLOUGHAN F Dr (English)
Number of credits: 30 Number of ECTS credits: 15
 
Module Availability

Y
Assessment Pattern

Unit(s) of Assessment

Weighting Towards

Module Mark( %)

Text Analysis

20%

Text Production 1

15%

Text Production 2

15%

Creative Essay

50%

Module Overview

This year-long, introductory module will begin by looking at the characteristic features of spoken and written language, as well as their interaction, bearing in mind the constitutive role of context and genre in the production of each. It will focus on the materiality of spoken and written language, their different logics and cultural shaping and view them as resources for constructing meaning. It will take account of the role of social convention in relation to text production and examine a range of textual products in a variety of professional and disciplinary contexts.

The following is an indicative list of broad topic areas to be covered:

·1 Understanding text

·2 Language, speech and writing

·3 Types of spoken discourse

·4 Types of written discourse

·5 Analyzing genre

·6 A social theory of text

·7 Text and the new media

· Design and transformation

Prerequisites/Co-requisites
None
Module Aims

The module aims to:

· To facilitate text production in various contexts by providing students with a kind of theoretical and practical toolkit for text design;
Learning Outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

 

·1 Identify the characteristic features of spoken and written text

·2 Demonstrate understanding of concepts of genre

·3 Show awareness of the relationship between text and context in a variety of academic and professional domains

·4 Evidence ability to design text appropriate to the particular contexts

Module Content

Weekly Schedule

Semester 1:

1. Introductory seminar exploring concepts of language

2. Lecture: Understanding text

Gavin Goodwin

Key Reading: Jakobson, 1999: 54-62

Yaguello, 1998: 6-21

3. Seminar relating to week 2.

4. Lecture: Types & features of spoken language

Gavin Goodwin

Key Reading: Simpson, 1997: 131-177

5. Seminar relating to week 4.

6. Lecture: Introduction to Poetry Gavin Goodwin

7. Seminar relating to week 6.

8. Lecture: Types & features of written text Gavin Goodwin

Key Reading: Halliday, 1993: 13-41

9. Seminar relating to week 8

10. Lecture: A social theory of text

Liam Bell

Key Reading: Kress, 1993: 22-37

11. Seminar relating to week 10.

Semester 2:

1. Lecture: Design, transformation and intertextuality Liam Bell

Key Reading: Kress, 2000: 153-161

2. Seminar relating to week 1

3. Lecture: Introduction to Prose-fiction

Liam Bell

Key Reading: Van Dijk, 1985: 69-93

4. Seminar relating to week 4

5. Lecture: Film and scriptwriting

Liam Bell

Key Reading: Minghella, 2005: 10-47

6. Seminar relating to week 5.

7. Lecture: Looking towards the final essay

Gavin Goodwin

8. Seminar relating to week 7.

9. Lecture: Multiliteracies

Liam Bell

Key Reading: Fairclough, 2000: 162-181

10. Workshop: Creative pieces for final essay

11. Workshop: Creative pieces for final essay

 

Methods of Teaching/Learning

Teaching will be in a fortnightly one-hour lecture and a fortnightly two-hour seminar, running on alternating weeks.

Selected Texts/Journals

Bhatia, V. (1993), Analyzing Genre: Language Use in Professional Settings. London and New York: Longman

Coupland, N. and A. Jaworski (2006), The Discourse Reader. London and New York: Routledge

Crystal, D. (2001), Language and the Internet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Halliday, M.A.K. (1989), Spoken and Written Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Johns, A.M. (1997), Text, Role and Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Koester, A. (2004), The Language of Work. London and New York: Routledge

Kress, G. (2000), "Design and Transformation: New Theories of Meaning". In B. Cope and M. Kalantzis (eds.), Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures

Kress, G. (2003), Literacy in the New Media Age. London and New York: Routledge
Last Updated

JG Aug 2010