VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
DIVISION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY

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Course Guide
LANGUAGE AND MEDIA
1. ABOUT THE LECTURERS

Full name and academic Faculty Major research interests Email

degree

TS. Nguyễn Thu Hiền English Language teaching methodology; [email protected]

Faculty of English
Teacher education
Language Teacher
Education

ThS. Lưu Ngọc Ly English Language teaching methodology; [email protected]

Faculty of English
Teacher education
Language Teacher
Education

ThS. Trần Thị Hiếu Thuỷ English Language teaching methodology; [email protected]
Faculty of English
Teacher education; Multimodal analysis; Media
Language Teacher
literacy
Education

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2. COURSE DESCRIPTION
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
Expected language proficiency level : C1 (CEFR)
3. COURSE CONTENT SUMMARY
Language and Media has been majorly designed in the light of “task-based” and “genre-based” approaches in language
teaching for third-year students at ULIS, who have achieved B2 and are in the process of achieving C1-level language
competence according to the Common European Framework of Reference and wish to apply theoretical linguistic knowledge
into a practical professional area. The subject aims to equip students with more in-depth knowledge about the 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 media genre-based language, language learning methods but also critical textual analytical skills when being
exposed to various types of media such as advertisements, news, interviews, reports and public narratives.
As the media holds a widespread influence on lecturers and students alike in this modern world, the course effectiveness may
also be significantly be associated with a co-constructive approach in which both students and teachers contribute input for the
lesson including sample media texts, discussion questions and contents, reflection and exercises. Teachers may adapt teaching
methods to suit them and their students.

4. COURSE OBJECTIVES

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By the end of the course Language and Media, students will have been able to:
+ summarize key ideas in complicated texts at different length in the field of Language and Media
+ analyse and evaluate the language aspect of various media text types using simple textual analysis and critical
thinking skills.
+ create language products in written and spoken format in different genres of media in five various genres of media.
+ develop active language learning strategies based on media materials, such as team researching and presenting.

5. TENTATIVE AGENDA

Week Content Objectives Materials

Students will be able to (SWBAT)
1+2 - Media definitions, features, classifications, media SWBAT SB Lesson 1
language, and critical media analysis, the - Restate fundamental concepts in Language and
importance of media discourse analysis and media Media;
literacy for language learners; - Name popular genres of media;
- Practice; - Analyse a very simple example of a media genre
- Group formation for assignment 1 and 2 in order to illustrate their understanding of
discourse analysis skills needed for this course
- Apply the (language) learning strategies involved
in this course.

3+4 ADVERTISEMENTS SWBAT SB Lesson 2

- Linguistic features of advertisements. - Define advertisements and list their
- Practice (in groups): linguistic features;
+ analyse linguistic features of a sample - Analyses sample advertisements in terms of
advertisement phonological, lexical, grammatical and
+ create an advertisement semantic features;

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 Group 1’s presentation on Assignment 1 (Features of - Create an advertisement, satisfying basic
advertisements) linguistic requirements.

5+6 TV NEWS SWBAT SB Lesson 3

- Features of TV news in terms of content, structure, and - Define TV news and list their features, with
language. special attention to linguistic features;
- Practice: - Analyses sample TV news with a focus on topics,
+ analyse features of sample TV news; plots, language elements.;
+ produce scripts for TV news; - Produce a piece of TV news in written and spoken
+ be a newsreader. forms which satisfy basic linguistic requirements;
Group 2’s presentation on Assignment 1 (Features of TV
news)
7+8 INTERVIEWS SWBAT SB Lesson 4
- Basic requirements, techniques, and languages for - Define interviews and categorise types of
interview. interviews;
- Practice: - Describe features of interviews with special
+ analyse the language used for an interview, attention to language and interviewing
focusing on questions for interviews; techniques;
+ write questions for an interview on the given - Analyses sample interviews;
situation; - Processing an interview on a given situation from
+ Apply appropriate techniques and complicated writing questions to conducting the talk, with
language to conduct an interview. special attention to linguistic requirements and
Group 4’s presentation on Assignment 1 (Features of interviewing techniques.
newspaper reports)
9 + 10 NEWSPAPER REPORTS SWBAT SB Lesson 5
- Features of newspaper reports (language, structure, - Describe the common structure of a
cohesion). newspaper report;
- Practice: - List the linguistic features of newspaper
+ analyse language used in a sample newspaper reports;

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 report; - Analyses sample newspaper reports;
+ write a newspaper report on a given topic - Write a newspaper report on a given topic, with
special attention to linguistic and structure
Group 4’s presentation on Assignment 1 (Features of requirements;
newspaper reports) - Give constructive peer-feedback to other groups’
products.
11 QUIZ

12 CONSULTATION & ASSIGNMENT 2 PREPARATION

13+14 GROUP PRESENTATION

15 SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENT 2

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 6. COURSE MATERIALS
Required materials:
• Duong, T.M et al (2014). Language and Media (2014) – compiled materials for internal use. Vietnam National University: ULIS-
FELTE

Supplementary materials:
• Durant, A., Lambrou, M. (2009), Language and Media, Routledge.
• McCarthy, M. (1991). Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• 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 University, Kolkata. November 26-28.

7. COURSE POLICY AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS OF THE LECTURERS

- Students are required to participate at least 80% of class contact hours.
- Pre-class material reading is compulsory. Otherwise, students will be marked absent for the lesson.
- Late submission of assignments will incur a loss of 25% of marks awarded.
- Plagiarism is a serious offence and is strictly prohibited. Any form of plagiarism will lead to a failing grade without any
opportunity to redo the assignment.

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8. ASSESSMENT

Assessment Weighting Objectives Description

forms
Quiz 10% The quiz is conducted to check - The quiz consists of both selected-response and
students’ ability to … constructed-response questions.
• recall key concepts in language - It is a closed-book quiz. Any form of cheating will incur
and media; andd mark zero for the quiz.
• identify linguistic aspects of
various types of media.
ASSIGNMENT 40% This assignment aims to help Task:
1: students: - In groups, students collect one product (articles/
CRITICALLY recordings/ video clips) of the media type they are in charge
• Understand the characteristics of
EVALUATING of (it must be one of the
types of Media, especially the
MEDIA types introduced in the course). The sample should be
PRODUCTS language characteristic; around 3 - 4 minutes for recordings, and 300 – 400 words
• Understand and analyze the language for texts.
of types of media; Note: Advertisements can be shorter.
• Develop independent thinking and - Students present the sample and their critique in class in
the scheduled week and then make corrections according
critical thinking skills (by self- to the feedback of the lecturer. The time limitation for each
studying, analyzing and evaluating presentation is 30 minutes.
the examples of media language);
Submissions to the lecturer:
Practicing writing and presenting in • Examples of the chosen media Text type (soft copies)
English about the language of media. • Version 1 of the critique (without the lecturer’s feedback);
• Powerpoint presentation used in class

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 • Version 2 of the critique (with adjustments to Version 1
according to the lecturer’s feedback);
Deadline for submission:
- One week before the presentation: First version (Group 1
submit their work 3 days prior to their presentation.)
One week after the presentation: the revised version of the
assignment (sample, analysis, power point slides)
ASSIGNMENT 50 % This assignment aims to help Task: In groups, students produce a written or spoken text on
2: A MEDIA students: an issue belonging to the topics provided by the lecturer.
PRODUCT • Review the They can choose to improve the products from their
CREATION
characteristics of types of media; homework or create new ones.
• Produce and evaluate media The product should satisfy the following criteria:
• If the printed advertisement form is selected, the written
language
text should be at least 300 words long.
• Use the skills of writing and
• If TV news and interviews are adopted, the length should
presenting in English in the area of be 3 - 4 minutes.
media • News reports should range from 300-700 word.
Boost teamwork skills and self- On the presentation day, groups need to …
evaluation skill. - Showcase their product;
- Analyse the product using the analysis framework
provided in the coursebook;
For individual reflection, each student needs to…
- Choose a product of another group;
- Choose ONE or TWO strength(s) and/or weakness(es)
of the product;
- Write a reflection (~ 400 words) to analyse such
strength(s) and/or weakness(es); and suggest ways to improve
it. Refer to the sample reflection using Gibb model and
assessment criteria in Appendix 2.

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 Submissions to the lecturer:
1. Group product (with scripts if in spoken form)
2. A report using the analysis framework
3. Powerpoint slides.
4. Individual reflection of all group members.
Deadline for submission: Week 15

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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:

Criteria 1 2 3 4
1. Critique on the strengths and weaknesses of the samples based on the
characteristics of the media type (70%)
The critique should show students’ critical evaluation of the samples’ strengths and
weaknesses
2. Presentation (30%)
The presentation content is sufficient and meets the requirements.
The organization of the presentation is clearly and coherently presented.
The English language used in the 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 sounds and syllables in English are pronounced accurately.
• Audios and visual aids are used to illustrate the presentation.

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ASSESSMENT SCALE FOR ASSIGNMENT 2
The assessment scale is a 4-point Likert-type scale from 1-4 with the following criteria and weighting.

Criteria 1 2 3 4
1. Format (10%)
• Including enough components as mentioned
• The components do not violate regulations about plagiarism and format.

2. Content of the products created (20%)

• The content of the product is relevant.
• The message presented in the product is helpful for the targeted audience.

3. Media language products created (20%)

• have the linguistic characteristics of the chosen media type;
• is generally accurate in terms of language (English language in general and media
language in particular).
4. Quality of presentation (20%) – Individual scoring
The presentation content is sufficient and meets the requirements.
The organization of the presentation is clearly and coherently presented.
The English language used in the 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 sounds and syllables in English are pronounced accurately.
• Audios and visual aids are used to illustrate the presentation.

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5. Reflection essay (30%) – Individual scoring
• Presenting the strength(s) and/or weakness(es) of the selected media product;
• Supporting by adequate examples from the product and relevant literature;
• Providing feasible suggestions for improvement;
• Well-organized essay;
• The complexity of vocabulary and structures: C1

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