22 April 2013

Study Plan

M. A. Degree

in
Language, Culture, and Communication

Linguistics Department

2012/2013

Faculty of Foreign Languages - Jordan University

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STUDY PLAN

M. A. DEGREE IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

(Comprehensive Exam Track)

Plan Number 2012 N

I. GENERAL REGULATIONS:
1- This plan conforms to the valid regulation and policies of the graduate studies
program.
2- The language of instruction of this program is English.
3- Areas of specialization that qualify for admission in this program:
Holders of a Bachelor’s degree in a foreign language.

II. SPECIFIC REGULATIONS:

Students have to pass the TOEFL with a score of 550 or higher, or attain an
equivalent score in other international EFL tests.

STUDY PLAN:

 There are two tracks in the M.A. Program in Language, Culture, and
Communication: a Thesis Track and a Comprehensive Exam Track.
 Students have to take 33 credit hours in each track.
 The Comprehensive Exam Track consist of:

1- Compulsory Courses: 24 credit hours.

Course No. Course Title Credit hrs. Pre-requisite

Research Methods in Language, Culture, and 3

2205711
Communication

2205720 General Linguistics 3

2201752 Sociolinguistics 3

2201754 Discourse Analysis 3

2205731 Theories of Communication 3

2205723 Pragmatics and Communication 3

2205732 Negotiation and Intercultural Communication 3

2205733 Computer-Mediated Communication 3

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2- Elective Courses: 9 credit hours selected from the following:

Course Course Title Credit hrs. Pre-

No. requisite

2205734 Gender and Communication 3

2205735 Organizational and Business Communication 3

2205737 Mass Communication 3

2205738 Health Communication 3

2205741 Culture and Society 3

2205743 Identity & Discourse with the Other 3

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M. A. DEGREE IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Suggested Plan for Course Registration (Comprehensive Exam Track)

First Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205711 Research Methods in Language, 3 --

Culture, and Communication

2205720 General Linguistics 3 --

2205731 Theories of Communication 3 --

Second Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2201754 Discourse Analysis 3 --

2201752 Sociolinguistics 3 --

---- Elective Course 3 --

Third Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205723 Pragmatics and Communication 3 --

Negotiation and Intercultural 3 --

2205732
Communication

---- Elective Course 3 --

Fourth Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205733 Computer-Mediated Communication 3 2205733

---- Elective Course 3 --

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STUDY PLAN

M. A. DEGREE IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

(Thesis Track)

Plan Number 2012 N

III. GENERAL REGULATIONS:

4- This plan conforms to the valid regulations and policies of the graduate studies
program.
5- The language of instruction of this program will be English.
6- Areas of specialization that qualify for admission in this program:
Holders of a Bachelor’s degree in a foreign language.

IV. SPECIFIC REGULATIONS:

Students have to pass the TOEFL with a score of 550 or higher, or attain an
equivalent score in other international EFL tests.

V. STUDY PLAN
 There are two tracks in the M. A. Program in Language, Culture & Communities:
a thesis track and a comprehensive exam track.
 Students have to take 33 credit hours in each track.
 The Thesis Track consist of:
1- Compulsory courses: 18 credit hours.

Course Course Title Credit hrs. Pre-

No. requisite

2205711 Research Methods in Language, Culture, and Communication 3

2205720 General Linguistics 3

2201752 Sociolinguistics 3

2201754 Discourse Analysis 3

2205731 Theories of Communication 3

2205732 Negotiation and Intercultural Communication 3

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 22 Aplil 2013

3- Elective Courses 6 credit hours selected from the following:

Course Course Title Credit hrs. Pre-

No. requisite

2205723 Pragmatics and Communication 3

2205733 Computer-Mediated Communication 3

2205734 Gender and Communication 3

2205735 Organizational and Business Communication 3

2205737 Mass Communication 3

2205738 Health Communication 3

2205741 Culture and Society 3

2205743 Identity & Discourse with the Other

4- Thesis (9 credit hours) (2205799)

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 22 Aplil 2013

M. A. DEGREE IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Suggested Plan for Course Registration (Thesis Track)

First Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205711 Research Methods in Language, Culture, and 3 --

Communication

2205720 General Linguistics 3 --

2205731 Theories of Communication 3 --

Second Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205732 Negotiation and Intercultural Communication 3 --

2201752 Sociolinguistics 3 --

2201754 Discourse Analysis 3 --

Third Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

---- Elective Course 3 --

---- Elective Course 3 --

2205799 Thesis 3 --

Fourth Semester:
Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Pre-requisite

2205799 Thesis 6 --

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M. A. DEGREE IN LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

Course Descriptions

(Thesis & Comprehensive Exam)

2205711 Research Methods in Language, Culture, and Comm. (3 credit hours)

This course covers methodological approaches to research in language, culture and

communication (corpus and quantitative approaches; working with informants,
interviews, and questionnaires); collecting and analyzing data; research ethics and
documentation.

2205720 General Linguistics (3 credit hours)

This is a general introduction to the scientific study of language and its structure. On
the one hand, it enables students to gain insight about linguistic issues and debates, and
on the other it introduces phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics as
well as such inter-disciplinary studies as sociolinguistics, dialectology,
psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, applied linguistics, and computational
linguistics.

2201754 Discourse Analysis (3 credit hours)

The course explores the organization of language beyond the sentence in both speech
and writing and how it relates to critical thinking. It examines the standards of
textuality with the view of improving critical thinking skills. Emphasis is placed on
recognizing persuasive techniques used in media contents, political discussions,
advertisements, and general academic writings.

2205723 Pragmatics and Communication (3 credit hours)

This course is an introduction to pragmatics in the context of communication studies. It

examines the study of communicative meaning; the role that context plays in the
production and interpretation of utterances. Particular attention will be paid to the
relationship between communication, semantics and pragmatics. Topics to be covered
include implicature, presupposition, and speech acts, how the context and form of an
utterance interact to affect our understanding of meaning.

2201752 Sociolinguistics (3 credit hours)

The course provides an overview of the emergence and development of

sociolinguistics. It also provides a brief account of language variation across
communication, i.e. the role of situational variables in linguistic expression and
discourse structure. Moreover, it trains students on how to collect and analyze
sociolinguistic data.

2205731 Theories of Communication (3 credit hours)

The course inspects the history of human communication, the communication process
and forms: verbal (spoken, written) and non-verbal (sign, body language),
intrapersonal communication, interpersonal communication, and mass communication.
It examines various theories of communication including symbolic interaction theory,
cognitive dissonance, and expectancy violations, social penetration, social exchange,

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organizational culture, organizational information, gratifications, cultivation, and

diffusion. It also takes into focus the definition of culture, its components and the
usage of spoken and written words, sign language, and body language in the
communication between people of different cultures. It examines how culture can
affect personal, national, and international understanding in terms of beliefs and
behavior. The course also examines barriers, difficulties, and dangers of cultural
misunderstanding.

2205732 Negotiation and Intercultural Communication (3 credit hours)

This course explains how the negotiation process works under both adverse and
optimum conditions and explains the role of culture and qualities and functions of
language that are most influential in an instance of negotiation. It commits itself to
business negotiation, dispute resolution, and decision-making in multicultural
environments. While it explains the basic negotiation concepts, such as power and
interests, it shows how they acquire different meanings in different cultures. It
discusses how culture affects negotiators’ assumptions about when and how to
negotiate, their interests and priorities, and their strategies. It equips the student with
the tools to come to clear judgments and creative, non-aggressive solutions, and with
strategies and specific tactics for managing spoken interaction, such as controlling
topic, using listening skills to read a situation, turn-taking and turn-yielding, gaining
cooperation, and handling cross-cultural encounters.

2205733 Computer-Mediated Communication (3 credit hours)

This is an investigation of practical and theoretical issues that relate to e-

communication from a social scientific perspective. It examines how computer
technology has affected patterns of human communication and discusses identity and
social relationships in the context of computer-mediated communication.

2205734 Gender and Communication (3 credit hours)

This course is a survey of the role of gender in communication processes. It identifies

the differences in male and female communication patterns in public and private
settings and the effect these differences have on the communication process. The
course studies the relationship between gender, communication, and culture;
theoretical approaches to gender development; gendered verbal communication,
gendered nonverbal communication, gendered organizational communication,
gendered media, and gendered power and violence. Topics of discussion include
gender roles, interactive relationships between gender and communication in
contemporary Arab societies, gender communication and the decisive role gender
plays in personal and professional relationships, as well as its role in culture and in
media.

2205735 Organizational and Business Communication (3 credit hours)

The course focuses on the process of communication within organizations such as

formal communication: (downward, upward, and horizontal), informal communication
(gossiping), teamwork , small group communication , customer care communication
with internal and external public of organizations, types of customers, organizational
excellence culture, decision-making and problem-solving processes , conflict

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resolution, and negotiation skills.

2205737 Mass Communication (3 credit hours)

This is an in-depth study of the theory of media effects on the individual. It studies
communication in the context of theories of behavior, memory structure, memory
activation, dual process cognition models, and media effects.

2205738 Health Communication (3 credit hours)

Discussions of the role of communication in public health are the focus of this course.
While health communication draws on mass communication, social marketing, health
education, anthropology, sociology, and linguistics, this course summarizes recent
trends and discusses key issues, factors, forces, and challenges in health
communication from a multicultural perspective. The topics covered include: Current
health communication theories and issues; cultural, gender, ethnic, religious, and
geographical influences on conceptions of health and illness; health communication
approaches including interpersonal communication, public relations and public
advocacy, community mobilization, professional medical communication, and
constituency relations in health communication; changing health needs and the
imperative of a multicultural paradigm; theoretical framework for communicating with
multicultural populations; case studies of health communication in high-risk
multicultural populations.

2205741 Culture and Society (3 credit hours)

This course introduces students to the relationship between culture and society. It will
analyze the concepts and components of human culture and human society and how
they interact with each other. Furthermore, the course will discuss the factors that
impact cultural change in societies and their influence on the behavior of individuals in
their daily lives. It will also emphasize the relativistic nature, and will discuss culture
differences and similarities of culture. The course will discuss the role of culture in the
development of the individual's human personality and its impact on communication.
Finally, the course will be taught from comparative and global perspectives.

2205743 Identity & Discourse with the Other (3 credit hours)

This course is aimed at analyzing and investigating the formation of identity at the
personal, societal and cultural levels triggered by the contact between the Self and the
Other. It introduces students to the different dimensions of (Hegemony, Hierarchy)
applicable to relationships of oppositions such as (Man/Woman, Hierarchical
System/Society, Colonizer/Colonized, White/Black, Subject/Object, Self/Other, and
difference/diversity).

The course provides first a historical overview of chosen intellectual and political
moments of certain countries which have affected either negative or positive change,
starting the Renaissance. Students will then identify and trace the moments of colonial
relations which will allow the location of diverse postcolonial/postmodern synergy
through the theoretical studies of knowledge, power and being.

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Open Minds Academy Brief

Open Minds Academy
http://www.carpevitam.se/oma.html

Open Minds Academy (OMA) is a partnership between several well-known US and

European universities, the faculties of which have selected projects, where they have a
recognised expertise, and which they consider important for peace and sustainable social
development. There will in the beginning be two and a half year graduate courses and
shorter courses on how to implement the theories of sustainable development in practice.

The focus is to give the students a holistic understanding to develop an entrepreneurial

spirit and create jobs.

Learning for Sustainable Development

The OMA is an initiative that aims to set up a post graduate academy for the Middle East
region in consortium with eight European and regional universities.

It seeks to provide young professionals from the region with learning experiences,
entrepreneurial mind-sets and leadership skills geared towards addressing the complex
challenges of sustainable development.
Providing Professional Qualifications
OMA aims to offer accredited masters degree programs and practical training for
candidates seeking career paths in public policy, business and community development
with extensive knowledge of means and tools for enabling and achieving sustainable
development.

Graduates of OMA degree programs will be able to utilize analytical and critical thinking
tools, communicate , and perform flexibly in a continuously changing and globalizing world
economy.

Partners and Alliances

Success of OMA’s educational model is dependent on having strong ties with private sector
organizations, local and international institutions. The current concept of OMA has been
developed in collaboration with several world-renowned universities that will provide
leading edge knowledge and expertise.

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