MA Modern Languages and Cultures / Course details

This unit will introduce students to various methodological problems which define academic research and to the specific skills and tools with which to deal with them. The course will be divided into three main blocks, each focusing on a core set of research skills. Topics covered will include: how to compile specific and detailed critical bibliographies, how to write academically, how to formulate a research question, how to plan a dissertation, how to review literature critically, how to use electronic resources, and how to deliver oral presentations in form of ‘research papers’. Theoretical points will be introduced as appropriate but the course will largely be of a more practical nature, giving students the opportunity to develop core research skills and to reflect critically on their own research competences.

Available on which programme(s)?: MA in Modern Languages and Cultures

Available as Free Choice (UG) or to other programmes (PG)?: Yes (PG)

Pre-requisite units: None. Taught and assessed in English.

The unit aims to:

• Familiarise students with techniques and methodologies essential for conducting independent research in language-based disciplines at Masters level

 

• Encourage reflection on and practice in core skills of research design, execution and presentation

 

• Provide students with a scholarly framework within which to situate their specialist field of study

• Prepare and equip students for the independent research projects, including the writing of their extended dissertation.

• demonstrate awareness of relevant research skills and methodologies informing their own work;
• elaborate practical responses to subject-specific research questions;
• demonstrate an interdisciplinary methodological perspective on subject-specific topics;

• formulate appropriate research questions for their work
• evaluate the existing scholarship in their field
• reflect critically on their own research practice

• conduct electronic literature searches effectively, and synthesise/ analyse the outcomes
• demonstrate improved skills in the written oral communication of complex, academic ideas

• be able to communicate ideas and sustain an argument, using relevant critical material, in discussion, and essays.
• demonstrate advanced analytical skills and the ability to synthesise information.
• demonstrate sophisticated oral and written communication skills.
• manage time and prioritise tasks.
• work on a number of tasks simultaneously and under time pressure
• exercise initiative and take personal responsibility. 

Feedback method	Formative or Summative
Written feedback on research skills exercises	Formative and summative
Written feedback on critical literature review	Summative

 

• Barry, Peter, Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995; 2nd edn 2002)
• Bennett, Andrew, and Nicholas Royle, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory: Key Critical Concepts (Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1995)
• Burke, Lucy, Tony Crowley and Alan Girvin, The Routledge Language and Cultural Theory Reader (London: Routledge, 2000)
• Eagleton, Terry, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983; subsequent eds 1996, 2008)
• Selden, Raman, A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory (Brighton: Harvester, 1985; subsequent edns 1989, 1993, 1997)