Bachelor of Science (BSc)

BSc Psychology

Academic psychology is a broad discipline that explores every aspect of behaviour, from the 'hidden' biology to everyday social phenomena.
  • Duration: 3 years (4 years with Study Abroad/Placement Year)
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: C800 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Study abroad
  • Industrial experience
  • Scholarships available
  • Accredited course

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Course unit details:
Language and Communicative Development in Educational Settings

Course unit fact file
Unit code PSYC31121
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 6
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

In this course unit, we focus on how children learn to communicate in the real world, with a particular emphasis on the communicative skills needed for survival and success in educational settings.  

In the first half of this module, we consider how children learn to use the kinds of complex language needed in the classroom; to what extent language learning is impacted in atypical populations (e.g. autism, DLD); how language interventions can support children’s learning; how cross-linguistic differences might impact children’s use of the language of the classroom.  

In the second half of this module, we consider the challenges and benefits of bilingual language development; how children’ engage in mind-reading for successful communication; and how children’ reason with one another, collaboratively think and solve problems with other individuals such as peers.

This is an optional Final Year unit for the BSc Psychology programme. 

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Topics and Issues in Developmental Psychology PSYC21021 Pre-Requisite Recommended

Aims

This unit aims to:

  • Build on students’ knowledge of how children develop the skills needed to communicate during the pre-school years.
  • Consider the particular challenges for communicative success posed by the academic language used in education, and how children’s developing knowledge of language might support or impede success.
  • Introduce students to empirical research and theoretical models relating to developmental disorders which impact on communicative development.
  • Examine how language interventions can support children’s development.
  • Consider how the different language backgrounds children experience can impact on communication in the classroom.
  • Examine bilingual language development with its advantages and challenges.
  • Consider children’s mind-reading abilities for successful communication.
  • Consider the role of peers in children’s development of argumentation and collaborative problem-solving. 

Learning outcomes


 

Syllabus

 

 

Teaching and learning methods

  • 2 x 2-hour Introductory lectures (one for each half of the unit)
  • 8 x weekly in-person 2-hour lecture modules
  • 10 x 1 hour weekly online activities and extension materials to consolidate learning
  • 8 x 1 hour weekly interactive in-person group-based activities
  • Weekly engagement with monitored discussion forums 

Knowledge and understanding

  • Describe, using appropriate empirical evidence; how children’s understanding of complex language changes over development, the nature of developmental language disorders, examples of interventions designed to support language learning, the differences between languages, and what it means to be bilingual, how children engage in mind-reading, how children collaboratively solve problems, how children reason with peers. 

Intellectual skills

  • Critically evaluate, in the light of appropriate empirical evidence; the factors that influence children’s learning of complex language, how and why communicative development can go wrong, the effectiveness of language interventions, how differences between languages might influence classroom communication, factors affecting bilingual language development, development of mind-reading abilities and contexts facilitating children’s reasoning and argumentation.
  • Synthesize a body of research to produce a well-reasoned and supported argument; arrive at and present a clear conclusion or a research question on the basis of an evaluation of appropriate empirical evidence.   

Practical skills

  • Use a range of sources (library, internet, electronic databases) to gather information. 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Work collaboratively as a member of a team to discuss a topic or piece of empirical research and arrive at a shared understanding of its significance 
  • Plan how to approach coursework assignments through collaborative discussion 

Assessment methods

Assessment task

Length

How and when feedback is provided

Weighting within unit (if relevant)

1 x coursework essay (in term time, submitted part-way through Semester 1)

3 pages

Students will receive a grade and written feedback 20 working days after the final submission deadline.

50%

1 x research proposal (released in term time, submitted during the exam period) 

3 pages

Students will receive a grade and written feedback 20 working days after the final submission deadline.

50%

Feedback methods

Students will receive a grade and written feedback 20 working days after the final submission deadline.

Recommended reading

This will be supplemented by references to specific research papers for each lecture topic. 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 20
Practical classes & workshops 8
Work based learning 10
Independent study hours
Independent study 162

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Anna Theakston Unit coordinator

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