English grammar in context
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| 6 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| End-of-course assessment | No residential school |
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This course is available for study in the countries shown. Fees may vary by country.
Summary
This course is for you if you’re interested in understanding and analysing how English ‘works’ in a wide range of contexts, including the media, fiction, academic writing and everyday conversation. This course provides an up-to-date framework for describing, analysing and evaluating how the English language is used. It takes a functional approach to grammar and includes hands-on computational analysis of large databases of texts to help you engage with real-world data and problems. Work on this course is both intellectually stimulating and practical.
Course content
When language is used in the media to distort what actually happened, have you ever wondered how exactly media language works in this way?
Perhaps you have noticed that some people – in works of fiction, news stories, or in your own lives – come over as more dynamic and others seem more passive?
More practically, how often have you felt that some of the writing that you have produced – such as academic essays, written reports, or formal presentations – could have been organised more effectively?
This course will help you find answers to all these questions, and explore how a knowledge and understanding of English grammar can be applied in practical and useful ways.
The content will be of interest to a broad audience, including those working in education. It isn’t specifically for non-native speakers of English, whose primary aim is to learn English (as opposed to learn about English), but will enhance all students’ handling of the English language. It will develop:
- an understanding of the major characteristics of English grammar
- skills in grammatical description and interpretation
- skills in applying grammatical understanding in order to evaluate and improve the quality of spoken and written texts.
The course is divided into four sections, organised as four books with accompanying CD-ROM activities and guided readings from a specially compiled edited collection. The course also makes use of a reference grammar book, the Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English. The main content of each of the four sections is described below.
Getting started: describing the grammar of speech and writing.
The main focus in Section 1 is how spoken and written English differs. You are introduced to some basic grammatical structures, such as clauses and phrases, and you will compare how they function in speech and writing. You will become familiar with these concepts through a variety of activities, including CD-ROM interactive exercises. In particular the use of audio materials will enable you to explore how meaning can be realised in sound (e.g. patterns of intonation).
Another key skill which is introduced in Section 1 is the use of electronic databases (corpora). You will be given hands-on practice in learning to explore English grammar via the use of corpora using special computer software.
Getting inside English: interpreting texts.
Section 2 of the coursecontinues the exploration of how English grammar varies, focusing in particular on its use in the media, academic writing and fiction. Through a mix of readings and hands-on activities, a wide range of texts is investigated. In particular this section enables you to systematically interpret the meanings made by these texts. You’ll discover how grammar creates different kinds of social relationships and represents social reality in different ways depending on factors such as who we are communicating with and what our agendas are.
Getting practical: evaluating everyday texts.
Section 3 continues toexplore grammatical variation but focuses increasingly on developing a critical orientation to English use. You will be expected not only to describe, and interpret texts, but also to apply your grammatical knowledge and analytical skills as a means of judging and improving the communicative effectiveness of a range of everyday texts.
Getting down to it: undertaking research.
Section 4 introduces you to research studies on English through grammatical analysis and paves the way for the project work that you undertake later. It moves away from the explicit teaching of grammar to its applications in research settings. Research methods relevant to analysing English in various contexts are highlighted. You will be taken through the stages of conducting and writing up a research project with illustrations from authentic student and published research. A range of studies are analysed in depth to demonstrate different methods and applications. You are encouraged to consider whether alternative methodologies would have been suitable and thereby to build up a critical view of research.
Integrated into each of the sections are optional components (in a resource book labelled Applications: Getting to Work), which explore how the grammatical principles and skills that you have acquired throughout the course may be applied in many areas of professional life. Here, we draw on the perspectives of practitioners (such as educators and translators) whose daily judgements are underpinned, whether consciously or unconsciously, by grammar. We hope to continue to stimulate your enthusiasm for grammatical analysis by raising your awareness of some of the ways in which grammar may be applied to the practical world of work.
Entry
This is a Level 3 course. Level 3 courses build on study skills and subject knowledge acquired from studies at Levels 1 and 2. They are intended only for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject, preferably with the OU. You are expected to have some knowledge of language study, and the course is particularly appropriate if you have taken our course Exploring the English language (U211) or the discontinued course U210. If you have not studied English grammar previously, we strongly recommend you carry out the preparatory work specified below. In addition we suggest that, throughout the course, you make use of the optional revision package Foundation Grammar. This package, on the course activities CD-ROM, has practical activities designed to familiarise you with basic grammatical categories. If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
If you would like to get a feel for this course; its general style, approach and topics covered, you can download the taster pack, which is made up of excepts taken directly from the course material, from our website.
Preparatory work
If you have not previously studied English grammar, we recommend that you buy the workbook accompanying the course set book (details below) as this will serve to familiarise you with some of the most basic concepts of grammar which will be explored throughout the course. In particular we recommend you that you read Chapters 2, 3 and 4 and complete the accompanying exercises in the workbook.
D. Biber, S. Conrad and G. Leech (2002) Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English Workbook, Pearson Education Limited, ISBN 0582539426 (978-0582539426) £19.90.
Qualifications
E303 is an optional course in our
- BA (Honours) English Language and Literature (B39)
- BA (Honours) Humanities (B03) (with English Language)
- BA (Honours) Modern Language Studies (B30)
- BA (Honours) Humanities (B03)
- BA (Honours) Language Studies (B21)
- Diploma in English Language Studies (D54)
- Advanced Diploma in Applied Linguistics (D57)
This course counts towards most of our other degrees at bachelor level, where it is equally appropriate to a BA or a BSc, and is also part of our Advanced Diploma in Education programme. We advise you to refer to the relevant award descriptions for information on the circumstances in which the course can count towards these qualifications because from time to time the structure and requirements of a qualification may change. If you would like to know more about the advanced diplomas, please ask our Student Registration & Enquiry Service for the Education prospectus.
If you have a disability or additional requirement
Please note that this course makes substantial use of audio and visual materials. You will also need to make use of a personal computer. The course materials are available in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). Some Adobe PDF Components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical, scientific, and foreign language materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. Large print versions of the course material can be provided on request. The books are available in a comb-bound format. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
If you are a new student, or new to courses using a computer or the internet, you will need to inform us of your particular needs as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Details of how to do this and our range of support services are described in our booklet Meeting Your Needs which you can download or request from our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
You can also find information about accessible course materials, financial support and the Disabled Students' Allowance, equipment and other services, on our Services for disabled students website. It also includes our contact details for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Course materials
What's included
Course books, other printed materials, CD-ROMs, course website.
Computing requirements
This course includes online computer activities – you can access these using a web browser that can play Flash and Shockwave. Some of your course software will be provided on disk.
You will need internet access and a computer. If you have purchased a new Windows computer since 2002 it should meet your course computing requirements. Check our Technical Requirements section if your computer is older than this or is otherwise unusual. Please note that you can use an Apple Mac or Linux computer if you can run Windows using Boot Camp or similar.
Materials to buy
Set books
- Biber, D, Conrad, S & Leech, G Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman £21.50 - ISBN 9780582237261
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the course material and mark and comment on your written work, and whom you can ask for advice and guidance. We may also be able to offer group tutorials or day-schools that you are encouraged, but not obliged, to attend. Where your tutorials are held will depend on the distribution of students taking the course. Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above.
You must submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) on paper.
Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all. But if you unavoidably miss or do badly in an assignment some courses allow you a ‘substitution score’. You will be given more detailed information about TMAs and substitution when you begin the course.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in February 2010. We expect it to be available once a year.
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button. For more information and advice about registration see OU Study Explained.
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