You will normally have five hours of class contact time each week. This can be in the form of whole class meetings (maximum 20 students), group tutorials or individual tutorials.

The social and cultural aspects will normally take three hours. They will involve a variety of classroom and homework activities. For example, you may visit local businesses to gain an idea of the economic base of your area. Or you may watch DVDs which explore cultural and social issues. You will take part in various activities which build on these things, such as classroom debates and presentations. All of this will feed into your thinking about your reports, choosing your topic and then writing it.

With regard to the academic writing part of the module, you will usually have two hours of class time. In the first semester, you will look at basic writing skills such as paragraphing, writing grammatical sentences, punctuation, and so on. In the second semester, we will look at academic writing in more detail.

Your tutor will select suitable materials to help you to develop your academic writing skills. For example, you may use a textbook or you may use materials that you tutors have prepared. These activities will lead to the production of your first report of 500 words.

At the beginning of semester two, you will prepare a report proposal of about 250 words. This is not assessed. It will help you to plan your 1500 word report.

You will be doing a wide range of activities when you are together with the whole class. The activities may include:

* advice from the tutor on choosing a topic
* exercises to help you read more effectively
* tasks to help you take useful notes for your research
* practice to help you develop an academic style
* sessions on academic referencing

A suggested set text for semester one work could be:
Harrison, R. (2006) Better Writing (Garnet: Reading)

The tutor will be able to recommend other useful books to help you with your writing - there are many available to borrow from the library or buy. Another very useful resource is the Internet, where there are dozens of sites which focus on academic writing. As for the material for your topic itself, you'll find your information largely from the university library and the Internet.

There are many books which can help you develop your academic writing skills. Here are some suggested texts:

Cottrell, S. (2003) The Study Skills Handbook, Basingstoke: Palgrave/Macmillan

Lowes, R. et al. (2004) The International Student's Guide: Studying in English at University (London, Sage)

Price, G. and P. Maier (2007) Effective Study Skills: Unlock your Potential (Harlow, Pearson)

* The library
* A PC with MS Office and Internet
* Individual and group study space
* A good advanced learner's English dictionary
* Multimedia equipment (DVD player, listening station)

There are two items of assessment in this module: a short report at the end of semester one, and a longer report at the end of semester two. Your tutor will help you with your choice of topic.

1) a 500 word report (25% of the total marks - learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4)

This report, submitted at the end of semester one, should use the usual conventions for academic report writing. It will give you the opportunity to practise using the conventions. Your tutor will give you valuable feedback about your performance in this report. You can then use this feedback to help you write your second report.

2) 1500 word report (75% of the total marks - learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4)

This report, submitted at the end of semester two, must conform to normal academic conventions such as correct referencing of sources, appropriate style of language, suitable academic argument and so on.

You will have reached a level of GCSE + 1 year or equivalent in your education system.

The cultural and social aspect of this module will introduce you to various themes which underlie our cultural and social experience in the modern world. This will provide you with a solid base from which you can choose your report topics in an informed way.
The second aspect of this module aims to help you develop and practise a set of essential academic skills - those you need to research and write a report. These skills include:
* choosing a suitable academic topic
* establishing a realistic timetable
* using a good range of appropriate sources
* constructing an academic argument
* writing appropriate academic English
* referencing your sources correctly