SYNOPSIS

The C.E.P.L. program is designed on the basis that students should read and be assessed on high-quality, challenging texts from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Each text studied must represent a substantial piece of writing, making significant demands on students in terms of content, structure, and the quality of language. The texts, across various genres and types, should support students in developing their writing by providing effective models. The texts must include literature, extended literary non-fiction, and other writing such as essays, reviews, and journalism (both printed and online). Essentially transient texts, such as instant news feeds, should be included. The number and types of texts, and their length, are not prescribed. The program also offers opportunities for students to develop their subject expertise by exploring key language concepts and engaging creatively and critically with various texts and discourses. Students will create texts and reflect critically on their production processes while analyzing the texts produced by others. The program explores the study of the English Language both as a medium of communication and as a topic, emphasizing the ability of students to pursue lines of inquiry, debate different views, and work independently to research aspects of language in use. Language is seen as a creative tool for expression, social connection, and individual cognition. The study of language as a symbolic system used to assert power in society is also fundamental to the program’s scope.

PROGRAM BENEFITS AND AIMS

The C.E.P.L. program should ensure students can read fluently and write effectively. They should be able to demonstrate a confident control of Standard English, and they should be able to write grammatically correct sentences, deploy figurative language, and analyze texts. Students will use a variety of texts as reading stimuli and interact with creative, real, and relevant contexts. There will be opportunities for students to develop higher-order reading and critical thinking skills that promote genuine inquiry into various topics and themes. Furthermore, the program provides a framework for students to develop their appreciation of the interconnectedness of the different areas of language study. As students progress, they can hone their skills in interrogating data, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, synthesis, and reflection. Across all courses, they are introduced to concepts and methods of the disciplines of English language/linguistics concerning a wide range of spoken and written forms of English, including electronic and multimodal forms. Students will be required to show knowledge and understanding of the different language levels and how these can be applied to language use in various contexts, including how texts and discourses are shaped and interpreted. Students’ contextual study will be based on sound theoretical knowledge relevant to the respective units.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Competencies graduates of the C.E.P.L. will be expected to have acquired the following:

• Read a wide range of texts fluently and with good understanding.

• Read critically, and use the knowledge gained from wide reading to inform and improve writing.

• Write effectively and coherently using Standard English appropriately.

• Use grammar correctly, punctuate, and spell accurately.

• Acquire and apply a wide vocabulary alongside a knowledge and understanding of grammatical terminology and linguistic conventions for reading, writing, and spoken language.

• Listen to and understand spoken language, and use spoken standard English effectively.

• Develop and apply the understanding of the concepts and methods appropriate for the analysis and study of language.

• Explore data and examples of language in use.

• Engage creatively and critically with a varied program for the study of English.

• Develop skills as producers and interpreters of language.

• Develop interest in and enjoyment of English as they independently investigate language in use.

SKILLS AND OTHER ATTRIBUTES

Critical Reading and Comprehension

• Critical reading and comprehension: identifying and interpreting themes, ideas, and information in a range of literature and other high-quality writing; reading in different ways for different purposes and comparing and evaluating the usefulness, relevance, and presentation of content for these purposes; drawing inferences and justifying these with evidence; supporting a point of view by referring to evidence within the text; identifying bias and misuse of evidence, including distinguishing between statements that are supported by evidence and those that are not; reflecting critically and evaluatively on text, using the context of the text and drawing on knowledge and skills gained from wider reading; recognizing the possibility of different responses to a text.

• Summary and synthesis: identifying the main theme or themes; summarizing ideas and information from a single text; synthesizing from more than one text.

• Evaluation of a writer’s choice of vocabulary, form, grammatical and structural features: explaining and illustrating how vocabulary and grammar contribute to effectiveness and impact, using linguistic and literary terminology accurately to do so and paying attention to detail; analyzing and evaluating how form and structure contribute to the effectiveness and impact of a text.

• Comparing texts: comparing two or more texts critically with respect to the above.

Writing

• Producing clear and coherent text: writing effectively for different purposes and audiences: to describe, narrate, explain, instruct, give and respond to information, and argue; selecting vocabulary, grammar, form, and structural and organizational features judiciously to reflect the audience, purpose, and context; using language imaginatively and creatively; using the information provided by others to write in different forms; maintaining a consistent point of view; maintaining coherence and consistency across a text.

• Writing for impact: selecting, organizing, and emphasizing facts, ideas, and key points; citing evidence and quotation effectively and pertinently to support views; creating emotional impact; using language creatively, imaginatively, and persuasively, including rhetorical devices (such as rhetorical questions, antithesis, parenthesis).

Spoken Language

• Presenting information and ideas: selecting and organizing information and ideas effectively and persuasively for prepared spoken presentations; planning effectively for different purposes and audiences; making presentations and speeches.

• Responding to spoken language: listening to and responding appropriately to any questions and feedback.

• Spoken Standard English: expressing ideas using Standard English whenever and wherever appropriate.

Research

• Apply language concepts and methods of analysis appropriately and systematically to data.

• Apply critical and creative skills in close reading, description, evaluation, analysis, interpretation, and production of texts and discourses.

• Use accurately a range of terminology associated with the study of language to make accurate references to texts and sources.

• Critically evaluate attitudes towards language and its users.

• Undertake independent investigations of language, selecting appropriate methods and techniques.

• Synthesize and reflect on language knowledge and understanding drawn from different areas of their English language studies.