| Effective Term: | 2024/05 |
| Institute / School : | Federation TAFE |
| Unit Title: | Advanced Understanding of Western Academic Culture |
| Unit ID: | ISEAP2104 |
| Credit Points: | 15.00 |
| Prerequisite(s): | (Status as a Non-English Speaking Background (NESB) Fee-paying student and meeting the requirement of a minimum IELTS overall score of 6.5 or its equivalent with some bands less than 6.0.) |
| Co-requisite(s): | Nil |
| Exclusion(s): | Nil |
| ASCED: | 091501 |
| Other Change: | |
| Brief description of the Unit |
The purpose of this course is to assist students to understand the linguistic and academic conventions needed to produce academic work relevant to Australian higher education courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. It does this by extending students’ understanding of the linguistic and cultural factors that underlie academic English discourse, specifically through an examination of a range of academic discourses in a variety of academic disciplines. This course provides extended practice in the application of knowledge and skills using authentic higher education texts. The focus of this course is on analysis and production of academic texts, argument evaluation, independent research, and experience in lecture and tutorial environments. |
| Grade Scheme: | Graded (HD, D, C, P, MF, F, XF) |
| Work Experience Indicator: |
| No work experience |
| Placement Component: | |
| Supplementary Assessment:Yes |
| Where supplementary assessment is available a student must have failed overall in the Unit but gained a final mark of 45 per cent or above, has completed all major assessment tasks (including all sub-components where a task has multiple parts) as specified in the Unit Description and is not eligible for any other form of supplementary assessment |
| Course Level: |
| Level of Unit in Course | AQF Level(s) of Course | | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | | Introductory | |  | | | | | | Intermediate | | | | | | | | Advanced | | | | | | |
|
| Learning Outcomes: |
| Knowledge: |
| K1. | Reading: Understand an author’s purpose and intended audience in a straightforward general or academic text |
|
| K2. | Listening: Understand scripted speech delivered quickly, if the accent is familiar. |
|
| K3. | Speaking: Speculate about causes when discussing a general or basic academic topic. |
|
| K4. | Writing: Use statistical data to support ideas in an academic text. |
|
| Skills: |
| S1. | Reading: Distinguish supporting details from the main points in a text. |
|
| S2. | Listening: Follow a natural group discussion on a general or basic academic topic. |
|
| S3. | Speaking: Elaborate on a point and respond to clearly expressed questions about a presentation or discussion. |
|
| S4. | Writing: Compare information and ideas from different sources in an academic text. |
|
| Application of knowledge and skills: |
| A1. | Reading: Critically evaluate quality of sources and the effectiveness of a simple descriptive essay. |
|
| A2. | Listening: Understand detailed spoken instructions well enough to be able to follow them without making critical mistakes. |
|
| A3. | Speaking: Give a presentation or lead a discussion that summarises information from several academic texts. |
|
| A4. | Write a structured academic text, clearly signalling main points and supporting details. |
|
| Unit Content: |
The following content will be covered: Linguistic and academic conventions of Western and non-Western academic cultures; reading from relevant academic texts; research using library databases and other academic tools; referencing; listening and note-taking; peer work; presentations; writing conventions; academic and discipline-specific discourse and vocabulary. |
| Graduate Attributes: |
| | Learning Outcomes Assessed | Assessment Tasks | Assessment Type | Weighting | | 1. | K2, S2, A2 | Listening tasks in response to academic and unfamiliar spoken English conversations, interviews or lectures. | Listening comprehension test | 20 – 30% | | 2. | K3, S3, A3 | Planned oral presentation on a topic that is researched for the writing task followed by audience generated discussion questions. | Oral Presentation and discussion | 20 – 30% | | 3. | K1, S1, A1 | Reading comprehension task(s) using academic or unfamiliar texts. | Reading comprehension test | 20 – 30% | | 4. | K4, S4, A4 | Conduct research on topic as guided by the teacher. Research and assemble information into report, essay or poster format following academic conventions. | Essay, report or academic poster | 20 – 30% | | 5. | | Students must pass the reading/writing, and listening/speaking components separately in order to pass the course as a whole. Reading/writing components will add up to 50% of the final marks, as will listening/speaking components. This is to ensure that students have a balanced range of English language skills to succeed in their higher education studies. | Hurdle | S/UN |
|