ma in elt: online handbook 2012-13

Programme Handbook 2015-16

MA in English Language Teaching: Online

© Modern Languages, University of Southampton, 2015. All rights reserved.

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1. Introduction

Welcome to your postgraduate studies in English Language Teaching: Online at the

University of Southampton! We hope that you will find this new approach to English teacher

education challenging and enjoyable, and will live up to your high expectations of

postgraduate study at one of the UK's leading research universities.

The Handbook should be read in conjunction with the 2014-15 editions of the Student

Handbook produced by the University for all students, and the Graduate School Handbook

produced by the Faculty of Humanities, which provide a wide range of information on

academic and pastoral matters. There is also a great deal of material available on the

university website, and if you use all these sources actively, we believe that most of your

questions can be answered.

Four important locations for you are:

sussed.soton.ac.uk

SUSSED is the general university portal for registered students and staff, which gives you

access to a wide range of resources online, including the university Student Handbook. You

can also access the library via SUSSED which is where many of the electronic resources (e-

books, articles, and other electronic data) needed for your programme are located.

Student Links Online Pages accessible via SUSSED

These provide a comprehensive guide to all student support services. These may not all be

directly relevant to you as distance/online students, but they will give you a better sense of

belonging to the wider university community as well as to the online community you will

play a part in building online as the course progresses. You can also enrol here which you

must do at the start of every academic year (September/October)

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/humanities_graduate_school

The website for postgraduate staff and students in the Faculty of Humanities. Within this site

there is a range of useful documents including the Faculty of Humanities Graduate School

Handbook.

www.onlinema.soton.ac.uk/

The home page for the MA in ELT online. This is the virtual learning environment where you

will communicate with tutors and fellow participants, participate in online forums/tutorials

and workshops, access specially prepared course materials, listen to or watch talks from

University of Southampton staff, and explore relevant resources available via the World

Wide Web.

We hope that the material included in this handbook is generally correct, up to date and

useful and we would be grateful for any comments and suggestions you may have on how to

improve it.

Dr. Will Baker

Programme Leader, MA in English Language Teaching: Online

September 2015

http://www.resource1.soton.ac.uk/studentresources/index.shtml


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General overview of the programmes

The MA in English Language Teaching: Online provides you with postgraduate level study

in eight important areas of current theory and practice in applied linguistics and language

teaching. The programme comprises eight taught modules of 15 CATS (7.5 ECTS) points

plus a dissertation (60 CATS) giving a total of 180 postgraduate CATS (90 ECTS) points for

the programme.

Successful completion of the first four taught modules would give you the award of

Postgraduate Certificate in English Language Teaching: Online if you should choose to exit

the programme at this point. The last four taught modules make up the Postgraduate Diploma

in English Language Teaching: Online and is available for those not wishing to proceed

further. Successful completion of the dissertation is necessary for the full Masters award. An

overall average of 50% in your assessed work is a prerequisite for progression and for

satisfactory completion. As you may only receive one award for the MA programme,

successful completion of the MA renders the Postgraduate Certificate and Diploma obsolete.

The programme has been developed collaboratively by the University and the British Council

over a 5 year period. Staff in Modern Languages at the University of Southampton have

considerable expertise in the programme content; they run a highly regarded Masters in ELT

and have expertise in the design of computer-based materials. The British Council has an

established Open and Distance Learning Unit for teacher education and training, has run

distance programmes at Certificate and Diploma level for a number of years and has

developed procedures and resources for successful delivery of such programmes. Modern

Languages at the University of Southampton continues to develop and enhance e-learning

methodologies and it sees this innovative collaborative programme as an opportunity to offer

well supported quality assured professional training and qualifications online and at a

distance. Both the University of Southampton and the British Council are committed to

promoting and investing in e-learning technology and associated methodologies in order to

increase the access of teachers of English worldwide to the skills, ideas and materials they

need from the United Kingdom.

The University has overall responsibility for the programme and for ensuring the quality of

your learning experience. It has planned the overall design of the programme (in consultation

with the British Council), established assessment procedures and administrative systems. The

University of Southampton together with the British Council has been responsible for the

preparation of the course materials. The University of Southampton is responsible for the

organisation and running of the programme's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).

The British Council and the University of Southampton will be responsible for the delivery of

the course, with British Council tutors and tutors from the University providing academic

support for your studies. The University is responsible for the programme's internal and

external moderation procedures. Successful completion of the programme will lead to the

award of the University of Southampton's MA in English Language Teaching: Online. This is

a classified award.

Delivery of the programme is through e-learning technologies. You will access course

materials and communicate with tutors and fellow learners through the University of

Southampton's dedicated online MA Moodle Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). This

platform provides tasks, readings and other web-based resources, in addition to access to the


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University's electronic library. Asynchronous forums, synchronous chat rooms and individual

e-mails are the main communication tools you will be using during the course to interact with

tutors and fellow participants.

You will be in regular contact with the University through Moodle, and will study the MA as

a non-resident student of the University of Southampton from your own home or using the

internet access and facilities offered by your own institution. The programme is open to

students from around the world.

The MA in ELT: Online is normally studied over two and a half years (5 semesters) part-

time. The programme has five 16-week semesters running from September to January and

February to May each year.

This programme comprises eight 15-credit weighted modules:

1. LING 6021 Principles of Communicative Language Teaching

2. LING 6018 Language Analysis for Teaching

3. LING 6020 A Critical Appraisal of Language Teaching Methodologies

4. LING 6019 E-Learning for English Language Teaching

5. LING 6026 Discourse Analysis

6. LING 6025 World Englishes

7. LING 6024 Second Language Learning

8. LING 6027 Research Skills for the Dissertation

The programme will be delivered in part-time mode and the normal study plan will be as

shown below.

Semester 1 Semester 2

1. Principles of Communicative

Language Teaching

2. Language Analysis for Teaching

3. A Critical Appraisal of Language

Teaching Methodologies

4. E-Learning for English Language

Teaching

Semester 3 Semester 4

5. Discourse Analysis

6. World Englishes

7. Second Language Learning

8. Research Skills for the Dissertation

Semester 5

Dissertation


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2. Criteria for Admission

a) Academic

Applicants to the Postgraduate Certificate in English Language Teaching: Online should

normally have a good honours degree (or acceptable equivalent) in English Language

Teaching or a related area and at least two years of subsequent, relevant teaching experience.

b) English Language

Applicants with a score of 6.5 on the IELTS test (or acceptable equivalent) will be allowed to

proceed directly onto the programme.

c) Equal opportunities

The University of Southampton is committed to a comprehensive policy of equal

opportunities for all. Should you wish to discuss issues such as support for students with

disabilities please contact Postgraduate admissions at [email protected].

Aims of the Programme

The MA in English Language Teaching: Online is a post-experience programme which

provides teachers of English as a foreign language with the opportunity to reflect on their

professional experience, develop a deeper understanding of the theory and practice of English

Language Teaching, and gain the skills and competences required for leadership roles in

ELT.

Students taking this programme may exit with a Postgraduate Certificate in English

Language Teaching: Online, a Postgraduate Diploma in English Language Teaching: Online,

or the full MA award.

Throughout the programme, we aim to:

enable you to critically evaluate the relationship between academic, professional,

public and user conceptions of language to clarify educational policy and practice

enable you to apply the results of your learning, reflection and research practice in

known and unfamiliar professional contexts

enable you to critically examine and reflect on your learning and teaching experiences

and current beliefs, and relate this to familiar and unfamiliar professional contexts

allow you to explore the relationship between pedagogy and technology

enable you to conceptualise and recognise the practical implications of the changing

roles and activities of tutors and learners

You will be taught and assessed in English throughout the course.

mailto:[email protected]


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Intended learning outcomes

Having successfully completed the programme, depending on your exit point, you will be

able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of some or all of the following (see

brackets):

A1 Theories of learning and learner autonomy and their relationship to language teaching

methodology (PGCert, PGDip, MA)

A2 Principles and practices of communicative approaches to language teaching and

learning (PGCert, PGDip, MA)

A3 Form-meaning relationships (speech functions and notions, grammatical concepts,

text and discourse) in a variety of contexts (PGDip, MA)

A4 The nature of e-learning, e-learner styles, strategies and e-learning skills (PGCert,

PGDip, MA)

A5 The global context of English and its relationship to academic, professional, public

and user conceptions of language and to educational policy and practice (PGDip, MA)


able to (see brackets):

B1 Relate your prior professional experience to current theories and debates (PGCert,

PGDip, MA)

B2 Analyse and reflect on your own professional practice and identify areas for change

(PGCert, PGDip, MA)

B3 Critically assess developments in language teaching and learning and evaluate their

impact on pedagogic principles and practices in your own teaching context (PGCert,

PGDip, MA)

B4 Evaluate language teaching materials in terms of pedagogic principles and underlying

theoretical rationale (PGCert, PGDip, MA)

B5 Explore the relationship between pedagogy and technology and explain the changing

roles of teacher and learner in an online environment (PGCert, PGDip, MA)


able to (see brackets):

C1 Demonstrate interpersonal and collaborative skills in the presentation of work, online

tutorial and workshop discussions, planning and development of group projects, and

peer support (PGCert, PGDip, MA)

C2 Monitor and evaluate professional activity including self-evaluation (PGCert, PGDip,

MA)

C3 Use ICT skills appropriately in the presentation and discussion of work,

teaching/learning issues, and online moderation and management of learners (PGCert,

PGDip, MA)

C4 Use ICT skills appropriately in the planning and development of group projects, and

in peer support (PGDip, MA)


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3. Assessment

As a postgraduate student on any of these programmes, you will be enrolled in the Faculty of

Humanities, and assessed under the general regulations applying in the Faculty. The

following is a short guide to the main assessment requirements and procedures for the

modules. (The University's definitive regulations can be found in the University Calendar,

see www.calendar.soton.ac.uk. Further details are in the Faculty of Humanities Handbook.)

The formal requirements for assessment are:

satisfactory attendance and satisfactory contributions to online forum discussions and

presentation tasks

completion to a satisfactory standard of coursework totalling 4-5,000 words or

equivalent from each of eight 15-credit modules

submission by the due date of a dissertation of 15-20,000 words on a topic arising out

of the programme and approved by the Programme Leader

Coursework

Your marks for each module will come from a number of different pieces of assessed work.

You should refer to each of the module specifications for further information about the

assessed work required for each module.

Coursework deadlines for the modules in each semester will be set in the Module Topic

Outlines, which will be provided on the News and Information pages of Moodle at the

beginning of a semester. These deadlines will typically be the Monday of Week 16 in

Semester 1 or Semester 2. Modules vary somewhat in terms of the type and number of

assignments, to achieve all intended learning outcomes. It may be, therefore, that interim

course deadlines will be set on one or more modules.

You are expected to produce and submit your coursework in electronic form.

There is general guidance on coursework procedures in the Faculty of Humanities Graduate

School Masters Handbook, plus additional guidance on style, referencing etc in Appendix 2

of this Handbook. All work will be marked and moderated by tutors. All marks should be

regarded as provisional until the end of the academic year; work is then moderated by the

external examiner.

Academic integrity

Please note that all coursework must be your own original work, and that any substantial

overlap among assignments, or between coursework and dissertation, is NOT acceptable.

Plagiarism (including ANY direct quotation from others' work which is not both in quotation

marks and acknowledged) is a serious offence which may result in your exclusion from the

course. (See the University statement on “Academic Integrity” available through SUSSED /

Student Resources Online.) If you use somebody else's words in your work, you must present

them as a direct quotation in inverted commas, with a clear indication of the source. You

should, however, avoid too many direct quotations in your writing. Other ways of reporting

what other writers have said are through paraphrasing and summarising. In all cases, if you

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/

http://www.resource1.soton.ac.uk/studentresources/docs/academic%20integrity%20statement%20%20final.doc


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present a fact, an idea or a point of view which is not originally your own, you must make

clear where it comes from. Consult your tutor if you have any concerns about this issue,

which will also be discussed in study skills sessions.

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-regs.html

Submission of work: logging and procedures

All assessed work must be submitted by 4pm (UK time) on the set deadline day.

Assignments must be uploaded in Word files to e-Assignments

www.assignments.soton.ac.uk. You must ensure that you have a copy of the assignment

in your own files.

Using e-Assignment for Humanities students

The University of Southampton e-Assignment system has been produced to provide online

hand-in, assessment and feedback of student assignments.

Submissions made into the system will be passed on to academic staff for marking.

To login and see the assignments you have outstanding please go to

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/assignments/

Login with your normal University credentials

Select the ‘My Assignments’ link from the left hand navigation menu

Click the ‘Submit’ button for the assignment you wish to submit

Read and tick the box to accept the University academic integrity declaration

Click Next to proceed

Use the Browse buttons to select your completed cover sheet document and your assignment

Click the upload files button to upload your documents


Select the name of your documents to confirm they have uploaded successfully and are the

documents you intended to upload

Tick the box to confirm the files are correct


Click Finish to finalise your submission, this will generate an onscreen and e-mailed receipt

for your work

For more information see the information on e-Assignments in the VLE.

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/academic-integrity-regs.html

http://www.assignments.soton.ac.uk/


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Submission of work: deadlines and penalties

All deadlines for assessed work are set at 4.00pm UK time on a date set by the programme

coordinators. Further information regarding the deadline for each assessment will be made

available once you have commenced the course.

Some modules may have interim assessment requirements, deadlines for which will be by

arrangement with the module tutor; again, work must be submitted to e-Assignments by

4.00pm UK time.

Over length work

Assignments which exceed the specified word limit will be subject to a penalty of 5 marks.

This excludes appendices, footnotes but includes quotations and references.

Late submissions & special cases

If you have extenuating circumstances which mean that you cannot submit by the deadline

you must notify your MA Co-ordinator and provide any available evidence/support of your

circumstances. You must then complete a late form with your assignment when you submit it

(further details of this can be found on the VLE). If your submission is over five working

days late you will also need to fill out a special considerations form and send it to the

Graduate School office. Your case will then put forward to a University of Southampton

Special Considerations Board for a decision. The Board will consider extenuating

circumstances, which will normally include only the following:

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/special-considerations.html

Illness:

If you are ill during your studies - If your illness requires medical advice or attention, you

should go to your doctor. However, if medical advice or attention is not needed, you should

not go to a doctor simply for the purpose of obtaining a medical certificate to present to a

Special Considerations Board. Doctors will not issue a medical certificate unless they decide

that you are incapacitated and unable to attend the course via Moodle. If you are ill but are

able to continue with your studies you should complete a self-certification form and return it

to the tutor and the MA Co-ordinator. You must inform your tutor and discuss the effect of

the ongoing condition on your studies.

If you feel your performance on the course has been adversely affected by illness - If you

have experienced ill health which you believe will affect your performance in an assignment

or online forum, you should discuss this with your tutor and apply to your Co-ordinator for

special consideration in advance of the coursework in question. You may be required to sign

a consent form to allow the release of relevant medical information by your doctor to the

University of Southampton Assessment Board.

NB. If you feel your performance at University has been adversely affected by illness it is

your responsibility to submit appropriate documentation to the Assessment Board who will

consider the evidence and determine whether your situation merits special consideration.

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/special-considerations.html


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Compassionate circumstances: e.g. death or severe illness in the immediate circle.

Force majeure: That is, exceptional circumstances which affected the candidate's

performance and were entirely beyond his or her control.

Where there are extenuating circumstances in the view of the University of Southampton

Assessment Board, the treatment of late and non-submitted work will be as follows:

Late work will be graded as if it had been submitted on time.

Non-submitted work will be discounted in making up the overall assessment for a module.

Where this would leave no basis for an assessment, the Chair of the Assessment Board may

grant permission for work to be submitted by a later deadline to be specified and to be treated

as if it had been submitted on time; work submitted after this deadline will be subject to the

penalties for late work as above unless there are once again extenuating circumstances.

The Chair of the Assessment Board will determine for each case whether extenuating

circumstances apply.

Late Work

Work which is received within a week following the module deadline or any interim deadline

will be considered late.

All late work received will be assessed and graded using the normal criteria. The grades for

late work will be reduced by 5 marks for each working day or part thereof up to the

maximum of period of 5 days. The mark for a piece of work of pass standard or above should

not be reduced below 50 by these penalties.

Work which is received 1 week after the deadline will be treated as non-submitted work and

will be given a grade of zero, unless a case is made for extenuating circumstances.

Mark reductions for lateness and any remission of such reductions on the grounds of

extenuating circumstances will be explicitly recorded and drawn to the attention of the

Assessment Board.

The Chair of the Assessment Board should be informed about all work submitted.

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/assets/imported/transforms/content-

block/UsefulDownloads_Download/15359ED8942444C3A172DE55B7F4D75A/Late%20Su

bmission.pdf

Return of work

Assessed work should be marked and returned within two weeks of the submission deadline

or four weeks if submitted at the end of a semester. It should be returned after internal

markers have agreed on a mark, provided that students are clearly informed that the mark is

provisional until confirmed by the University of Southampton examination board. Your

module tutor will load your marked assignment on e-Assignments and you will receive an e-

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/assets/imported/transforms/content-block/UsefulDownloads_Download/15359ED8942444C3A172DE55B7F4D75A/Late%20Submission.pdf




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mail notifying you. You will be able to download your assignment from the e-Assignments

page. It will have a Feedback Sheet with comments and an agreed mark.

Resubmission/Referrals of work

A student who fails on a programme where all modules are core, may take Referral

assessments in failed modules totalling not more than 30 ECTS (60 CATS).

Where a candidate is undertaking their programme through part time study, it may be in the

student's best interests to take Referrals at the earliest opportunity, which may be outside the

normal assessment periods. For such students, Referrals may be permitted while they are still

completing their other taught modules. The arrangements will be communicated via the

Programme Handbook.

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/progression-regs-standalonemasters.html

It should be noted that a piece of assessed work may be resubmitted on one occasion only. If

it is the candidates best interests to resubmit work, the deadlines and nature of the

requirements for resubmission will be set by the module tutor in liaison with the MA Co-

ordinator, and made known to the candidate at the time of failure.

For the purposes of providing feedback, a normal mark will be given to resubmitted work,

but it will be made clear to the candidate on return of the work that the mark considered by

the Assessment Board in respect of a piece of resubmitted work will be the bare pass.

Feedback on your work

You will receive written feedback within four weeks of the submission deadline. Please note

that the internally agreed coursework marks are provisional, until they are confirmed by a

formal Examination Board (held in mid-July). End-of-course assessment is carried out in

conjunction with an External Examiner, currently Martin Dewey from King's College

London.

MA coursework is marked using the 100 point Marking Scale described in the Faculty of

Humanities Masters Handbook. On this scale there is a pass mark of 50+, a merit mark of

60+ and a distinction mark of 70+. You will be undertaking a wide variety of assessment

tasks, and task-specific criteria may be developed to support the assessment of different types

of task (e.g. for oral presentations, teaching simulations or practical tasks). Where additional

task-specific criteria are used to complement the general Marking Scale, you will be

informed in advance.

Progressing to the Dissertation

The August Examination Board scrutinises and confirms all coursework marks. Students who

have satisfactorily passed the coursework element of their programme will proceed to submit

their MA Dissertation.

http://www.calendar.soton.ac.uk/sectionIV/progression-regs-standalonemasters.html


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Final examination procedures

The Dissertation must be submitted Monday of Week 16 in Semester 1 or Semester 2

(depending on when your programme began). All dissertations are double-marked, using the

100 point Scale. Final marks and awards are confirmed at an autumn Examination Board.

Students achieving an average mark of 70+ for their coursework, and a mark of 65+ for their

Dissertation will be awarded the degree with Distinction. The same applies to students

achieving 65+ for their coursework, and a mark of 70+ for their dissertation: see further

details in the Faculty of Humanities Graduate School Handbook. The rules for resubmission

of failed work, and the options for exiting with a Diploma, are also explained in the Faculty

of Humanities Graduate School Handbook

4. The Learning Environment

The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) on this course is Moodle. This is the University of

Southampton's online course management platform for the MA in ELT: online. When you

look around the site, you will see that there are a number of 'places' where the online weeks

of the programme will take place. The most important of these will be:

Module documents and links – all key documents and links are in this area.

Course, Module and Group Forums – where tutors post announcements, news

and information: mostly administrative messages about important dates and events.

Students can also post questions here.

Chat room – where students have weekly live text chat sessions with tutors

and fellow students.

Assignments and e-Assignments – instructions for each module assignment and links

to assignment submission.

Topics – specially designed interactive tasks which form the weekly course content

as well as other reading lists or extracts we provide.

Topic Talk Forums – where weekly discussion forum tasks take place.

Email – for communication with tutors and fellow participants.

Studying Online

If this is the first time you have studied in an online learning environment it will be a very

different kind of 'classroom' to those you have experienced before.

Forms of Electronic Communication in Traditional and Virtual Classrooms

Mode of

Communication

Face-to-Face Electronic

Synchronous

Electronic

Asynchronous


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One to one Conversation

Individual Tutorial

Online chat

Voice over Internet

(VoIP)

Video Calls (Skype)

E-mail

One to Many Lecture Streaming Audio or

Video

E-mail

Many to Many Role Play

Debate

Discussion

Mixers

Tasks

Video Conferencing

Audio Conferencing

Chat room

Conference

Forum

Discussion List

Newsgroup

(Adapted from Maier & Warren, 2000)

Communication with tutors and other participants will largely be asynchronous, through

forums and e-mail, the communication modes in the fourth column above. The most

important difference between this virtual classroom and the more traditional face-to-face kind

is that

flexibility - there are no class hours, you 'attend' when you want

communication is not spoken but written, for the most part

the teacher is 'present' but not all the time

feedback or responses to what you say (write) may not always be immediate

the amount of information that is available via the WWW is much greater than in

traditional classrooms

These differences all add up to an overriding and crucial difference about e-learning. You

have a lot more control over and responsibility for your own learning. However, in order to

help you manage your learning and develop new kinds of study skills the MA tutors and

materials pay a lot more attention to online learning processes as well as course content in

trying to support you in your learning experience.

Support for Students and their Learning

We support you and try to help you structure your online studies in a number of ways:


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Induction and technical support

Moodle has student/user manuals and help tools on each page, which will provide instant

answers to operational problems.

You will also be given clear guidance on the MA course page about who to contact in case of

problems relating to any aspects of the course software or access to the University of

Southampton's online library facilities. You will be able to contact the University of

Southampton's technical support staff, Moodle support staff or Southampton's ServiceLine in

the case of technical difficulty.

Organising your time

You will be required to devote 10 hours a week to each module in a semester: approximately

5 hours working with the interactive tasks and discussion forums, 5 hours working

independently. There is a short study guide for each week's topics in a module which will

provide you with guidance on how long each interactive task in a week will take and how

much time you will be expected to devote to forum discussions. Topic Talk Forum discussion

tasks will typically take the whole week, and the instructions will tell you about deadlines for

posting contributions to the different parts of a discussion task. The week's study guide will

also have suggestions for organising and dividing up your time between the various learning

activities.

Course Documentation

There will be a 'Course documents and links' page, ‘Induction Activities’ as well as a 'Course

Forum' on the VLE where you can find all the information you need about the course content

and procedures, assessment, administrative procedures and regulations, and communication

between you, your tutors and the University of Southampton. For each of the 8 modules of

the programme you will have a Study Guide with guidance on study arrangements for the

topics in a module, and for the organisation of your study time.

Contact with tutors

When you enrol at the university you will receive a student e-mail system which you set up

during the registration and orientation period. All mails you send to your tutor through the

system will also go to their personal university e-mail. Mails sent by your tutor to you will

also come to your personal university e-mail. It is therefore crucial that you check your

University of Southampton e-mail on a regular basis (at least twice a week). Aside from

e-mail contact in which you may receive feedback on tasks and activities, you will have the

opportunity to discuss work with your tutors at weekly 'office hour' meetings in the VLE chat

room. You will also be in contact with tutors via the Topic Talk discussion forums and the

weekly discussion tasks. You can arrange to have postings by tutors and other participants to

these forums sent to your personal e-mail so that you can keep up with what is happening on

the platform outside your normal log-in times.


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Course materials

Interactive learning materials, tasks, readings and other web-based resources will be available

on the VLE as well as access to the up-to-date online library resources of the University.

Online library tutorials give guidance on how to use these.

Students with special needs

We will endeavour to provide specialist support for you if you have learning differences or a

disability.

Quality Assurance

The University of Southampton Programme Co-ordinator will oversee all Quality Assurance

to do with the programme.

Your assessed work will be moderated by the University according to standard University

policies on marking in order to ensure maintenance of standards (see

http://www.soton.ac.uk/quality/docs/Marking_Policies.doc.

If an issue arises during the course, you will have the right to file an official complaint. This

will be to the University of Southampton's Programme Co-ordinator in the first instance

([email protected]). A three person committee at the University will investigate the

complaint. Failing a satisfactory resolution, you will have the right to appeal to the University

according to established complaints procedures, for details see:

http://www.soton.ac.uk/studentservices/complaintsappeals/complaints.html.

Fellow Learners

One of the most important sources of support for you will be your fellow learners on the

course. Building a learning community and the mutual support and encouragement that this

provides is an integral part of tutors' and learners' online activities and interaction, and is very

much dependent on each of you visiting the course site regularly and participating in

meetings and discussions.

Ethical practice

When undertaking your Masters dissertation or research, you are expected to take ethical

considerations into account, and in all cases complete an ethics checklist in consultation with

your supervisor. (See http://www.humanities.soton.ac.uk/default.asp?sec=177&sub=1326 for

details). Where your research involves human participants such as language learners or

teachers, you will be required to complete further documentation and get your research

approved by the Research Governance Office of the University (ERGO). Details and forms

are available through SUSSED or at

http://www.soton.ac.uk/corporateservices/rgo/regprojs/regproj.html. Please note that without

research approval it will not be possible to award you a grade for your dissertation.

http://www.soton.ac.uk/quality/docs/Marking_Policies.doc

http://www.soton.ac.uk/studentservices/complaintsappeals/complaints.html

http://www.soton.ac.uk/corporateservices/rgo/regprojs/regproj.html


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5. Learning Resources

Computing Services

Once you have received your student identity number, you must enrol as a member of the

university at: www.soton.ac.uk/enrol. You can also create your university computing account

at: www.subscribe.iss.ac.uk. Advice and help in using computing services is available

through [email protected]

The Library

Information about the library can be found through www.sussed.soton.ac.uk, your SUSSED

access, which will tell you about how to use the library and how to access electronic

resources. There is also a guide to the library's electronic resources on the VLE in the

induction activities.

Access generally

It would be a good idea for you to set your computer up with VPN (Virtual Private

Networking) software; all the information about this is available from the general link:

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/essentials/ownpc/offcampus.html and also in the

VLE induction activities.

E-books and E-journals

For each module in the VLE there will be a Course Outline for each module with a list of key

texts for the module and guidance on how to access them if they are e-resources, or what you

will need to buy or look for in your own university library.

We hope that you enjoy the course and wish you every success in your studies. We welcome

feedback and comments on the content of this Handbook.

6. Enrolment

Please note you must enrol with the university at the beginning of your programme and at the

beginning of each academic year (usually September/October). You can do this at:

www.soton.ac.uk/enrol. If you do not enrol and re-enrol each subsequent year you will be

withdrawn from the programme.

7. Disclaimer

Every care has been taken to ensure that the information in this Handbook is accurate.

However it does not form part of any contract between the student and the university or its

representatives

http://www.soton.ac.uk/enrol

http://www.subscribe.iss.ac.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.sussed.soton.ac.uk/

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/isolutions/essentials/ownpc/offcampus.html

http://www.soton.ac.uk/enrol


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Appendix 1: External web links for language scholars and researchers

We do not feel that a permanent list of specific websites is helpful, as they change frequently,

and vary in how often they are maintained. However, below you will find a short list of

reliable sources which contain links to a range of major valuable sites. You can use these to

make your own links. We also establish links to useful sites within our virtual learning

environment.

1. British Council gives access to information about many aspects of language teaching.

http://www.britishcouncil.org

2. BAAL (British Association for Applied Linguistics) links to many language associations,

departments and resources http://www.baal.org.uk

3. International Association for Applied Linguistics: AILA

http://www.aila.info/about/index.htm

4. CILT the National Centre for Languages provides general information on language

teaching in UK. For many useful sites follow <links> from their homepage

http://www.cilt.org.uk

5. Euromosaic is valuable for information about languages in Europe

http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/homean/main/enllacos/index.html

6. Ethnologue provides information about languages in the world

http://www.ethnologue.com/

7. Vienna-Oxford International Corpus of English (VOICE) comprises naturally occurring,

non-scripted face-to-face interactions in English as a lingua franca

(ELF)<www.univie.ac.at/voice>

8. Economic and Social Research Council funds social science research

http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/

9. Higher Education Subject Centres for information on learning and teaching in higher

education:

Modern Languages, Linguistics, Area Studies: http://www.llas.ac.uk/

Education: http://www.escalate.ac.uk/

English: http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/

10. The major Associations for International English Language Teachers:

TESOL: http://www.tesol.org

IATEFL: http://www.iatefl.org

Please let us know of other very good links, or of any problems with these.

http://www.baal.org.uk/baale.htm

http://www.aila.soton.ac.uk/aila_rev01.html

http://www.aila.soton.ac.uk/aila_rev01.html

http://www.cilt.org.uk/

http://www.uoc.es/euromosaic/web/homean/main/enllacos/index.html

http://www.ethnologue.com/

http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/

http://www.llas.ac.uk/

http://www.escalate.ac.uk/

http://www.english.heacademy.ac.uk/

http://www.tesol.org/

http://www.iatefl.org/


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Appendix 2: Style sheet for dissertations, theses and essays

NB: For general information on the format for presentation of dissertations and theses,

candidates for taught Masters Degrees should consult the document 'Production and

Submission of Postgraduate Masters Degree Dissertations', available at

http://www.humanities.soton.ac.uk.

This Style Sheet is intended to supplement other available guides by providing more specific

help with the most economical ways of referencing submitted work. It applies to essays and

assignments as well as to dissertations and theses, and follows conventions that are

acceptable in published books and in journals.

Please note that there are many different acceptable ways of referencing. If you are trying to

publish in a particular journal, you should follow the guidance provided for prospective

authors. We shall expect you to be consistent and clear in referencing, but what is given

below, closely following what is known as the “Harvard” style, is the one we find most

economical and convenient. The purpose of a consistent set of style conventions is to enable

you to be honest and unambiguous in your presentation.

1. References to other people's work

a) In the text

If you refer to or summarise anyone else's ideas, a general reference to the book or article

should be provided, with the author's name, and the date of publication, either in brackets

(Jenkins, 2009) or as part of the text “As Jenkins (2009) indicates...”. If a particular section is

being referred to, give that: (Mitchell & Myles, 2004, Ch. 3) or (Beswick, 2007: 82–6). If you

quote exactly, always give the page reference: (Jenkins, 2009: 23). For page references some

people use “p.”, for “page”, & “pp.”, for “pages”, but a colon saves typing time. If you have

recently referred to the author in the text, a simple (2001: 25) or (pp.26–7) may be adequate

without repeating the author's name — but be careful to ensure that it is completely clear that

you are referring to the immediately preceding name given. If in doubt give the name. The

conventions ibid, op.cit., etc. are to be avoided, because they involve the reader in constantly

searching back for the original reference; hence they are confusing for both author and

reader. Publications by institutions, such as government departments or organisations, which

do not give an author's name, should be listed under the name of the body, or its acronym.

The first use of an acronym should also spell out its full title, eg (DfEE, Department for

Education and Employment); after that (DfEE) will be enough.

For website and internet references, be very cautious about using them as authoritative

sources, for there is no filter to prevent material on the web from being complete rubbish or

lies. However, sites are still important as sources of official material, and increasingly for

serious research and discussion. But you need to be discriminating. In the text you should

give the institutional origin of the site or the name of the web-page author and the date:

“(DfEE, 1999)” “(Archibald, 2004)”, as for any citation. If you simply want to list interesting

website addresses that you have not quoted from or discussed, do not include them in the

bibliography, but give them as a separate appendix.

http://www.humanities.soton.ac.uk/


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b) In the bibliography

The bibliography should consist only of references; thus it should only list works you have

cited, or quoted from. The bibliography should contain all such works, listed in alphabetical

order of author. Each entry should contain:

(1) First author's surname, comma, initials, (comma, next author's surname, comma,

initials, with “and” or “&” before the final author…) (2) year of publication, comma,

(3) title of work, (4) publishing details.

If the work is a complete publication in itself, give capital letters for all main nouns in the

title, and italicise it. Then put a full stop, followed by place of publication, colon, and

publisher.

eg Hicks, G 2009, The Derivation of Anaphoric Relations. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

If the work appears in a journal, put the title in single inverted commas, and only capitalise

the first word; do not underline or italicise. Then a full point before the final inverted comma,

then the title of the journal, capitalised and italicised, followed by volume numbers (but not

publisher), colon, page numbers of the article.

e.g. Baker, W 2009, The cultures of English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 43(4):

567–592

If the work appears as a chapter in a book, treat the title as in the journal article, i.e. put the

title in single inverted commas, and only capitalise the first word. Then ...in... then the

author(s) of the collection, comma, title italicised, full stop, publisher, colon, pages.

e.g. Mitchell, R 2009, 'Current trends in classroom research'. In Long, M and Doughty, C.

(eds) The Handbook of Language Teaching. Wiley-Blackwell: 675–706.

The entry for “Long & Doughty” would then also come as a separate book in its appropriate

place (but note that for edited collections you should add (ed.) or (eds) after the

author(s).

eg Long, M and Doughty, C. (eds) 2009 The Handbook of Language Teaching. Wiley-

Blackwell

For website and internet references, place them under the heading you have used in the text

(institution or author) and give the appropriate title followed by the website address, and the

date you consulted it.

e.g. Department for Education and Employment (2000) Pupil mobility in schools.

http://dfee.gov.uk/research/2000_2001.htm (consulted 10/12/01)

Archibald, A 2004, Writing in a Second Language. Guide to Good Practice for

learning and teaching in Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies.

http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/gpg/2175 (consulted 14/9/10)


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c) Common problems

More than two authors: Use (Roberts et al, 2000) in the text but put all authors in the

bibliography entry: Roberts, C, Byram, M, Barro, A, Jordan, S, & Street, B 2000, Language

Learners as Ethnographers. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

More than one author of the same surname: use initials (Widdowson, H G, 1978)

(Widdowson, P, 1976).

More than one reference with same author and year: use “a”, “b” etc. (Jenkins, 2006a) for

the first reference mentioned in your text, (Jenkins, 2006b) for the second, and so on, and list

in this way in the bibliography.

Reports, etc without authors: Normally list under the body commissioning the report, e.g.

(DES, 1989), (NATE, 1999), (CILT, 2001) and put in bibliography with DES, NATE or

CILT as the “author”, spelling out the acronym in brackets: DES (Department of Education

and Science) 1989…

References without dates provided: (Smith, n.d.) (“not dated”) if it is a published work (if

you know roughly when it appeared, it may be helpful to put (Smith, n.d.? 1941).

References to private correspondence: (Smith, personal communication) is sometimes used

- but use very sparingly and normally only for contact with significant scholars, or relevant

subjects. Only quote your grandmother if her memory is a significant source and in a context

where oral sources should be used.

References to unpublished lectures, conference papers, etc: Again, use very sparingly,

normally only for significant public statements by significant scholars, and give exact date if

possible in the bibliography, e.g. McIntyre, D 1999, The Usefulness of Universities in

Teacher Education. Sir James Matthews Lecture, University of Southampton, 20 May 1999

(unpublished). The text entry should be (McIntyre, 1999) as normal.

Several sources for the same discussion: Use semi-colons between references, with a single

set of brackets, e.g. (Popper, 1994a; McIntyre, 1999; NATE, 1999; Roberts et al, 2000)

2. Quotation:

Less than two lines or about 25 words should be in the text in inverted commas, e.g.:

Communicative competence is often related to Hymes' assertion that “there are rules

of use without which the rules of grammar would be useless” (Hymes, 1972: 15).

However, this fails to address the question of whether “rules of grammar” are actually

the concern of communicative competence or not.

Longer quotations should be indented, without inverted commas, and single spaces. e.g.:

According to Mitchell and Myles (2004: 5), the study of how we acquire a second

language is valuable for two basic reasons:

1. Because improved knowledge in this particular domain is interesting in itself, and


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can also contribute to more general understanding about the nature of languages, of

human learning and of intercultural communication, and thus about the human mind

itself, as well as how all these are interrelated and affect each other.

2. Because the knowledge will be useful. If we become better at explaining the

learning process, and we are better able to account for both success and failure in

SLL, there will be a payoff for millions of teachers and tens of millions of students

and other learners, who are struggling with the task.

Never quote or paraphrase closely without giving the source. If you do, it will be regarded as

plagiarism (see the section on academic integrity, p.11).

3. Internal Organisation of Chapters:

There are many different acceptable formats, and we would not wish to lay down any one

system. You should discuss the best system with your tutor.

In general, though, sub-headings will be useful to clarify the argument, and to indicate the

relationships between your main sections and sub-sections. Some people like to number all

their sections (1, 1.1, 1.2; 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4; 3, 3.1 ...), and feel this helps them to cross-

refer. Others feel this breaks up the flow of the text. Take advice on this, and use whatever

format enables you to make the clearest argument.

4. Notes:

On the whole it is better not to use footnotes. If you feel they are unavoidable (e.g. for

translation of brief foreign language quotations in the main text), then discuss this with your

tutor. For the reader, if you cannot put them on each page, it is better to have them all

together at the end of the thesis than at the end of each separate chapter.

Any suggestions for helpful brief additions to these notes will be greatly appreciated.

ma in elt: online handbook 2012-13

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