Course overview

Language skills are often said to be a key skill in the world today, and will certainly improve your chance of getting a job. These skills will help you to make a wider circle of friends and contacts, as well as improving your general level of communication. 

Through this course, which students can take as an option under the University's 'Curriculum Plus' scheme, learning a language will be fun and interesting, and it will give you a real sense of achievement.  

Course content

Our language courses are run as part of the University Language Programme. You can join as a beginner, at intermediate level, or as an advanced learner. The Language Programme is open to students from across the University; members of staff and members of the public are equally welcome to join as part-time students.

We offer, subject to demand:

• Chinese (Mandarin)
• French
• German
• Italian
• Spanish
• English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

As well as pure language units, the programme includes units in Applied European Studies. Students whose first language is not English are offered classes in Academic English, General English and Business English, as well as units about aspects of British society and culture.

The University's Language Centre contains a Can-8 VirtualLab – a network-based interactive, multimedia language-learning facility, with audio, video, satellite and internet facilities. Use of this facility is integrated into our teaching programme, but is equally open to students who are not enrolled on language subjects.

Assessment

All the assessments are coursework.

For beginners and intermediate courses, the assessments are a combination of task-based tests done in class and directed learning exercises.  You do one test in each of the four main areas:  listening, writing, speaking, and reading.

For higher levels the assessments are based on a portfolio in which you accumulate work of different kinds.

Special features

You can take the language you have chosen at the level that suits you.  If you are a beginner, you do a beginner's course.  If you are advanced, you work at an advanced level, and so on.

You can start a new language from scratch, whether you start in the first, second or final year of your degree.  The exact point at which option slots are available for language learning vary from course to course.

You meet new people with whom you do not come into contact in your other classes.  Students join the language programme from many different courses across the institution.

You can even take a language as 'supplementary studies' -  in other words, as something extra that you do on top of your main course.  And generally this can be offered to you free.

Career opportunities

Improving your language skills will enhance your CV and your readiness for employment.

Some careers have such a frequent focus on international work that language skills become particularly important, such as tourism, journalism, advertising, and business management.

Attendance

Most language classes are timetabled in the agreed core timetable slots for languages.
These are:

• Monday, 3-5pm
• Wednesday, 9-11am
• Thursday, 6-8pm
• Friday, 11am-1pm and 2-3pm

Special facilities

The Language Centre is open to all students and staff. It houses PCs, satellite and terrestrial television (including access to Teletext), audio-casette booths and a collection of video computer-based learning resources.

The Language Centre is the easiest point from which to gain access to the Can-8 multimedia language laboratory network, which has learning resources of various kinds.  There is also a cassette-based language laboratory.

The Library also has a collection of language courses, many of which can be borrowed as well as used on site, and also has plenty of  language learning resources such as dictionaries.

 

Programme Specification

The current academic year (2009-2010) programme specification for this course can be found via the Faculty of Business, Sport and Enterprise course list |held in our Programme Specification centre.

Contact

For further details please telephone:
Colin Beaven, Principal Lecturer in Languages on +44 (0)23 8031 9260
or by email: colin.beaven@solent.ac.uk|

Page was last updated on 27 May 2010 12:08:15.217