IA138-3-FY-CO:
Knowing your World from Language to Politics

The details
2025/26
Essex Pathways
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Foundation/Year Zero: Level 3
Current
Thursday 02 October 2025
Friday 26 June 2026
30
14 March 2025

 

Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)

 

(none)

Key module for

BA M903 Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA QX41 Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) (Including Foundation Year),
BA QQ16 English Language and Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA QQ24 English Language and Literature (Including Foundation Year),
BA L250 International Relations (Including Foundation Year),
BA LR59 International Relations and Modern Languages (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA Q143 Language Studies (4 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA Q102 Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA P300 Media and Digital Culture (Including Foundation Year),
BA R999 Modern Languages (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA RQ98 Modern Languages and Linguistics (5 Years Including Foundation Year),
BA L0V2 Philosophy, Politics and Economics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L202 Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L304 Sociology (Including Foundation Year),
BA LMHX Sociology and Criminology (Including Foundation Year),
BA C848CO Psychodynamic Practice (Including Foundation Year),
BA C89C Psychosocial and Psychoanalytic Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA L908 Global Studies (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA L523 Childhood Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BSC L313 Sociology with Data Science (Including foundation Year),
BA L913 Global Studies with Politics (Including Foundation Year),
BA L916 Global Studies with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA L401 Social Change (Including Foundation Year),
BA L934 Global Studies with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC Q121 Computational Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA R105 Global Studies and Language Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R107 Language Studies with Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R111 International Relations and Language Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA R115 Language Studies and Linguistics (Including Foundation Year),
BA R117 Language Studies and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (Including Foundation Year),
BA LY13 Social Sciences (Including Foundation Year),
BA L995 Global Studies with Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA L991 Global Studies and Latin American Studies (Including Foundation Year),
BA C901 Global Studies with Sustainability (Including Foundation Year),
BA L351 Sociology and Health (including Foundation Year),
BA Q912 Modern Languages Translation, Interpreting and Cultural Mediation (Including Foundation Year)

Module description

This module is designed to prepare students wishing to join a degree course in the Faculty of Social Sciences and provides a sound academic background in how areas of language, society and politics are intertwined and how they influence the way we interact and shape the world around us.

Module aims

The aims of this module are:



  • To raise students' awareness of key concepts and issues within politics and linguistics and to equip students with the tools to carry out linguistic analyses;

  • To encourage students to think critically and carefully about issues such as democracy, citizenship, inequality, and sustainability;

  • To broaden students' knowledge of political and linguistic theory through application of theory;

  • To encourage students to be confident in the expression of their thoughts and ideas in seminars and groups;

  • To enable students to write and think creatively;

  • To support students to develop key communication, teamwork and employability skills.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module students will be expected to be able to:



  1. Demonstrate knowledge of key political and linguistic concepts and theories.

  2. Interpret political and linguistic research and analyses and apply to areas of Social Science.

  3. Demonstrate an ability to search through literature and data sources for appropriate material and undertake critical analysis of said material.

  4. Engage critically with a wide range of academic texts of relevance to the student’s discipline.

  5. Identify and recreate structure, style and specialist academic language required for different types of assignments.

  6. Use major concepts and theories in linguistics and politics to understand real-world sociopolitical phenomena.


Skills for your professional life (Transferable Skills)


By the end of this module, you will have practised the following transferable skills: 



  1. Problem solving through data analysis;

  2. Self-motivation / taking responsibility through reflective self and peer-to-peer practices;

  3. Growth mindset through raising awareness of and working with the learning competence cycle;

  4. Effective team-working skills;

  5. Application of theory to practice and real-world problems;

  6. IT skills through the use of various technologies, such as Moodle, Microsoft Word, and slide presentations.

Module information

Indicative Syllabus


Politics



  • What is politics?

  • Environmental Politics and Introduction to the UN SDGs

  • Inequality

  • Democracy and Legitimacy

  • Class and Power

  • Media

  • Introduction to UK Government

  • Representation and Elections

  • Identity Politics: Gender

  • Identity Politics: Race


Linguistics



  • Language variation and change

  • The role of first / second language in society

  • Accents and stereotypes

  • Language and culture

  • Climate change and language

  • Quantitative research methodologies

Learning and teaching methods

Teaching and learning on Essex Pathways modules offers students the ability to develop the foundation knowledge, skills, and competencies to study at undergraduate level, through a curriculum that is purposely designed to provide an exceptional learning experience. All teaching, learning and assessment materials will be available via Moodle in a consistent and user-friendly manner.

This module will be delivered via 1 x 2-hour lecture and 1 x 2-hour seminar per week. Students will be expected to have done the prescribed reading for the sessions so that they can fully participate in discussions. During seminars, students will engage in thoughtful discussions about the week’s topic and assigned reading(s), as well as work on both solo and group activities and exercises. Both the fields of linguistics and politics will be introduced at a level accessible for all students and no prior knowledge of the discipline area is required.

Learning support

Students are expected to engage with Moodle for materials and support activities for their continuous learning opportunities. Students will be supported in their research skills, essay writing, referencing and bibliographical procedures within this discipline. Students are also supported through the Listen Again facility and use of technology in their teaching and learning. All students will have access to Academic Support Hours.

Bibliography*

The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's reading list.

Assessment items, weightings and deadlines

Coursework / exam Description Deadline Coursework weighting
Coursework   Presentation (15 mins, 25%)    25% 
Coursework   Problem identification and Research Proposal task (450 words, 15%)    15% 
Coursework   Blog 1    5% 
Coursework   Blog 2    5% 
Coursework   Blog 3    5% 
Coursework   Blog 4    5% 
Coursework   Group Problem Task and Analysis (1,500 words, 40%)    40% 

Additional coursework information

Formative assessment Students undertake homework and in-class exercises as and when prescribed. Students are expected to share their findings in small groups. Formative feedback will be provided. Summative assessment Two blogs (450 words each, 10% each, 20% in total). Students create and maintain their own blog sites. Blog posts should connect real-world political or linguistics events to the material learned in this module, using evidence from the readings or lecture to create interesting and insightful posts. Reflective Essay on an Engagement Activity (1,000 words, 25%). Students must participate in at least one political activity during the year. The types of available activities that people engage in everyday are myriad and can include canvassing for a candidate for elected office, attending a public demonstration, writing or calling a local MP, etc. The types of activities that students can engage in are not confined to formal UK (or other) politics and could include activities such as signing petitions, addressing international issues, joining a campus organization with political elements, like Amnesty International. Students can choose the activity and issues they want to address with their engagement, with the constraint that it must be related to politics in some way. Students are welcome to discuss with the Module Leader ideas that they have for their engagement that would work for them. Students will submit a written academic assignment detailing the activity they participated in, why they chose it, and providing a reflection on their overall experience. The assignment will make reference to relevant theories and literature throughout. A Politics quiz and a Sociolinguistics quiz (1 hour each, 15% each, 30% in total). A quiz on the concepts and application of linguistics and politics themes. Students will be asked to interpret data, make inferences and use reflective practices Language and Society group discussions (15 mins per person, 25%). Students investigate a first or second language area of interest and link this to a societal aspect. The emphasis is on data representation, inferences and consequences on the speakers. Visual support and an ability to manage a group discussion are expected. Reassessment strategy Failed coursework - resubmit a 1,000 word reflective essay on a political or linguistics problem. The reassessment task will enable the relevant learning outcomes to be met.

Exam format definitions

  • Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
  • In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
  • In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary, for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.

Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.

Overall assessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%

Reassessment

Coursework Exam
100% 0%
Module supervisor and teaching staff

 

Availability
No
No
No

External examiner

Miss Jan O'Driscoll
University of Chester
Dean of Lifelong Learning and Director of Foundation Years
Resources
Available via Moodle
Of 4 hours, 4 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.

 

Further information
Essex Pathways

* Please note: due to differing publication schedules, items marked with an asterisk (*) base their information upon the previous academic year.

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