The purpose of this module is for you to engage in language and skills learning which will empower you to develop techniques to become a better language learner. This module will provide you with the skills and an understanding of the English required to achieve success in subsequent university assessments on both the credit-bearing modules of the IFP and your chosen undergraduate degree.

You will also have a more active understanding of your language learning which will, in turn, allow you to confidently apply the techniques you learn to enhance your grammar and range of vocabulary.

In addition to English, this module also contains some academic content streamed by pathway, providing an early opportunity to engage with your chosen specialism. This subject learning comes in the form of lexical development as well as some key content to lead you into your next steps in your academic journey.

This module is designed to help you to meet the English level needed for both the International Foundation Programme and your undergraduate degree, and to give you the tools you need to become an independent language learner. It will teach you how to learn the language for academic study, take responsibility for your own language learning, and gain the habits of continuous learning which you will need on your undergraduate program.

You will learn to develop your:

• Communicative abilities in English
• Functional language ability across the main skills of English (speaking, listening, reading and writing)
• Grammatical knowledge and accuracy in English
• Vocabulary and fluency in English

You will develop your skills in this area and improve your ability to apply them in the subject of your undergraduate degree.

The Academic Practice module has a series of practical sessions that link with your other pathway modules to prepare you for your undergraduate degree. These sessions feature a broad range of essential study skills such as research, critical analysis, ICT, presentation and seminar skills.

Developing and improving study skills is a gradual and long-term process. It is also an individual process. If you are new to higher education or have not studied for some time, you may feel worried about tackling your first assignment; taking an exam; or juggling study with other commitments. Here, this module is designed to help you to acquire the academic literacy and language skills you need to succeed at university.

In this module, you will expand your understanding of globalisation and be able to use your knowledge of other people’s behaviour and traditions to adapt to new cultures both in work and life. You will develop your knowledge of contemporary cultural trends, think critically and creatively and have more understanding of the influences on contemporary society within a singular, bicultural and multicultural framework.

This module aims to develop your reflective, intellectual, analytical and oral skills. Its focus will be to raise your awareness of yourselves as carriers of culture, to investigate concepts of otherness and to reflect on how you and others are represented within society. The first semester aims to increase your understanding of cultures other than your own and includes an interpretation of the new British culture, within which you will be living and studying. This will later expand into cross-cultural communication challenges such as ethnocentrism and the impact of globalisation.

This module provides you with an accessible introduction to the contemporary issues shaping the humanities and the study of our social life. You will develop your subject knowledge, communicative ability and research skills. A multidisciplinary approach is taken including a focus on aspects of sociology, psychology, mass communication, politics, social policy, the environment, criminology and geography. Ideas shaping contemporary British society will be investigated, with a focus on power, inequalities, identity, and the relationship between the individual and the group. On completion of the module, you will have gained a wider perspective of the nature of knowledge in this area through a multidisciplinary approach.

You will develop research skills through collecting and analysing data using methods found in the humanities and social sciences. You will learn to question assumptions, construct arguments and evaluate evidence. Skills developed on this module include critical analysis of sources, independent thinking, teamwork, and self-reliance through guided study and self-directed learning

In this module, you will develop an awareness of how ethical action is increasingly important in today’s interconnected world. Decisions we take in one sector of society can rapidly influence another sector, crossing borders and having far-reaching effects on real lives. Whether it is in the ethical choices you make in business, environmental policy, law and order, medicine, politics, the media or academic research, this is a key topic you need to understand for the twenty-first century.

Drawing on core philosophical principles, the Ethical Practices in Action module guides you in examining how choices we make and the actions we take shape today’s world. Through understanding where ethics come from, why they are important and how they can help us make better choices, you will be better prepared to work in many areas of contemporary society, for instance in business, HR, healthcare, counselling, criminal justice, academia and politics.

Managing projects that produce a final outcome/artefact are an everyday part of working and academic life. Learning the skills of how to organise your time, find resources and use your personal strengths is essential for your future career. This module is designed to support you to carry out a project in your subject-specific area and will equip you with the skills and knowledge you need to complete your project successfully.

You will gain an understanding of the essential steps in the project life cycle and have the opportunity to evaluate and reflect on your (and your fellow students’) progress throughout the project work, to the project completion stage.

This module will also introduce you to academic research skills and develop your ability to critically appraise and organise material. This module takes a holistic and reflective approach to your learning, with you developing a portfolio of your improved project planning, research and evaluation skills, and production of an artefact.