TMA Cover Form FACULTY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES TMA COVER FORM: 301A: The Art of English [I] Part (I): STUDENT INFORMATION (to be completed by student) 1. Name: 2. Student ID No: 3. Section No: 4. Tel. : 5. E-mai

TMA Cover Form
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE STUDIES
TMA COVER FORM: 301A: The Art of English [I]

Part (I): STUDENT INFORMATION (to be completed by student)
1. Name: 2. Student ID No:
3. Section No: 4. Tel. : 5. E-mail:
I confirm that the work presented here is my own and is not copied from any source.
Student's signature:
Part (II): TUTOR'S REMARKS (to be completed by tutor)
Tutor name: Signature:
Date TMA received: Date returned:

TUTOR’S REMARKS:


Content











Language and Organization












Earned Mark


E301A: The Art of English (I)
TMA: Semester 1, 2015 - 2016
TMA: 20 points
[Prepared by Course Chair: Dr. Yusuf Shudooh]




TMA Question:

Most recently, many communication innovations such as [Facebook, WhatsApp. Twitter, Instagram & our AOU LMS] have emerged. How can you creatively apply three of these innovations to your academic and social purposes?



Student notes:

 This TMA is to be written in between 1400 - 1500 words.
 The main source of study material for this topic is Chapter [5] of the textbook The Art of English: everyday creativity and its readings.
 There is also relevant material in the E301A Study Guide1 (Unit 7, pp. 63-70).
 The accompanying CD-Rom; tracks16, 17& 18, are useful too.
 Any other resources you find relevant in the E-library.
 You are welcome to provide examples drawn from your own background and experiences.
 Make sure to discuss the efficacy of these innovations. Did they facilitate or complicate your academic and social life? How?
 The most striking changes that may take place in your academic and social life.
 Whether or not Technology Mediated Communication [TMC] is the driving force behind far-reaching changes in your academic and social and/or individual life.
 What are your recommendations for a better use of these innovations?

The following are guidelines on plagiarism:

If you submit an assignment that contains work other than yours without acknowledging your sources, you are committing plagiarism. This might occur when:

• Using a sentence or phrase that you have come across
• Copying word-for-word directly from a text
• Paraphrasing the words from the text very closely
• Using text downloaded from the Internet
• Borrowing statistics or assembled fact from another person or source
• Copying or downloading figures, photographs, pictures or diagrams without acknowledging your sources
• Copying from the notes or essays of a fellow student

(Slightly adapted from OU document on quoting versus plagiarism)

It is important to remember that plagiarism is strictly barred and would be subject to punitive action by the Arab Open University.




Suggested Resources:

1. Boyd, D. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. New Haven: Yale University Press.
2. Gainous, J., & Wagner, K. (2013). Tweeting to power: The social media revolution in American politics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3. Gillespie, T., Boczkowski, P. J., & Foot, K. A. (Eds.). (2014) Media technologies: Essays on communication, materiality, and society. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
4. Kovarik, B. (2011). Revolutions in communication: Media history from Gutenberg to the digital age. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic.
5. Meyer, M. (2014, June 30). Everything you need to know about Facebook’s Controversial Emotion Experiment, Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2014/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about-facebooks-manipulative-experiment/


Learning Outcomes (extracted and slightly adapted from: www.open.ac.uk):

These outcomes represent an initial draft that will need to be refined as the course develops. The course provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate the following learning outcomes:



1. Knowledge and understanding:
You are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
1. How English (and other languages) may be used creatively, both in
everyday and more literary texts and practices;
2. The diverse forms that creativity/verbal art may take in English; how these relate to the affordance (being able to do or provide something without unacceptable or disadvantageous consequences) of different modes and media, genres and social/cultural contexts.
3. The role of different participants - authors, designers, audiences (listeners, readers, viewers) - in the construction of ‘artful’ texts and practices;
4. Different theories of creativity/verbal art, including those that focus on
‘local’ interactional functions and those that appeal to more general explanations - socio-psychological, neurological, evolutionary;
5. Different theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of
English/language (including those that privilege texts, those that privilege contextualized language practices, those that insist on a critical approach to texts/practices) and the relative strengths and limitations of these approaches.
6. A wide range of terminology for describing English language texts and
practices.
7. How your learning in different parts of the course may be integrated
according to the central conceptual strands of the course: how meaning is collaboratively produced through spoken, written and multi-modal communication; the relationships between language and context, language and identity, language and social/cultural diversity, language and power.

2. Cognitive skills:
You are also expected to:
1. Critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of particular theoretical and analytical approaches to the study of language.
2. Apply different approaches to the study and analysis of spoken and written language (including linguistic/textual approaches, ethnographic and practice-based approaches, semiotic and multimodal approaches, literary approaches and critical approaches).
3. Describe and analyze both relevant formal properties of spoken and
written texts and how these are used for a range of purposes by speakers and writers.
4. Use appropriate terminology to describe and discuss specific theories,
concepts and evidence.
5 Synthesize different points of view, and personal research data in order to reach your own conclusions.
6. Relate theoretical concepts to concrete experience.



3. Key skills:
1. Read academic and other texts critically, identifying and evaluating
positions and arguments.
2. Develop research skills, including the ability to gather, sift and organize material and to evaluate its relevance and significance.
3. Use ICT, including the Internet, to access information.
4. Select and synthesize the main points of information, or of an argument, from a variety of sources.
5. Exercise critical judgment about sources of evidence.
6. Develop good practice in the acknowledgement of source material and in the presentation of bibliographies, using appropriate academic
conventions.
7. Construct a coherent argument, supported by evidence and clearly focused on the topic under discussion.
8. Present written work to a high standard using the appropriate register and style.
9. Evaluate your own writing, and respond to feedback about improving the effectiveness of writing.


Application of number:

10. Understand, interpret and discuss statistical data in the form of graphs, tables and figures.


4. Practical and/or professional skills:
1. Abstract and synthesize information from a variety of sources.
2. Communicate effectively in writing, selecting an appropriate genre, style and register.
3. Make effective use of ICT (such as word processing and the ability to
access, sift and use electronic information).
4. Plan and undertake research.
5. Make independent and analytical judgments.
6. Use and evaluate a variety of means to analyze language data.
7. Evaluate social, political and ethical issues related to language use.
8. Work independently, demonstrating initiative, self-organization and time-management.


It is important to remember that plagiarism is strictly barred and would be subject to punitive action by the Arab Open University.


Marking Descriptor

GRADE CONTENT LANGUAGE & ORGANIZATION
A


(18-20) Excellent answers showing confident and wide-ranging knowledge of core material, good understanding of any relevant theory, and a capacity to address the question in a structural, direct and effective way, thoughtfully and with insight. Originality of thought or ideas from outside the course are an added asset. Examples are to the point. - Has an introduction defining plan of essay.
- Body divided into several paragraphs
- Conclusion which directly relates arguments to topic.
- Evidence that essay has been edited.
- Error-free grammar & register.
- Wide range of specialized terminology.
- Consistent in-text citation and form of referencing
B to B+


(16-17) Very good answers showing secure knowledge of course materials. Adopting an analytical approach and providing relevant discussion covering most of the key issues. Distinguished from A answers by being less insightful or by showing less comprehensive knowledge of the course. - First four criteria above maintained
- Demonstrates extensive grammar control.
- Terminology specialized but less varied.
- Minor Inconsistency in in-text citation and referencing
C to C+


(14-15) Competent answers reflecting adequate knowledge of the more directly relevant course material and concepts, with reasonable structure and adequate coherence related to the question set. - Introduction and/or conclusion short but still satisfactory.
- Evidence of editing.
- Less grammar control than above.
- Good range of specialized terminology.
- Inconsistent in in-text citation and referencing
D



(10-13)


Answers which omit some concepts /evidence and/or lack coherence /structure, and/or make minor errors while still demonstrating basic understanding. Or Bare pass answers which show awareness of some relevant material and attempt to relate it to the question. - Introduction and/or conclusion short but acceptable.
- no evidence of editing.
- Few grammatical errors that impede communication.
- Above average range of specialized terminology.
- Slightly confused introduction and/or conclusion, but body still fair.
- No evidence of editing.
- Some error types that impede communication.
- Fair range of specialized terminology.
- Inaccurate in-text citation and referencing
F

Below
10 Answers which attempt to draw upon relevant material but do not reflect sufficient knowledge of the course and/or neglect the focus required by the question, and/or are incomplete in some important aspects whilst being acceptable in others. - No introduction and /or no conclusion.
- Body badly organized or irrelevant.
- Poor grammar control (extremely limited range of grammar & register).
- Limited or not specialized range of terminology.
- No in-text citations and no referencing