Collaboration between The Language Centre and School of Music
Written by Angela Hulme
| Activity / intervention
Rationale Aim |
The Academic Language for Music Business programme is non-credit bearing, but supports students studying Live Music Management and Promotion, a module on the Music and Management MA.
I designed the programme of 9 workshops in 2018 in consultation with School of Music colleagues with input from the student cohort. The workshops are one-hour weekly workshops that run alongside the Live Music Management and Promotion module. They are aimed at actively engaging students in the study of academic language and literacy related specifically to the core module. The main focus is on developing students’ understanding of the genre of a written case study portfolio as well as working on presentation skills for an assessed presentation task. The rationale for the approach is to provide extra, bespoke support to linguistically-diverse students who may be unfamiliar with studying at UK HE level, although it can also be useful for students from non-traditional UK backgrounds. |
| Why it was good / worked | The main reason for the programme’s success has been the collaboration between the module leader, students and me as course developer. The module leader’s support in terms of providing information about the module, models of student assignments and regular communication about module changes has been invaluable. Students have shared the linguistic, literacy and cultural challenges they face and identified areas for development. This input from both the module leader and students has allowed me to create and adapt the programme to meet their specific needs both during the course and at programme review stage. |
| Results
Direct and indirect |
As a non-credit bearing programme there are no grades to report. However, feedback from students and the module leader suggest there is an impact on students’ performance in their core module assignments. There also seems to be a benefit to students’ wellbeing as they report an increased sense of confidence in their approach to their studies. |
| Feedback
Students |
Feedback from end-of-course student questionnaires show high levels of satisfaction with the programme. Individual comments support this, “your course are [sic] really helpful for me”, “I found it quite helpful to write the academic essays and present the presentations after taking your classes” and “Thanks so much for all your tutelage, kindness and patience throughout my study. They mean a lot to me”. |
| Staff | Comments from the module leader, “I have noticed this year an improvement in the use of terminology, in particular, which is definitely a testimony of your hard work!” |
Comments from students
your course are [sic] really helpful for me
Thanks so much for all your tutelage, kindness and patience throughout my study. They mean a lot to me
Comments from colleagues
I have noticed this year an improvement in the use of terminology, in particular, which is definitely a testimony of your hard work!