Digital Media, Language and Communication

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the ethical issues and challenges of working with digital media data.
• the role of language, culture and the media within the broader field of applied linguistics and communication, including its role in constructing individual and group identities.
• how language produces and reflects cultural change and difference; the implications of language choices in media contexts, for example in constructing particular registers and styles.
• key concepts related to theories of digital media, communication and language and their application to the study of contemporary societies.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• plan a small-scale research investigation.
• define, present and exemplify concepts in media studies and linguistics.
• formulate and defend personal judgements clearly and persuasively on the basis of evidence.
• identify concepts and data relevant to the task at hand.
• understand, apply and evaluate different methodologies used in the study of language, culture and communication.
• apply knowledge, understanding and analysis critically to different topics; formulate and clarify key critical questions in the area of cultural studies, media studies and linguistics.
• engage with subject matter and opinion in both breadth and depth.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• set and monitor goals, reflect on your own learning, and learn from feedback.
• work effectively to solve problems and/or carry out a task.
• take notes and keep records; abstract and synthesise information and organise the results appropriately.
• analyse data, and to express results of that analysis cogently and concisely.
• communicate effectively and confidently through a long and complex piece of writing.
• produce writing in appropriate genres and to required conventions, including referencing and identification.
• plan and organise your learning through self-management; exercise independence and initiative.

This module will cover key theoretical concepts relating to media, language and mediation as well as practical considerations for how digital media can be analysed. It will typically cover the evolution of digital media since the late-twentieth century, the language of digital media and its multimodal features, and the ways digital media relates to wider societal phenomena such as democracy, globalisation, AI and the attention and surveillance economies. The module will also cover the ethical considerations of working with digital media.

There will be a lecture and a seminar each week. The lectures will introduce the key elements of each research method and the seminars will cement this knowledge through group discussions, readings and practical tasks.

Learning activities include:

• Completing specified preparatory reading tasks;
• Individual and collaborative critique of literature in the field of digital media, language and communication;
• Written and oral presentation of findings;
• Practical exercises, group discussions and class debates on selected topics;
• Written design of research projects (assessed)

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.