Postgraduate Diploma in Czech Language
(Course code: KSGQ)

(September 2007 to June 2008)
(15 contact hours per week)
(Course Convener: Mrs Ilona Klemm)

ENROLMENT  MEETING: Thursday 20 September 2007 at 2pm, Room 133, Hetherington Building

Classes and other work
The course comprises 24 weeks of teaching. The teaching normally consists of three to four hours of instruction a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Wednesdays are normally reserved for self-study and homework. In their own time students are expected to carry out up to four written homework assignments a week as well as prepare for the classes. The content and structure of the course is based on the assumption that all students attend all classes. Failure to attend classes is therefore likely to have a serious effect on progress and is very strongly discouraged. Non-attendance amd non-submission of course work may result in the refusal of Credit for the course.

Provisional Timetable
The timetable is provisional and will be confirmed in due course.

Notice board
Information concerning this course can be found on the notice board opposite Room 310, Level 3, Hetherington Building.

Aims
This course is intended to:

1. provide an academic year of intensive study to bring students to Pass Degree level in the Czech language.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course students:

1. will be equipped with a knowledge of Czech equivalent to that achieved on the language side of a university pass degree in Czech;
2. will be able to communicate with a high degree of accuracy in the spoken and written mode in a number of registers ranging from language used in everyday situations to discussion of abstract topics.

Assessment
Assessment is based on students' performance in the final examinations. Students' progress throughout the year will be subject to continuous monitoring and assessment, and reference will be made to course assessment in appropriate circumstances.

The criteria used for assessment are: accuracy, appropriate range of grammatical structures and vocabulary, appropriateness of register and oral fluency.

Final Examinations
The summative assessment comprises:

1. A three-hour written examination (worth 50% of the overall mark):

Section 1: Essay in Czech

Section 2: Translation from English into Czech

Section 3: Translation from Czech into English, all three components being equally weighted;

2. An Oral Examination (worth 30% of the overall mark): a session with the external examiner, consisting of a general discussion on a range of topics;

3. Course work submitted throughout the year, including class tests (worth 20% of the overall mark).

Written and oral sections are equally important and to qualify for the award of a diploma a student must pass both.

In order to pass the Diploma students must obtain an overall mark of 10/22 in both the written and the oral parts of the final examination. Candidates must show knowledge of a sufficient range of grammatical structures and an effective practical vocabulary, the ability to write comprehensibly and with a sufficient degree of accuracy in Czech essay and in translation into Czech, the ability to translate most of the Czech text into natural English. In oral work they must demonstrate the ability to understand the majority of what is said and to respond effectively. Work is not deemed to be of 'pass' quality where there is knowledge of less than 50% of grammatical structures and vocabulary studied and there is insufficient evidence of accuracy across the range of tasks. Oral work characterised by difficulty in comprehension and little or no communicative ability will not be considered to be of a 'pass' quality.

Students who obtain an overall mark of 14/22 or above in both the written and the oral parts of the final examination will be awarded the Diploma with Distinction. For this award candidates must show a high degree of accuracy in utilising grammatical structures and vocabulary, allied to avoidance of English constructions in essay in Czech and in translation from English into Czech, fluent and appropriate Czech translations into English. In oral work they must demonstrate the ability to understand the examiner fully and to respond accurately and with little hesitation or repetition.

Recommended for purchase/booklist
Students are expected to buy the textbook Communicative Czech (Elementary)and, as a supplement, the in-house Czech course Mluvte s námi česky!, as well as a dictionary, e.g. J. Fronek, English-Czech, Czech-English Dictionary (Prague, 1998). Other recommended texts are: Naughton, Czech. An Essential Grammar (2005); Colloquial Czech (1999). Supporting materials will be made available in electronic format via Moodle and by the Slavonic Studies Section of the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, for which there may be a small charge.

 

Language Centre
This is located on Level 1 of the Hetherington Building.

How to apply: Arts and Humanities Graduate School Guidelines and Forms

Slavonic Studies Office
The secretary is: Ms Louise A Boyle, Room 314, Level 3, Hetherington Building, tel: 0141 330 5418.

 

Taught by: to be confirmed.