Main Aim(s) of the Unit:

Students will acquire the fundamental journalistic skill of telling a story clearly and concisely using correct English and appropriate for the platform and the context.

While this Unit is primarily targeted at journalists and those who aspire to write professionally, it will also have a relevance to many other disciplines and study programmes where effective use of English is an important component part.

It is a core unit and those wishing to pursue any of the journalism and media programmes offered by ICM to higher academic levels, will be required to achieve an acceptable pass mark in this Unit.

Main Topics of Study:

English Grammar - The Basic Rules

• Nouns and pronouns (WH - p3)
• Verbs, adverbs
• Adjectives
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions and interjections

Spelling, selecting the right word

• Making the right choice
• Words and their meanings
• Keep it simple - fudge factor
• Words with double meanings
• Anonyms and synonyms

Punctuation and Beyond

• Four main stops
• Dot colon and semi colon
• Other marks - the dash the slash and hyphen
• Apostrophes

Written English

• Sentence construction (HE- p.17)
• Active and positive (HE - p.22)
• Writing with nouns and verbs (HE - p44)
• Paragraphs
• Writing styles
• Choosing the right style for the right platform

English in the Newsroom

• The structure of the newsroom
• The copydesk
• Newsdesk
• Text editor
• Copytaster
• News Editor

Practical Application of English to a News Story

• Context - making a newspaper, radio bulletin, television programme or web based artifact (HE - p.2)
• News values, judgement and the writing process
• The news lead
• Reported speech
• Direct quotes
• The art of the précis
• Bringing dead prose to life

Cliches, jargon, mixed metaphors and worse

• Cliches
• Metaphors
• Similes
• Redundancies (HE - p83)
• Slang (WH 36 & 66 - & HE - pps57 & 246)
• Wasteful Words
• Stale expressions (HE - p87)

English in the Editing and Production Process

• The news process and editing structure
• The intro in print and text
• The intro/link - audio and video
• The intro online
• The home page - internet and online
• The headline - text, audio and online (HE - p204)

Spoken English for the Media

• English for audio and video
• Approaches to conversational English
• Approaches to telling, not writing a story
• Adapting written English for spoken presentation

English for Text, Online and Small Screen Devices

• The home page
• deconstructing text and other content
• Headlines, captions and textboxes
• Key words and their importance
• Text for mobiles
• Metadata, text and web optimisation

Specialist writing skills

• Sports writing
• Business News
• Politics
• Arts, Music and Entertainment
• Critical Writing

Learning Outcomes for the Unit

Having completed this Unit learners will have a clear and detailed knowledge of a full range of English language skills - written and verbal - which will be appropriate for application of contemporary English in the more fluid and integrated world of multi platform journalism. At the end of the Unit the student should be able to demonstrate : -

1. A full understanding of English grammar, and its key structural components
2. Knowledge of the vital importance of using the right word and spelling it correctly
3. An understanding of the need to avoid, clichés and stale expressions
4. An understanding of the practical application of English in a journalistic context
5. An understanding the importance of clarity and concise expression
6. An understanding the different styles of written and spoken English required for different delivery platforms.
7. An ability to apply the principles of good English to written and spoken communication, story telling and news writing
8. To critically and reflectively apply knowledge to own work and that of colleagues

The numbers in the boxes below show which of the above unit learning outcomes are related to particular cognitive and key skills. 

Learning and teaching methods/strategies used to enable the achievement of learning outcomes:

Learning should take place on a number of levels, principally through lectures, but centres should also encourage seminars, presentation and class discussion, including review and analysis of current media issues.

Formal lectures should provide a foundation of information on which the student builds through directed learning and self managed learning outside the class.

Assessment methods which enable the student to demonstrate the learning outcomes for the Unit:
Written examination : 3 hours duration Weighting : 100%

Indicative Reading For This Unit

Main Texts

Harold Evans (2000) Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers (Pimlico)
Wynford Hicks (2007) English for Journalists- revised edition (Routledge)

Alternative Texts and Further Reading

Peter Roget and George W. Davidson (Jul 2006)Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: 150th Anniversary Edition (Penguin )
Kipfer, Barbara Ann - editor ( 3rd Edition 2005) Roget’s 21st Century Thesaurus (Dell)
Lynn Truss (2003) Eats Shoots and Leaves (Profile Books)
Rowlands, Sarah and Hudson, Gary (2006) The Broadcast Journalism Workbook
(Longman)
Christopher Howse & Richard Preston (2007) She Literally Exploded - An Infuriating Phrasebook (Telegraph Books)
OUP (1984) The Oxford Guide to the English Language (Oxford University Press)
R. W. Burchfield (Sept 2004) Fowler’s Modern English Usage (Re-Revised 3rd Edition)
Wynford Hicks (2004) Quite Literally (Routledge)

Guideline for Teaching and Learning Time

Unit Content : this course will consider

50 hours Lectures/ Seminars/Tutorials/Workshops
Tutorial support includes feedback on assignments and may vary from college to college according to local needs and wishes

50 hours Directed Learning
Advanced reading, research and preparation, background reading, Group study and portfolio

50 hours Self managed learning
Working through the course text and other recommended reading material, use of the web, interaction with other students and in the field research at relevant sporting events