English Language Foundation

This unit focuses on your ability to understand and use the English language accurately when you read, speak, listen and write. We will concentrate on the English you need for undergraduate level study in your chosen subject area, covering grammar, subject area vocabulary and the four language skills of reading, writing, listening and speaking.

A key element of the unit is the grammar of the language, and particularly the verb tense system in English, because your ability to use the verb tense system accurately will be extremely important when you come to write essays and reports. This unit will focus in particular on the grammar of the language.

We will also focus on reading, listening and speaking skills in the context of your chosen subject area. Beginning with short texts, we will practise each skill and practise it again, so that gradually you will see, hear and feel that your command of the language is improving. 

A recurring focus of the unit will be your acquisition of 'learner autonomy'. This means your ability to acquire the language yourself, without needing a teacher's help. This is important because from next year you will not have an English teacher to help you. So we will consider and practise strategies to help you gain confidence in your own ability to increase your knowledge of and ability to use the language, including for instance guessing meaning of difficult words, deciding which words are important in a text, recognising differences between formal and informal language, and other strategies, so that as the first semester continues, you begin to feel more confident in your use and experience with the English Language.

Academic Skills Foundation

When you begin your undergraduate level studies, you will be expected to have knowledge of and ability to use a large range of 'study skills'. You will also be expected to have some knowledge of the subject area you will  be studying. This unit deals with both of these aspects of your preparation for undergraduate level study. 

All of the academic skills are practised in English, so you will use your developing acquisition of the language from the partner unit 'English Language Foundation' to practise and gain mastery of these skills. You will also use your language and study skills as you learn the foundation of your subject area, putting the skills into practice as you learn.

Developing English Language Skills

This unit builds on the progress you made during its partner semester 1 unit 'English Language Foundation' and increasing your level from that which you had achieved by the end of semester 1. 

We will recycle the tense system in English and other elements of the grammar system, but you will  now learn how to use other aspects of the grammar, including the passive voice, as well as linking words and phrases and devices which enable you to write longer sentences but retain grammatical accuracy. 

You will notice that we gradually introduce more specialist language that you need in preparation for your degree and we will expect you to use and develop the skills that you gained in the previous units so that you are able to work more independently.

Academic Skills Development

This unit builds on the skills learnt and practised in its partner semester 1 unit 'Foundation Academic Skills'. We will add more skills to the list, including summarizing and synthesising, argumentation, critical thinking and referencing and citation skills, as well as several others and practise and test them in the same way as with the semester 1 unit.

We will also investigate the research skill and you will learn how to prepare a research proposal and conduct a literature review, and how to plan a research project, learning about the research tools available and how they can be used to conduct research in your chosen field. 

You will continue to broaden your knowledge of key current issues and theory in your chosen subject area, and apply the critical thinking and argumentation skills you acquire in this unit to argue for and against propositions you have studied in the form of in both essays and presentations and in seminar situations, ensuring that you are ready to step up to your chosen undergraduate course with a base level of subject area knowledge from which to continue your academic development as you progress to level 4 study.

Introduction To Digital Marketing And Analytics

During this Digital Age, customers spend a tremendous amount of their time online on a daily basis. Companies and other various organisations connect and interactive with customers online for various purposes – customer acquisition, business transactions, customer services, customer retention, etc. Customers themselves also actively connect and communicate with each other and with organisations using digital devices. Therefore, digital marketing has taken an essential role in today’s business, and it is a must for marketers to master digital marketing.

In addition, the Internet has created a ‘virtual laboratory’ where vast amounts of consumer data can be collected inexpensively or at no cost, in an unobtrusive way, using machine learning across the globe 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Quantitative and qualitative data can be collected (and are indeed collected by companies) through tools such as web analytics, website feedback, forums, virtual brand communities, social media networks (e.g., Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Youtube, etc). It is mandatory for marketers to understand how this big data can be and is currently employed by companies for marketing purposes.

This unit aims to:

- equip you with fundamental knowledge of digital marketing (concepts, opportunities, challenges, tools, techniques and uses of digital marketing).

- enable you to deeply understand how digital marketing can be employed along with traditional marketing in an integrated way to achieve the best business outcomes.

- introduce you to the concepts and uses of digital analytics and Artificial Intelligence in relation to the above-mentioned vast amounts of customer-related data.

Consumer Behaviour

Consumers today do not just “buy” products – they communicate through them, they use them to express their value systems and to build or underscore their identities – in short, they use them in ways far more complex than ever before. This inherent complexity has profound implications for marketers, particularly in adapting the marketing mix elements to satisfy consumers.

To develop an understanding of the consumer experience and the emerging trends in consumer behaviour, this unit builds on the basics of consumer behaviour and related fields (e.g., psychology and sociology), and focuses on consumption in the context of multi-cultural and digital consumers, on global acculturation and diversity, and on the effects of the emerging “new consumer” on marketing strategy.

Through a review of current research in this area, this unit will help students develop an understanding of:

-    Consumer behaviour in light of vastly different political, cultural, legal, and economic environments in both emerging and developed economies.

-    What makes these consumers unique, different from, or similar to others (cultures, ethnicities, age groups, and genders).

-    Theories of consumer behaviour and attitude formation and change.

-    What managers must know to successfully develop a marketing plan to target their online and offline consumer groups.

-    Look at real-life business cases and how they use eCommerce and social media; analyze social media engagements in relation to three dimensions of attitude (cognition, conation and affect) 

-    Explore brands that communicate self-identity expression and transformation in consumers 

Understanding Media

This unit introduces you to the academic study of the media, with a particular emphasis on developments in technology and industry, and on fundamental concepts such as genre, narrative, representation, audiences and ideology.  You will learn to consider the media in its social and industrial context, and understand issues related to production, distribution and consumption. You will gain and practice the skills necessary for textual and contextual discussion of major media forms (television, radio, cinema, internet, social media).

The unit will allow you to exercise academic skills such as research, critical and analytical thinking and writing.  

This unit supports and should enhance your practical work by putting it in context.

Reporting And Writing

This unit teaches the researching and writing of news stories and feature articles. You will learn how to identify what is newsworthy and then how to write for a series of platforms across a number of subjects, in an ethical and professional manner.

Introduction To Digital Storytelling

The purpose is to equip you with practical digital storytelling skills. You will learn to record and edit audio and video, use them to develop your storytelling skills and to upload them online.

Radio, Audio And Podcasting

This unit enables you to expand your radio, audio production, podcasting and presentation skills base. You will develop various types of programme content through the use of studio and location recording techniques alongside building your abilities in relation to digital audio editing.

Public Relations And Marketing

This unit will provide you with an understanding of the role of public relations as a key tool for reputation management, and the role that communications plays within the marketing communications strategy of any organisation. The unit will enable you to understand the main functions of the marketing communications mix including key areas of integrated marketing communications systems: public relations, advertising, and digital media.

The Art And Craft Of Journalism

Students preparing for a career in Journalism, and a successful final year, need to be aware of the art and craft of writing beyond what is required for an academic degree. This unit broadens the students’ critical awareness of fine journalism, and the craft required to produce it.

This unit is designed to accomplish two goals: first to improve the students’ awareness and critical appreciation of fine journalism; and second, to improve their writing. Exemplar examination and editing workshops will occur throughout the term, and result in long-form piece(s) of journalism that displays this newfound knowledge. The students are assessed on the overall quality of writing that results from this new appreciation of writing and the application of best-practices. Formative feedback will be conducted during the term in the form of editing and review workshops.

This unit, delivered in the second half of the second year, prepares students for their third year, where they should display a higher level of writing and journalism competence then that produced during the previous terms.

Print And Digital Production And Design

This unit examines the practical and aesthetic demands of print and digital production, focusing on design, typography, image selection, work flow and sub-editing in newspapers, magazines and online. The result is students that have the knowledge to become multi-skilled journalists with a high competency in the latest desktop publishing programmes and web design skills. You will be encouraged to analyse and evaluate the structures within the industry, evaluate the changes to formats and working practices and to prepare a launch plan for magazines of your own conception.

The Creative Industries

This unit introduces you to the creative industries as a concept and as an area of employment. It will provide a critical understanding for students wanting to enter a career in the cultural or creative industries. You will explore the meaning of the term and the cultural, technological and economic contexts that determine how it functions. The unit will allow you to understand different types of work in the industries, strategies to enter the job market, and the skills that are required to be successful in them. It will also give you the opportunity to consider and develop an idea for a creative cultural project.

Practical Special Project - Cnc

This unit allows you to demonstrate the skills, ideas and learning acquired during your degree in an extended piece of work that is self-initiated and managed, and supported by your assigned supervisor. The project needs to be in one of the areas of your degree, and have a clear and strong link to it. The project content should be taken from your main area of interest within your course. The topic will require the prior approval of the unit coordinator.

In this unit you will develop your practical project, individually or in groups. In the area of radio&audio, media communications and journalism: the project can be undertaken individually or as a group.

In the area of video/television: the project can only be undertaken as group activity.

The project is the bridge between your studies and the world of work, and you should approach it in a professional manner and demonstrate independent thinking, responsibility, perseverance and high standards, all necessary to enter your professional life or postgraduate study.

Dissertation Special Project - Cnc

This unit allows you to demonstrate the skills, ideas and learning acquired during your degree in an extended piece of work that is self-initiated and managed, and supported by your assigned supervisor. The project needs to be in one of the areas of your degree, and have a clear and strong link to it. The project content should be taken from your main area of interest within your course. The topic will require the prior approval of the unit coordinator.

In this unit you will develop your research project, in the form of an undergraduate dissertation. Your project will follow the guidelines of ethical practice for the British Sociological Association, confirmed through the compilation and approval of CATS ethics form.

The project is the bridge between your studies and the world of work, and you should approach it in a professional manner and demonstrate independent thinking, responsibility, perseverance and high standards, all necessary to enter your professional life or postgraduate study.

Topical Marketing Communications Practice

This unit allows you to apply theory as appropriate to current industry practice, and gives access to practitioners and creative opportunities as well as important practice-relevant feedback. In so doing, it adds an employability dimension to the course which should aid your transition from study to relevant employment, giving you considerable advantage through knowledge not only of current industry practice but also the confidence to apply it professionally.

1. To engage students in critical analysis of the theory of integrated marketing communications in the context of contemporary industry practice.
2. To consolidate student learning of marketing and marketing communications from Levels 4 and 5 by providing further context, meaning and industry relevance.
3. To enable students to develop skills in knowledge application, critical reasoning, planning and creativity to a professional standard.
4. To consolidate and put to the test student skills of , communications and presentation in a professional environment and thereby improve student employability, self-confidence and personal/professional expectations.

Contemporary Practices And Debates In The Media

This unit will help you to develop your critical, contextual and self- reflective thinking to an advanced level. It will revisit the ideas acquired and explored in earlier units, for instance Media Theory and Research, and place them in the uncertain context of the latest cultural, political, theoretical, aesthetic, technological and industrial development impacting on the media. The central question that this unit addresses is:

• What is the relationship between contemporary developments in the media and their socio-historical and theoretical contexts?

The key ability to engage critically with challenging new media contexts will inform and enhance your subsequent undergraduate final project work and your continuing academic, professional and personal development.

Routes To Market

The primary aim of this unit is to give you business skills and prepare you intellectually for entering industry. 

This unit helps you understand how to make money from the audio-visual content you create. It explores the relationship between audio-visual content, the audiences it is aimed at, traditional and new distribution patterns that have come into being and therefore the marketing strategies adopted in the media industries. It will help you to critically understand media markets, especially when you are exploring the sometimes awkward relationship between ethics and the drive to make money from content creation. 

Professional Practice Year (Subject Area Culture And Communications)

The aim of this unit is to provide the opportunity to undertake career-related experience which will allow you to understand and undertake responsibilities in the work place at an appropriate level and use the opportunity to assess your readiness to undertake a career in your chosen field