Speech & Language Placement - LAN00082H
Module summary
If you want an opportunity to link your experience in a short-term volunteering placement with the knowledge and skills gained in your degree, this module is for you.
Related modules
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2025-26 |
Module aims
This module provides an opportunity to demonstrate ability to link practical experience in a workplace volunteering placement with the subject content of your degree programme. A series of reflective tasks during the placement contribute to defining the research question or project brief that you will work on, in consultation with the module convenor.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you will have:
- demonstrated understanding of the values, culture and operation of your placement host organisation
- identified how theoretical concepts and analytical skills acquired in your degree programme are relevant and/or applied (or not applied where they could be) in the workplace setting
- reflected critically on the benefits and challenges of applying theoretical concepts in practice, in the light of relevant research literature
- articulated in writing your experience of tackling the challenge of applying academic knowledge to practical tasks
- gained experience of devising and writing a project report for a professional audience
Module content
If you express interest in taking this module you will be invited to complete a separate placement application form. Your responses on the form will need to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desired criteria required to undertake a YSIS Speech and Language School Volunteers placement. You should treat the placement application as if it were a job application.
Eligibility:
-
Applications for the module will be ranked according to the strength of the answers provided on the placement application form.
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Students must have a Stage 2 average of 60% or higher to take this module, due to the volume of independent study required.
Final confirmation of placements is also dependent on a successful DBS check, which will be carried out in the second half of the semester before the placement starts. [This is because a DBS check is only valid if carried out within three months of placement start.]
These prerequisites cannot be fulfilled in advance, so students who register for the module must register for, or remain registered on, a back-up module, which will be dropped if they meet the Stage 2 average requirement and are also successful in obtaining a placement.
In 2025-26, the module will be capped at 12 places, available to students from the Department of Language and Linguistic Science and/or the Department of Psychology.
Contingency plan in the event of placement cancellation
In the unlikely event that a placement is cancelled or breaks down, after the end of the second week of teaching, you will be supported by the module convenor (in up to two additional one-to-one tutorials) to choose a topic for your coursework that allows you to reflect on your partially completed placement experience and/or on the broader context relevant to your placement type.
Contact hours
Six tutorials will be scheduled during the placement, meeting mostly as a group to compare experiences across different placement settings, and drawing on the knowledge and skills that different students bring from their degree programme experience to date. The tutorials will also provide opportunities to discuss the structure and scope of the planned essay or project report, conceptual issues in linking placement activities to the module content and/or practical issues in data collection (if appropriate), and relevant background literature. Towards the end of the placement each student will be offered a one-to-one tutorial to discuss progress on their own individual assessment task.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Formative assessment will comprise a series of reflective tasks to be undertaken during the placement, to refine the structure and scope of the main coursework essay or project report. Feedback will be provided in scheduled tutorials and/or in written comments on tasks.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Written feedback within the University mandated time limit.
Indicative reading
We recommend reading the following article about use of the WellComm Toolkit Early Years language evaluation tool in the context of the Early Talk for York initiative:
- Dysart, E., & Code, A. (2024). The WellComm Toolkit: Impact on Practitioner Skills and Knowledge and Implications for Evaluation Research. Education Sciences, 14(3), 263-. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14030263