Students in a language class

Being part of a linguistically diverse student community brings opportunities to build relevant skills for future study and work, but also challenges in terms of adapting to studying in English.

We’re lucky to have a wide range of language resources specifically designed for you, tailored to meet your academic needs as well as your desire to become more fluent and confident in English. This is delivered in HASS by our colleagues in the FXPlus Language Skills Team.

Doing a university degree in your second language - no matter how good you are - is harder than doing one in your first language. The Academic English programme is a university-funded programme so there is NO cost to the student. It aims to meet your varied needs and requirements!

Our language support allows you to:

  • Work on your oral fluency - feel confident using English for living and studying in the UK.
  • Make friends and build your confidence for more active participation in seminars and more effective presentations.
  • Develop your Academic language skills – for more efficient academic reading and more effective academic writing.
  • Explore aspects of British culture and life in Cornwall, meeting and sharing experiences with students from around the world.
  • Receive individualised feedback and advice in a one-to-one tutorial.

There are various types of language support available:

Subject specific Academic English courses: We run courses specifically for students in HASS. They run in parallel to your degree course and focus on the skills you’ll need for your assignments and course work. Listen to Fanaaka talk about his experiences.

Show/hide video transcript When you come through here, there's a legitimate assumption by the mainstream course that there's certain things that you already know. You know, how to express yourself in paper, how to do footnotes, to skim and to analyse, but the Insessional Programme helps you to bring all that together and know how to express yourself. So even for things that you assume you already know, the Insessional Programme just puts it into perspective. The Insessional Programme, first of all, is very tailor made. You might have lots of assumptions about things that you think you already know. The quality that is expected of you as a student here in the UK, studying, is quite high and I would recommend the Insessional Programme because it runs alongside your mainstream course, it supplements it, and it helps you get those skills that you will not necessarily get from the mainstream programme.


Social and Cultural English courses: These courses focus on the everyday language of social interactions, and provide an introduction to aspects of British Culture and life in Cornwall. Students often choose these courses because they like studying in an environment where they can meet students from across the university, and our wider international community.

Professional Communication: This course focuses on the language and conventions of communicating in a professional environment, including CVs and job applications, as well as email correspondence, forum posts and chat. The course is repeated across the year to allow you to fit it around your timetable.

You might also be advised by your Academic Tutor or your Module Tutors to take up support for your language during your time here - please do take their recommendations seriously and accept the support on offer. If you struggle on alone with language difficulties, you are much more likely to struggle academically and not achieve your full potential. We really do want you to get the highest grades possible, and get the most out of your time with us!

You can find details of support, and how to enrol on our webpages. You can also browse the online study guides and resources of the Study Zone.


Última modificación: viernes, 30 de agosto de 2024, 15:07