Text

Course syllabus - English 2: The Dynamics of Social Interaction

Scope

7.5 credits

Course code

ENA222

Valid from

Autumn semester 2026

Education level

First cycle

Progressive Specialisation

G1F (First cycle, has less than 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirements)

Main area(s)

English

Organisation

Department of Social Sciences and Humanities

Ratified

2019-12-09

Revised

2025-11-03

Literature lists

Course literature is preliminary up to 8 weeks before course start. Course literature can be valid over several semesters.

    • Ratified date: 2022-11-14
    • Latest update: 2025-05-27

    Other Materials

    The lecturer of the course will provide the articles to be used on Canvas when the course starts.

Objectives

The objective of the course is to provide students with the opportunity to analyze and gain an understanding of the dynamics of naturally occurring informal as well as institutional interaction in English. The course will equip students with the analytic skills necessary to describe and critically evaluate communicative practices in mundane as well as academic/professional contexts, both online and offline.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to

  1. describe the structural dynamics of face-to-face and online interactions in English
  2. analyze short as well as extended sequences of (multimodal) interactions in English using the methodological tools of conversation analysis
  3. evaluate and report on interactional dynamics in non-institutional, institutional, and scripted English
  4. identify interactional patterns in 'big data'

Course content

  • Conversation analysis
  • Interactional competence in informal and institutional contexts
  • The dynamics of online and face-to-face communicative/professional/cultural encounters in English
  • Language corpora in English

Specific requirements

15 credits English 1 or equivalent.

Examination

OBN1, Compulsory attendance, 0.5 credit, concerning learning outcomes 1-4, grades Fail (U) or Pass (G).
SEM1, Seminar, 1.5 credits, concerning learning outcomes 1-4, grades Fail (U) or Pass (G).
OVN1, Exercise, 1 credit, online exercises concerning learning outcomes 1-4, grades Fail (U), or Pass (G).
INL1, Assignment, 1.5 credits, concerning learning outcomes 1 and 2, grades Fail (U), or Pass (G).
INL2, Assignment, 3 credits, written and spoken assignment concerning learning outcomes 1-4, grades Fail (U), Pass (G) or Pass with distinction (VG).

A student who has a certificate from MDU regarding disability study support, can request adaptions for the examination. It is the examiner who takes decisions on any adaptions, based on the certificate and other conditions.

Grade

Three-grade scale