Student Handbook - The School of Language, Linguistics and Film

1. INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film. We hope that this year will
prove a rewarding and enjoyable academic experience. This Handbook aims to give you the
information you need in order to get the most out of your studies in the School. Please read
it carefully, and keep it so that you can refer to it throughout the year. This is in your own
interest. The book is intended to help you, but you are also expected to be aware of
its contents. Teaching and administrative staff will be operating according to the
procedures described here, and it will not be allowable to claim that you were
unaware of the regulations, penalties, and so forth, that are set out in these pages. If
you find any of the information in this book unclear, please do not hesitate to ask for
guidance from any member of staff.
You will also need the School’s Directory of Modules which gives details of all modules on
offer in the current session. This information is also available on the School website at
www.qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate. A full listing of all the modules offered across the College is
also available on the College website at www.qmul.ac.uk/modules.
Queen Mary now uses its student records system, MySIS, to give students and staff online
access to information about module registration, enrolment, assessment etc. This system
allows you access to your own information and promises a much more efficient
management of your records. Information on accessing and using MySIS will have been
sent to you by the Academic Registry as part of the instructions for enrolling for this
academic year.
One very general comment before we go into detail. Members of staff of the School are here
to help and guide you. All students have a personal Adviser. If you cannot see your Adviser,
you may speak to another member of staff. There is a Senior Tutor for each year of study.
If you have queries or problems, we will listen to them attentively and consider them
seriously. Do not keep silent about difficulties that affect your ability to study effectively: the
longer they go on, the worse they can get, and the less we may be able to do about them.
About the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film
The School’s aims, with regard to the undergraduate programmes of study we provide, or to
which we contribute, are:
• to maintain a high quality, stimulating and congenial learning environment for all
students of Catalan, Comparative Literature, European Studies, Film Studies,
French, German, Hispanic Studies, Linguistics, Portuguese, and Russian;
• provide an intellectually challenging academic culture informed by innovative
research and scholarship of national and international standing, and by proven
excellence in teaching and research, with some of our departments belonging to the
foremost research units in the UK;
• to make students aware of, and allow them to benefit from, appropriate
interdisciplinary programmes and activities within the School, the Faculty of Arts, and
the Humanities and Social Sciences Sector of the College;
• to ensure that the content of degree programmes and courses in all subjects reflects
new and cutting edge research within the discipline, and the particular research
expertise of members of staff;
• to provide language students with the highest possible degree of linguistic
competence and confidence in written and spoken foreign language production;
• to enable students at undergraduate and postgraduate level to develop appropriate
skills of critical thinking and judgement, and to undertake independent research;
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