UCA PRE-SESSIONAL ENGLISH FOR ART AND DESIGN
Introduction PSEAD Publication Foreword We are pleased to present the remarkable 10 and 5 week Pre-sessional English for Art and Design course students publication celebrating the amazing achievement of six students from China, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Venezuela: Sissi, Bobo, Noaya, Jazz, Sunny and Yeni. In the publication, the students evidence how the PSEAD course enabled them to experience the stimulating academic environment in preparation for their main UCA International Foundation for Art and Design and Graduate Diploma for Art and Design courses starting in January 2015. Flicking through the pages of the pamphlet, you will discover how the students built confidence as creative arts students, faced the challenge of
academia and made friends to better adapt to the life in the UK. During the course, the learners had a chance to engage with critical discourse through being exposed to the intensive English for art and design, subject-related TED talks, workshops, seminars and tutorials. The stimulating field trips to London, Oxford and Brighton and visits to museums and galleries gave students inspiration for the various projects. The projects required the students to produce several academic essays as well as pieces of reflective and evaluative blog writing. In addition, the students engaged with the course through sketchbook, twitter (#ucapsead) and course research file as well as had an opportunity to
develop technical skills in Prezi, InDesign and issuu. We strongly believe the PSEAD courses equipped the students with essential strategies to excel academically on IFAD and GDAD courses and there is no doubt we will soon hear of their successes ‒ watch this space!
Tomasz John International Pathway Programmes EAP Co-ordinator Sam Talbot EAP Lecturer Anna Jordan EAP Tutor
INTRODUCTION Sometimes, international students canoot use their potential fully as language might be viewed as a barrier. It can then block them from living their dreams. For instance, to make our dreams for the future come true, English for Art and Design is essential, enabling us to study successfuly on the IFAD and GDAD courses. PSEAD course prepares students for their future area of study using investigative skills and group work based on tasks. The skills we have learned allowed us to reach a vantage point, hence the title of the publication. The title suggests the process through which we all have been through on the Autumn 2014 PSEAD course. Through the exposure to language for art and design, we think we ve reached the vantage point which allows us to be confident creative arts students on the IFAD and GDAD courses starting in January 2015. In this publication, we will show how the PSEAD course awakened our hunger for art and design.
Foreword
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Introduction
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IFAD students: International Foundation for Art and Design
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*Apirata Kuantana *Yeny Torres
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GDAD students: Graduate Diploma Art and Design
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*Hsiao Yang Lee *Naoya Doi *Xin zhou *Tianxiang Lou
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Afterword
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Nick name: Jazz Country of Origin: Thailand Languages: Thai, English Previous education: Strathmore High School, Alberta, Canada Years: 2012-2014 Strengths: drawing, painting
The 10 week PSEAD course at UCA prepares international art & design students to develop their English language skills before their main courses. Mostly students in this course got a lower IELTS mark than the main course expected, so they have to improve English skills to be good enough for the next course, and I am also the one who needed this course.
All my art works are from my heart that is the reason why I love Art
Foundation I am so excited to move on to this course, because IFAD will give me a chance to try many things that I never tried such as making clothes or ceramics. I wanted to explore more about art and this course will enable me to do so.
The 10 weeks PSEAD course gave me a lot of skills that I did notexpect. I learnt a lot of methods, not just about studying. I think this course is necessary for every international student that wants to study in UK, because we have to improve English skills which is the most important things to live in UK. The second is we were able to explore England and visit many places which stimulated our ideas in art an design. The last skill is the communication that it is not just about living in UK but it is for everywhere in the world, for me this is the most important thing because my life would be so hard without a good friend.
Nick name: Yeny Country of Origin: Venezuela Languages: Spanish, Italian, English Previous education: Romulo Gallegos Years: 2000-2004 Work experience: Gaucho Recepcionist Strengths: Organizational skills, Organization,Multitasking and Ethic, Event planing
The Pre-sessional English course helped me to develop my English language skills. It was pivotal for my motivation and confidence in expressing myself, it also helped me to see myself in a better position as a learner to continue with further studies.
PSEAD is important for ARCHITECTURE
I enjoyed all the activities and work with other students, spending time with classmates was a great asset to obtain great results while sharing and exchanging feedback on different topics, this collaboration is essential to develop my language skills and learn from each other while debating. During the excursion, I learnt and picked up new words,such as; mapping the area that we are going to visit, doing research, this has been a great experience to me. This course did not just help me to foster my English vocabulary and grammar, but how to use it as a foundation for my personal and professional perspectives in many ways.
Mather style
Rick Mather Maasterplanning Architect Rick Mather has become something like an idol for me when I think about how to combine historic architecture with modern influences. He was exceptional when transferring beautiful old buildings from Victorian time into a modern 21st century standard without destroying the buildings history and character. One of the best examples for his fantastic work can be found in the renovation of the Ashmolean Museum in 2006-2009. ÂŹ He brought a fresh outlook to it whilst still conserving the original historic facade and entrance hall.But he also ensured that his buildings responding to climate and the green agenda and he was thinking about sustainability
In my perspective to study Architecture can be one of the most difficult choices with intense requirements as you have to have high marks in both subjects Maths and English. However it is even more difficult for international students, because of the high level of proficiency in E n g l i s h required. The Pre-Sessional English for Art and Design course offers a great help for the international students who aspire to study in the UK and learn the skills that later will be reflected in their professional life.
Nick name: Sunny Country of Origin: Taiwan Languages: Mandarin, Taiwanese, English Previous education: Hunfan University BA Fine Art Years: 2010-2013 Work experience: Painting Teaching Strengths: Painting,Drawing Digital software skills,
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ART IS WHAT GET AWAY WITH
Country of Origin: Japan Languages: Japanese,English Previous education: Kuwasawa Design School BA Fashion Desig Years: 2003-2006 Work experience: ONWARD KASHIYAMA Fashion Design Company Strengths: Modeling of clothing, Calligraphy, Exploration
Impressive exhibision
PSEAD course
Future
I went to the Science Museum “Who am I ?“ exhibition. It was very impressive! The exhibition enabled me to explore myself through various interactive systems and some particular displays gave me a “brain shock”. Above all, the best one was the apparatus of entrance see above. It was on a big wall (approximately 5000×3000mm) with a camera embedded in it. When I approached it, some of the dots appeared on the wall and responsed to my movements, and gradually formed my shape. The red and violet dots made me think of my blood or DNA, it was my actual projection, but it did not looked like me. But certainly it seemed to be me. I think this phrase “seems to” is significant to use. This uncertainty, so-called ambiguity is also significant to create something, and this apparatus of entrance was effective and impressive design to explain that in this exhibition.
It was interesting for me to find a lot of differences in the English language, e.g. structure of houses or a flash handle of the restroom. It was good to absorb UK culture through the trips that were to inspire us for the respective projects. I did not ever think that I can go to 4 different locations. All in all, the entire course was a good experience and I feel strongly that I have improved my English skills. In my usual class, the most valid thing was a “mind map”(see below). Recently, I neglected to make sense of my ideas in Japan, therefore it was a great opportunity to visualise my thoughts. . From now, I want to continue to organize my ideas to create my works through this method. In this PSEAD class, I experienced a lot of group work. I was not good in working well in the group at first, but later it was interesting to see other persons’ behavior to see the different roles and functions. I learnt to recognise other students’ styles and also, I know I need to practise taking part in group work more often.
Through the whole course, I always saw some things objectively even myself. Unless I can see things objectively, I cannot discover various things. In my usual life I try to understand emotions. Especially, I think previously described “seems to” is a significant element, because there is a work to fit between my conscious and objects in my brain. For example, this tree’s leave forms look like birds’ nest (see right). When we find such things, surely, our brain is shaken and we would like to understand the unknown more clearly. In my experience, objects that I found interesting had three different elements. The first one is they might have a purpose, Secondly, the objects might invite you to interplay with them. The last is thing is that objects might make you confused, because their function or purpose night be ambiguous. Ambiguity of “seems to” has all of these 3 elements. I think that it was the greatest thing that I discovered. I hope to continue applying this curiosity in GDAD.
Nick name: Sissi Country of Origin: China Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, English Previous education: Beijing Normal University BA Visual Communication Years: 2009-2012 Work experience: design company Strengths: Organizational skills, Digital software skills, Event planning
After PSEAD course, I will go on to study GDAD course. This course is academically focused and prepares me for postgraduate level study. On reflection, in my postgraduate courses, I think I will choose fashion management. It includes marketing, management, advertising and promotion. The reason why I chose this course is because I am really interested in fashion, and the second reason is I learned visual communication in my graduate diploma, it also includes corporate visual identity design, for instance logo, advertising and web design. Otherwise, I’m also interested in event planning and window display design. I want to use my skills to link the fashion promotion and learn more management skills. I hope I can find an exciting job or create my own future career in this field.
One of he most difficult things I learned is academic writing. It pushed myself gradually and began to learn how to do research, make notes from the books, and plan the draft for each section. Moreover, I also learnt about using my sketchbook with creative mind maps to help me organize my thinking. Otherwise, the most important skill for me is giving a presentation. I found out a good presentation skills are useful, it can be used in critiques, interviews, research findings, selling your work and many other professional practice instances. This practice made me feel more confident and it also improved my time management skills.
PSEAD taught me the different learning skills, such as research skills, critical thinking skills and presentations.
When words fail, Art speaks.
In this PSEAD course, I was really delighted that I experienced many different kinds of experiences in this program, such as drawing a mind map, visiting different galleries and sketching in our sketchbooks. I feel that this course was not only for English language development, but also for preparation for the main course. It compelled me to start academic writing as well as helped me to find out more about design information, and gave me a good chance to make more friends and start a new life in the UK.
Nick name: Bobo Country of Origin: China Languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, English Previous education: Macau University of Science and Technology BA Industrial Design Years: 2010-2014 Work experience: TV company Strengths: Photography, Drawing Playing Piano
CRITICAL THINKING
CONFI -DENCE
INSPIRA -TION
CREATI -VITY
HAPPI -NESS
MOTIVA -TION
ORGANI -ZATION