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Current undergraduates

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics

 

Teaching Provision - Undergraduate Students

The information below details the teaching hours to which students are entitled from the MML Faculty for the different papers, and the hours we recommend for supervision in colleges. It aims to inform students and their Directors of Studies of the teaching arrangements the Faculty recommends for a successful course of study for the different components of the MML or Linguistics Tripos. The Senior Tutor's Committee recommended in 2010 that Faculties set out departmental guidelines on supervision norms, and that Faculty education committees keep those guidelines under annual review. 

Language papers

Ab initio provision (papers A1/A2/A3)

Faculty Provision

A maximum of four hours of Faculty teaching per week are allowed. An exception is allowed for Russian, based on the recognised difficulty of learning this language from scratch.

Recommended College Supervision Norm

Weekly supervisions in college are recommended, especially to support oral work (20 hours per year). An exception is ab initio Russian, where the norm is twice-weekly supervisions (40 hours per year).

Part IA/IB provision (Papers B1/B2)

Faculty Provision

Paper B1 classes should be taught weekly, with only six pieces of written work per term.

Paper B2 classes should be taught fortnightly (i.e. ten hours per year: four in Michaelmas, four in Lent and two sessions in Easter, which may take the form of classes or revision lectures).

There should be an average class size of 13 or 14, with a maximum class size of 16.

Recommended College Supervision Norm

Weekly supervisions in college are recommended, especially to support oral work.

Part IB Provision (Paper B3/AV)

Faculty Provision

Paper B3 classes should be taught fortnightly (i.e. ten hours per year). Variable arrangements are allow for the provision of Language through Audio-visual Media.

Recommended College Supervision Norm

There are no recommended supervisions for AV, save for the Department of French, where the norm is 4-6 per term. There are no recommended supervisions for B3 papers.

Part II Language Provision (Paper C1/C2)

Faculty Provision

Paper C1 classes should be taught weekly (i.e. twenty hours per year). Paper C1 classes should have an average class size of 12.

Paper C2 classes should be taught fortnightly (i.e. ten hours per year).

Recommended College Supervision Norm

Four hours of supervision are recommended for C2 papers.

Scheduled Papers

Faculty Provision

The teaching norm shall be 16-20 hours over the year, with the exception of Fr1, Ge1, It1, Pg1, Sl1 and Sp1, which shall each be up to 24 hours.

Recommended College Supervision Norm

The recommended norm is fortnightly supervisions (i.e. 8 - 10 hours over the year, depending on whether revision supervisions are given during the Easter Term), with the following exceptions:

Department of French

  • Fr14 - 5 supervisions

Department of German and Dutch

  • GeA3 (weekly supervisions)
  • Ge13 (5 supervisions)
  • Ge15 (6 supervisions)

Department of Italian (including Modern Greek)

  • ITA3 (supervisions for some topics will be run weekly)
  • It1 (supervisions for some topics will be run weekly)
  • Gr3 (8 supervisions over the 3 terms)

Department of Slavonic Studies

  • SLA3 (weekly supervisions)

Department of Spanish and Portuguese

  • PGA3 (6 supervisions over Lent and Easter)
  • PG1 (8 supervisions)
  • SPA3 (6 supervisions over Lent and Easter)

Scheduled Papers in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics

Recommended College Supervision Norms

  • Part I Papers: 13 supervisions per year
  • Part IIA Papers: 8 supervisions per year
  • Part IIB Papers: 8 supervisions per year

Dissertations and Projects

  • Candidates for the MML Part IB Long Essay are entitled to 4 hours of supervision per term (i.e. 4 in Michaelmas and 4 in Lent). 3 supervisions will be as standard for the paper. The fourth supervision each term will be a one-on-one session devoted to a discussion of the Long Essay plan.
  • Candidates writing a Year Abroad Project are entitled to four hours of support from their supervisor (including reading drafts as well as supervisions or other forms of support).
  • Candidates writing an MML Optional Dissertation or a Linguistics Part IIB Dissertation are entitled to 8 hours of supervision.