Introduction to Social Psychology

Learn what social psychology studies and how it finds out, meet its key concepts (prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination, emotion, obedience, social influence, social perception and social behaviour), see how roles, norms and relationships shape what people do, and judge the evidence behind famous studies, including those that failed to replicate.

2

Theories of Social Psychology

Weigh four theories of how social behaviour is formed and changed (attribution, social facilitation, social identity and self-determination), test each against the evidence, including failed replications, and use them to explain why some people learn and use a new language more readily than others.

3

Introduction to Group Dynamics

Explain why people form and join groups, how task, size, cohesion and anonymity shape what groups do, how groups develop and are led, and how conflict inside and between groups can be resolved, then apply group dynamics to the language classroom.

4

Introduction to Cross-Cultural Psychology

Explain what culture is and how cultural dimensions relate to behaviour, compare verbal and non-verbal communication across cultures, examine how language, identity and multilingualism interact and how stereotypes cause cultural misunderstandings, and analyse Rwandan values through the lens of cross-cultural psychology.

5

Introduction to Psycholinguistics

Learn the key concepts, subfields and research methods of psycholinguistics, trace how children develop language from cooing to sentences, weigh nature against nurture and the evidence for a critical period, locate language in the brain, and compare first and second language acquisition, with their applications.

6

Introduction to Language Processing and Acquisition

Explain how people understand and produce language in real time, from hearing sounds and recognising words to building sentences and speaking them, then compare the mechanisms and theories of language acquisition and weigh current research, from the word-gap debate to the bilingual advantage.

7

Introduction to Guidance and Counselling

Distinguish guidance from counselling and their types, apply the principles that protect clients, practise the listening and communication skills of a good counsellor, follow the phases of a counselling relationship, and examine the challenges counselling faces in Rwandan schools and communities.

8

Key Theories and Approaches of Counselling

Compare five families of counselling approaches (psychoanalytic, behavioural and cognitive-behavioural, client-centred, holistic and family systems), apply their key ideas and techniques to cases, and weigh the evidence for and against each.

9

Introduction to Health Psychology

Explain what health psychology is and why it matters, examine the biological, psychological, social and environmental factors that shape health, analyse why people take health risks, plan positive health behaviours that last, and use evidence-based strategies to cope with stress.

Units