June 2012 e-bulletin - LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
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News Bulletin |
Dear colleague,
Welcome to the LLAS e-bulletin for June 2012. Click here to see this email on the LLAS website.
Message from the Director 
National and international pressure is rapidly increasing to promote jobs and growth. This was the motherhood and apple pie of European policy before the economic crisis struck, and is now re-emerging as a consensus position, even if some governments also argue the parallel need for austerity. There is a clear case to be made for the contribution that our subjects can bring to the jobs and growth agenda. We have become very adept at pointing out the benefits to our students individually of an advanced understanding of the languages, cultures and societies of Europe and the wider world. The value of our subjects for employability features in many of our departmental prospectuses and career talks, and is a key plank in the Routes into Languages programme. What is less well developed is the argument that our subjects can contribute to increased economic activity and the future prosperity of the country. The 2011 CBI survey on Education and Skills reported that only a quarter of businesses see no need for language and that most value languages for building relations with overseas contacts. Similar arguments can be developed that a better understanding of other cultures and societies can be a crucial asset for developing not only business but also public services and the work of voluntary organisations. LLAS will continue to work with the academic community to make this case more effectively, working with key partners including language advocates, subject associations, the HE Academy and funding bodies.
Mike Kelly (follow Mike on Twitter at @ProfMikeKelly)
Director, LLAS Centre for languages, linguistics and area studies
This month's e-bulletin in brief
- In the news
- LLAS blog: Landscapes, frontiers, transitions and connections: a voyage through the Languages in Higher Education Conference 2000-2012, Alison Dickens
- LLAS Why study languages? calendar FREE download - June 2012
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IN FOCUS: Open Educational Resources as a vehicle for digital literacy in the humanities - 29 June, Southampton and Language Futures: Languages in Higher Education 2012 - 5 & 6 July, Edinburgh
Our events programme in full can be found at www.llas.ac.uk/events
In the news
Influencers on Language Learning Survey
DG Interpretation, European Commission has recently launched a survey about who inspires young people to learn languages here
The survey has elicited a great reaction so far and DG are hoping to collect many thousands more responses between now and mid-June. Anyone can answer the survey, provided they know more than one language.
For more information please contact Kathryn Rowan
The new LLAS magazine Liaison is out in June!
A copy will be sent to your head of department but if you want your own, just drop us a line. If you are overseas, you will be able to view it online. This issue includes articles on the year abroad, social media, OERs and a piece by Lid King, the Chair of Speak to the Future, the campaign for languages.
E-learning Symposium 2013
The date has just been confirmed for the 8th annual e-learning symposium! It will take place on 24 and 25 January at the University of Southampton. Registrations will be open in the Autumn. So don't miss it - book the date in your diary! Find out more at www.llas.ac.uk/elearning2013
LLAS blog 
Landscapes, frontiers, transitions and connections: a voyage through the Languages in Higher Education Conference 2000-2012, Alison Dickens, LLAS
The journey began in 2000 with the birth of the LLAS Centre (then Subject Centre) as part of the Learning and Teaching Support Network with an explicit mission to support and promote teaching within UK Higher Education. In 2000 we were invited to attend the dissemination conference for the 10 projects developed under the Fund for Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL). From there came the idea to run a biennial conference with UCML, AULC, CILT and SCHML. Over the years, this conference has become a significant and regular feature of the language conference landscape opening up a space for colleagues for whom teaching is a core or specialist activity and for whom research is a minor or emerging activity.
LLAS Why study languages? calendar 
FREE calendar download: This calendar, for the month of June 2012, in French, was produced by LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. It was created with help from teachers working on the JISC-funded Community Cafe project. Look out for another language next month. Quiz questions and answers are also included. This is the eighth of a 16-month series lasting until Dec 2012. Please visit : http://languagebox.ac.uk/2637/ You can find all months so far at http://languagebox.ac.uk/1991/.
Hard copies available to purchase: This is the fourth year that the popular ‘Why Study Languages?’ calendar has been produced. The January-December 2012 calendar features 12 languages, one per month. Languages featured this year include: Icelandic, Gaelic, Urdu, Spanish, Persian, French, Punjabi, Estonian, Malay, Hungarian, Welsh and German.
The calendar is available for FREE, with a charge of £3.50 for postage and packing. Funding from JISC has made this possible. For more information, please go to http://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk/calendar.
Forthcoming events in the LLAS community
JUNE 2012
Teaching in higher education through the medium of English
18 - 22 June 2012 - University of Southampton
IN FOCUS Open Educational Resources as a vehicle for digital literacy in the humanities
29 June 2012 - University of Southampton
This event is part of the Higher Education Academy Open Education Resources seminar series. The focus of the workshop will be to show how engaging students with open content can enhance their digital literacy as well as that of staff, and how OERs can be a bridge between humanities teaching and research. It will be an interactive session which will involve presentations, discussion and hands-on activities.
This event is free of charge but you must register to attend at : https://www.llas.ac.uk/events/6628/register
JULY 2012
FULLY BOOKED Teaching in higher education through the medium of English
2 July - 6 July, 2012 - University of Southampton
The LOC tool for teachers : authoring your own online learning materials
4 July - University of Southampton
IN FOCUS Language Futures: Languages in Higher Education conference 2012
5-6 July 2012 - University of Edinburgh
Language Futures is the sixth biennial conference organised by LLAS, UCML and AULC. This year, the conference will address five key themes relating to the current and emerging landscape of languages in education:
- Engaging with policy
- Learning and Teaching
- Graduate skills and employability
- Internationalisation and mobility
- Transition into higher education
For the first time this year, the conference will include an exhibition with various organisations such as the European Commission, The Institute of Linguists, The Goethe Institut Glasgow, Hodder, Editions Hatier and more.
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