September 2012 e-bulletin - LLAS Centre for languages, linguistics and area studies

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News Bulletin
September
2012

Dear colleague,

Welcome to the LLAS e-bulletin for September 2012. Click here to see this email on the LLAS website.

Message from the Director

As the annual rentrée gathers pace, colleagues are gearing up to ensure business as usual in conditions of greater uncertainty than ever. The summer has brought its usual crop of anxieties for the languages, linguistics and area studies community. On the one hand, the A level figures for languages show a further overall decline. On the other hand, some languages of the wider world are increasing in popularity (Chinese, Polish, Portuguese), and there has been some increase in students taking a language GCSE. University entrance in our subjects appears to be significantly affected, though the figures are not yet firm. And the prospects for next year look unpromising too. This is all set in a broader context of fewer students and more uncertainty on the policy front. Vice-chancellors are looking hard at where to invest and where to divest, and it will be another year of campaigning to make the case for our subjects. This will be one of the strands in our forthcoming workshop for heads of department and subject leaders: Thriving in an uncertain world. We hope this will provide some ideas and some tools for the difficult days ahead. More generally, I hope that the summer has given colleagues a chance to rest and stand back, and hopefully to come back with new ideas and a taste for innovation. At LLAS we will continue helping to promote new ideas and encouraging colleagues to share them.

All best wishes for the new academic year.

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 Why study languages? calendar FREE downloads - September 2012
LLAS events : Our events programme in full can be found at www.llas.ac.uk/events
IN FOCUS this month: Thriving in an uncertain world - a workshop for heads of depts and leaders in LLAS, 13 September 2012, London REGISTER NOW at www.llas.ac.uk/events/6659

In the news

Order your free copy of the LLAS magazine Liaison!
An online copy is available to view here. To order your FREE hard copy, just email us at llas@soton.ac.uk . 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.

LLAS E-learning Symposium 2013
The 8th annual e-learning symposium will take place on 24 and 25 January at the University of Southampton. Registrations will be open in the Autumn. The call for contributions is now open and details can be found at http://www.llas.ac.uk/elearning2013

International Translation Day - 5 October 2012 - Save the date!
‘Save the date’ for this year’s International Translation Day. The event will take place on Friday 5th October. For more information, click here.

Case Studies of Openness in the Language Classroom - call for contributions
A publication is being planned of selected case studies showcasing how the principles of openness in second / foreign language teaching and learning are applied in practice. The book will be a collection of case studies providing practical suggestions for the incorporation of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Practices (OEP), and Open Communication principles to the language classroom and to the initial and continuing development of language teachers. This open-access e-book, aimed at practitioners in secondary and tertiary education, will be freely available for download. For more information, please go to https://www.llas.ac.uk/news/6657

Juvenes Translatores competition, 27 November 2012
This year's European Commission competition for young translators Juvenes Translatores will take place on 27 November and is open to pupils born in 1995. Schools can register online from 1 September to 20 October. The prize for the UK's best young translator will be a trip to Brussels. Click here to register.

LLAS Why study languages? calendar

FREE calendar download: This calendar, for the month of September 2012, in Malay, 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. Quiz questions and answers are also included.
This is the eleventh of a 16-month series lasting until Dec 2012. Look out for another language next month. Please visit : http://languagebox.ac.uk/3002/ You can find all months so far at http://languagebox.ac.uk/1991/.

Forthcoming events in the LLAS community

September 2012

Multilingual Theory and Practice in Applied Linguistics" - BAAL 2012
6 September, 2012 - 8 September, 2012 - University of Southampton

IN FOCUS Thriving in an uncertain world - a workshop for heads of depts and leaders in LLAS
13 September, 2012 - London REGISTER NOW

November 2012

The LOC tool for EAP teachers: authoring your own online learning materials
9 November, 2012 - University of Southampton

Making Video for Language Learning and Teaching
17 November, 2012 - University of York

January 2013

E-learning Symposium 2013
24 - 25 January, 2013 - University of Southampton

April 2013

Residence Abroad, Social Networks and Second Language Learning
11 April - 12 April, 2013 - University of Southampton

TRAVEL FUND Remember that you can apply for the HEA UK travel fund to cover travel, subsistence or conference fees for these events. To find out more, visit the HEA website or download the application form here

REMEMBER you can follow LLAS on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin !

We would be grateful if you would forward this bulletin to colleagues and relevant mailing lists. Please do not hesitate to contact LLAS if you have any queries regarding this bulletin.

LLAS Centre for languages, linguistics and area studies
University of Southampton | Avenue Campus | Southampton | SO17 1BJ
p: +44 (0) 23 8059 4814 | f: +44 (0) 23 8059 4815 | llas@soton.ac.uk
www.llas.ac.uk