Promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration (6 May 05)

Location map | Programme

Following the publication of the Hilary Footitt (2005) DfES report on The National Languages Strategy in Higher Education, the Subject Centre has organised an event which will be of relevance to both HE and Secondary sectors.

We would recommend early registration as we are expecting high numbers of people wanting to attend. The cost of attending the event is £25 per person and lunch will be provided. We are offering 5 bursaries / free places for people who cannot get the cost back from their institution. This will be on a first come first served basis but in order to qualify, you will have to either write a report for the Subject Centre with your reflections on the event or write a report on the cross-sector collaboration you are already involved with. Both reports would need to be approximately 500 words. To obtain the free place you will need to inform us of which report you will be writing. Please note that a free place is not granted until you have received a confirming email from the Subject Centre.

Event report: Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration

by Angela Gallagher

Promoting languages through HE outreach with schools: strategic overview

Mike Kelly, Subject Centre

Mike initiated the proceedings by setting the theme for the day in its international context, in which the increasing importance of the knowledge economy and globalisation is resulting in growing mobility and multilingualism. The European response to the challenges of globalisation consists of three main strands. These are the Lisbon objectives (for EU education and training to equal that of the US by 2010); the Barcelona objective of at least two foreign languages for all and the Bologna process to ensure convergence across HE systems within the EU. The UK has traditionally underperformed in languages but now has languages strategies either in place or imminent which do stress commitment to foreign language education at governmental level. Higher Education needs to build on this and to try to overcome the declining student numbers by engaging with other sectors in developing collaborative projects, building networks and partnerships.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Promoting languages through HE outreach with schools (490Kb)

Languages in the government's new specialist system

Kathy Wicksteed, Specialist Schools Trust; Rebecca Poole, Hendon School, Barnet

Kathy highlighted the range of opportunities for promoting languages through collaboration with the specialist language colleges. There are currently 211 schools with a languages specialism. 50 schools with an existing specialism in another subject discipline are to be invited to take on a second specialism in languages from September 2005. The government target is for there to be 400 language colleges by 2010. Kathy then handed over to Rebecca Poole from Hendon School who provided examples of collaborative activities involving HE in her school. The school works with local universities to help build on pupils' skills and to raise expectations about the possiblity of going on to HE. Pupils are invited to spend 1 to 2 days a year on a university campus and there are opportunities for year 12 students to be teamed up with undergraduate mentors. HE staff are also invited to observe lessons in school in order to increase awareness of current developments in languages. Further developments in collaboration are under discussion.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Opportunities for working with Language Colleges (2.7Mb)

Year 9 World of Work Days

Deborah Johnson, Ripley St Thomas School, Lancaster)

Deborah reported on the organisation of year 9 World of Work Days held at her school, which involve a range of partners from business and HE. Students are given the opportunity to participate in a range of activities designed to promote business language use. They attend presentations by a local business representative; a former Ripley pupil who is employed by an international company and sixth form students who are engaged in Leonardo Da Vinci projects in Italy and Cyprus . Workshop activities involve teams of pupils working collaboratively to organise a visit to a client for a company director in a city in a target language country. They are required to make bookings, telephone calls, send emails and prepare itinerary sheets. In a final plenary they present their work to other groups of students and have a chance to provide feedback on the day's activities. Comments received from learners indicate that the day is both enjoyable and worthwhile.

Working proactively with your local community

Ricarda Zoellner, Leeds Metropolitan University

Ricarda outlined the steps universities would need to take in order to set up collaborative activities within the wider community. Initially, the objectives of such collaboration would need to be identified. In the case of Leeds Metropolitan University these are:

• Attracting more applicants to courses;
• Supporting schools and colleges in promoting language learning;
• Raising the profile of languages as a key skill;
• Encouraging employers to work more closely with schools.

Universities would also need to have a very clear idea of the key organisations and people with whom they wanted to establish partnerships. These could be local schools, the local education authority, local networks of the Association for Language Learning and other faculties within the University. At Leeds Metropolitan the School of Languages works closely with the School of Education , the Business School and the School of Tourism , Hospitality and Events. Once contacts have been formed, a wide range of activities can be undertaken. These might include visits to schools, inviting school students to spend days on the university campus, involvement in local language colleges, running courses for primary teachers and also for parents.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Promoting languages... Working proactively with the local community (180Kb)

ERASMUS students as foreign language assistants (FLAs)

Keith Marshall, University of Bangor

Keith described a scheme currently being piloted in Bangor in which volunteer Erasmus students go into schools and act as foreign language assistants. FLAs have long been regarded as an important resource by teachers, particularly for the ways in which they can provide invaluable support in preparing pupils for oral exams and can also give an insight into the culture of the target language community. Unfortunately, recent years have seen a drop in the number of FLAs employed by the British Council for financial reasons. The situation in Wales is that only just over one half of state schools now have access to an FLA. A number of universities are helping to resolve this problem by providing Erasmus students to support language classes. The scheme at Bangor was introduced at the start of the current academic year. Erasmus students were invited to participate and were then selected on the basis of written statements explaining why they wanted to work in schools, interviews and satisfactory police checks. Each volunteer works for four hours per week in school. The scheme has been found to have many benefits. The Erasmus students gain experience of teaching in a different social and cultural context. Pupils in schools gain access to native speakers of the language and also get an opportunity to broaden their world view. There are, however, a number of limitations. These include the difficulties in coordinating university and school timetables and the fact that the volunteers cannot work as many hours as traditional FLAs. Plans to broaden the scheme to other HEIs are under discussion.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration (52Kb)

CROSSCALL linking undergraduates to school language classes

Lydia Buravova, Jane Hughes and Terry King, University College London

The CROSSCALL Project follows on from ATLAS: A Taste of Languages at School which developed web resources for promoting language learning and cultural awareness at school.

The CROSSCALL Project is currently underway and is investigating ways of linking undergraduates to school language classes using means such as Virtual Learning Environments and video conferencing. Home pages, chat, discussions, email and student presentatiions have all been set up. The project organisers recommended that for such collaboration to be successful, face to face contact needs to be established in the beginning.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Cross Sector Computer Assisted Language Learning (1.4Mb)

Plenary

Linda Parker, Association for Language Learning; Teresa Tinsley, CILT, the National Centre for Languages

Linda and Teresa provided the perspectives of their respective organisations on cross-sector collaboration. They stressed the importance of networking and of managing collaborative needs effectively. They also drew attention to the language skills which already exist in the wider community and emphasised that these need to be accessed in a more innovative way. For more information go to CILT, the National Centre for Languages and ALL, Association for Language Learning

Languages Work Pupil Conferences

Murray Hill, Robert Gordon University

Robert Gordon University has hosted two languages work conferences for secondary school students in Aberdeenshire. The conference aims have been as follows:

• To underline the value of the place of Modern Foreign Languages in the school curriculum and the success gained by pupils in Aberdeenshire;
• To highlight the wide range of employment opportunities available to people with language skills;
• To celebrate the enjoyment to be gained from learning other languages;
• To take modern foreign languages out of the classroom into the real world;
• To explode the myth that you have to know the whole language to be able to use some of it.

Participating students are offered a range of diverse activities by university staff, supported by representatives from local companies, high profile speakers and CILT, the National Centre for Languages.

Download PowerPoint presentation: "Languages Work" Pupils Conferences at RGU (55Kb)

Able Linguist Days

Tanya Riordan, University of Portsmouth

Tanya provided an introduction to the Able Linguist Days run annually at Portsmouth University for several hundred gifted and talented students aged between 12 and 15 from schools in Portsmouth , Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The days are hosted by the University School of Languages and are delivered by PGCE students in the School of Education and Continuing Studies). Pupils are offered the opportunity to undertake a series of enrichment language learning activities. The scheme has a number of aims:

• To enhance cooperation between the University School of Languages and School of Education and Continuing Studies;
• To raise the profile of the University within the region;
• To improve liaison with partnership schools in the region;
• To improve recruitment to languages generally and to the University specifically;
• To raise the profile of trainee teachers;
• To provide enhancement activities for Gifted and Talented students.

Such has been the success of the scheme that it has now been extended to other secondary subject areas within Portsmouth University . For more details see:

Download PowerPoint presentation: Able Linguist Days (3.3Mb)

Subject Centre promotional tools and closing remarks

Angela Gallagher and Vicky Wright, Subject Centre

Angela and Vicky introduced two new CD presentations currently being produced by the Subject Centre aimed at encouraging language study across different sectors. The first is being designed for use with young learners in Key Stage 3 (11 to 14 year-olds) and consists of a series of quizzes, facts about languages and video clips and quotes from undergraduate and year 10 language learners. The second contains information on routes into language study in higher education as well as a quiz, relevant statistics and video clips of language undergraduates.

Download PowerPoint presentation: Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration (791Kb)