Engaging creatively with modern languages (UWE, Bristol)

Location map | Programme

This workshop aims to introduce, on a theoretical and practical level, an innovative model of language teaching and learning which directly engages students’ personal identity, agency and creative potential. Two intensive practice-based workshops will be offered. The morning workshop will illustrate the integration of practices adapted from creative writing into modern foreign languages teaching and learning: genres, such as ‘list’ poems, haiku and acrostics; styles such as anaphora, alliteration and assonance, and novel use of grammatical forms. These will be used by participants to create group and individual pieces. The afternoon workshop is designed as an active introduction to the Japanese language for complete or near beginners, and will enable all the participants to create their own short poems in Japanese. The workshop has the following aims:

• To contribute to the decompartmentalisation of languages, linking and further developing task-based language pedagogies, intercultural knowledge, language awareness and grammatical competence.
• To offer MFL lecturers and tutors a menu of creative writing activities, task types and exercises at graded level which can then be used flexibly to support their own teaching practice in the language classroom.
• To develop MFL students’ dynamic use of existing generic competences and linguistic resources in their target language in order to create an original poetic or prose composition.

All colleagues, lecturers and tutors in any European or world language are welcome to attend.

The event is organised under the Subject Centre’s Workshops to go scheme, with support from the University of the West of England. Organised by Margaret Anne Clarke.

Workshop fee

There is no charge to attend for employees and postgraduate students of publicly funded UK educational institutions. The fee for employees and postgraduate students of private institutions/organisations and non-UK institutions is £40. Lunch will be provided. We reserve the right to charge a £50.00 non-attendance fee.

For colleagues in Scotland

Academy Scotland travel fund for academic staff

This new initiative is aimed at encouraging the exchange and dissemination of good practices, at the discipline level, throughout the UK. It is specifically aimed at enabling academic staff in Scottish HEIs to engage with colleagues from other parts of the UK and to support their institution’s priorities and developments in learning and teaching. The funding may be used to help colleagues attend Higher Education Academy (including Subject Centres) conferences, network meetings and special interest groups that are being run outside of Scotland.

The maximum value of each bursary will be £300.

The deadline for round 1 is Friday 28 November and for round 2 is Friday 27 February. To apply go to the HE Academy Scotland page (www.heacademy.ac.uk/aboutus/scotland)