Archived ebulletin: October 2006

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This bulletin contains information on the following:

1. Subject Centre activities
2. Publications
3. HE academy news and events
4. Events, call for papers, news from other institutions or organisations

1. Subject Centre activities

1.1 Area Studies and the globalised world conference

27 February 2007
British Library Conference Centre, London

LLAS has joined with the British Library (Eccles Centre), the UK Council for Area Studies Associations (UKCASA) and the Canadian High Commision in London to organise this high profile conference. Keynote speakers are Lord Giddens (London School of Economics) and John Ralston Saul, Co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship. There is a charge of £27.00 to attend the conference. A full programme and downloadable registration form is available at our event page.

1.2 Call for papers: Linking teaching and research in Languages, Linguistics and Area Atudies

9-10 July 2007
University of Southampton

Debates about the links between teaching and research in UK higher education have intensified in recent years, as both teaching and research have come under increased pressure for performance, accountability and assessment. Increasingly, institutions and individual staff are being defined as led by either teaching or research, and the link between research and teaching is by turns derided - and hotly defended.

This two-day conference aims to address how these issues impact on LLAS researchers and teachers. There is a charge for this event (Fee tbc).

For more details and to submit a paper, please download a form from our events page.

1.3 Pedagogic research fund 2007-08 (Phase 3)

The Subject Centre has funds to support a third round of Pedagogical

Research projects in Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies in Higher Education. UK Higher Education Institutions are eligible to apply for up to a maximum of £4000 to support a small-scale project to commence by 1 January 2007 and end by 30 April 2008. Please note that there are now two strands to the pedagogic research fund. Please read the criteria carefully to determine eligibility. Bids must be submitted to Marie Weaver (mw11@soton.ac.uk) by 30th November 2006. Further information is available from our projects page.

1.4 Cascading good practice: 'Workshop to go' project, 2007

The Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies is inviting bids to develop training packs for enhancing staff and students in the relevant subject areas. The successful applicant will be required to produce a training pack and run two regional training sessions for HE staff. Participants at the workshop will then be expected to 'cascade' the training within their institutions. For further information, please go to our news page.

1.5 Reading skills workshop

Wednesday 1 November 2006 (13.45-16.30)
University of Chester

This workshop is being hosted by the University of Chester Languages Department and jointly organised with LLAS. It will include a session on recent LLAS research on students' attitudes to reading and workshops on encouraging students to read independently and on making the most of written sources/discouraging plagiarism.

To register for this event contact Sue Beigel s.beigel@chester.ac.uk at the University of Chester.

1.6 Supporting students learning in Modern Languages

Friday 3 November 2006
Aston University

This interactive workshop will provide an opportunity to explore practical examples of how language teachers can support students learning inside and outside the classroom. It is likely to be of particular interest to new staff in university language centres. For more details please go to our events page.

This event is organised under the Subject Centre Workshops To Go scheme.

1.7 Teaching sociolinguistics to undergraduates

16th November 2006 (10.30am - 4.00pm)
Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University

This event has been organised by the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University and the Subject Centre. It will focus on the teaching of sociolinguistics in UK Higher Education and will cover the following topics:

• Language variation and change, including dialectology
• Sociophonetics
• Language and the media
• Language and gender
• Bilingualism

Presenters will include:

• David Britain (Essex)
  Paul Kerswill (Lancaster)
• Dom Watt (Aberdeen)
• Kevin Watson (Lancaster)
• Greg Myers (Lancaster)
• Ruth Wodak (Lancaster)
• Joan Swann (Open University)
• Jane Sunderland

For further information and to register, please go to our events page.

1.8 Free workshop for new postgraduate MFL researchers

A Rough Guide to MFL Postgraduate Research A one-day workshop to support new MFL research postgraduates. This is being organised by CILT in partnership with LLAS.

Monday 20 November 2006, 10.30-15.50
CILT, the National Centre for Languages, London

This day is aimed at new postgraduate research students in the fields of Modern Foreign Languages and other language and linguistics-related areas.

This free information day and workshop will enable postgraduate research students to learn about online resources available for the MFL researcher and how they can be effectively used by research students, find out how to keep a balance between life and work whilst researching a PhD and receive some guidance from experts on how to write up your research as well as how to present it at conferences and elsewhere.

Please visit CILT website for full details or contact Claire Cooper at CILT Conferences on 0207 379 5101 ext 287 or claire.cooper@cilt.org.uk, quoting 340LO2011PGR to request a booking form.

1.9 Date for your diary - elearning 2-day conference

1-2 February 2007
University of Southampton

LLAS, with the support of JISC funding, is organising this event. Each day will cover different themes so delegates may choose to attend one or both days. There will be a conference dinner on the evening of 1 February. There will be no charge for this event or for the dinner though delegates who wish to stay for both days will need to find overnight accommodation.

Likely themes will be: mobile learning, Web 2.0 technologies, sharing and re-using learning resources (learning objects and repositories).

Following the success of the E-learning Symposium in December 2005, this event will have an emphasis on pedagogy and practice.

A call for papers will be issued later in October.

1.10 Postgraduate conference: Identity formation

4 April 2007
University of Manchester

This Subject Centre sponsored Lecture will be the first ever conference to incorporate all the departments in the Faculty of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures at the University of Manchester. This exciting inaugural event aims to be all inclusive and embrace all modern foreign languages; it will treat the notion of Identity Formation in literature, art, film and media studies. Full details, including a call for papers, are available on the University of Manchester 's website. For further details, please go to our events page.

2. Recent publications

2.1 Hard Going But Worth It: A snapshot of attitudes to reading among languages undergraduates

This report presents information on students' pre-university experience of reading in the foreign language; their attitudes to reading in both their first language and the foreign language and the difficulties experienced with foreign language reading. To order your free copy, please go to our publications page.

2.2 Outreach in Modern Languages: a DfES funded report mapping cross-sector collaboration

This report presents the findings of a DfES-funded mapping project into cross-sector collaboration between universities and schools in England. Its many examples of good practice and detailed case studies will be a useful resource for higher education staff and school teachers involved in language outreach activities. To order your free copy, please go to our publications page.

2.3 Understanding and developing good practice by John Klapper

The Subject Centre is pleased to offer the above book for sale at a special price of £17.00 + £2.00 for postage and packing. If you would like to receive a copy, please email: llas@soton.ac.uk.

2.4 Why studying languages? Subject Centre CD

There are still copies of this CD designed to excite, educate and encourage young people to continue with their language learning in KS4 and beyond. The CD is divided into two parts: 'The Language Lab' is aimed at pupils in KS3 and KS4 and 'Why study languages' is aimed at pupils in KS4 and post-16. There are quizzes, power point presentations and much much more AND it comes with its own poster! Further information about the CD and ordering procedure can be found on the Why study languages page.

2.5 A wider perspective and more options: investigating the longer term employability of Humanities graduates

Copies of this report are still available. To order your free copy, please go to our publications page.

2.6 Free poster about the Subject Centre available!

This poster introduces the LLAS Subject Centre and briefly explains its key activities. It would be a colourful addition to any staff notice board. Click here if you would like to order a free poster for your Department or Faculty. This offer applies to UK HEIs only.

2.7 New HEFCE funding to support languages

Many of you will know that LLAS, in partnership with UCML and CILT submitted a proposal to HEFCEs Strategic development fund for a substantial project called Routes into Languages to support languages in HE. We have recently heard that the proposal has been accepted. More details are on our news page. Calls for bids will be announced through our monthly e bulletin and published on this webpage.

3. HE Academy news and events

3.1 UUK/HEA joint conference: Mental well-being and learning

10 November 2006
Woburn House, London

The Higher Education Academy and the Universities UK/SCOP Committee for the Promotion of Mental Well-being in Higher Education are holding this joint conference. Key speakers include Professor Janet Finch CBE, Professor George Gordon, Ann Heyno, and Professor Cliff Allan. The conference will be of interest and relevance to everyone teaching in HE, human resource managers, occupational health personnel, student unions and staff in student support services. Further information is available at the Universities UK website.

4. Events, call for papers, news from other institutions or organisations

4.1 2006 Language Show

3-5 November 2006
Olympia, London

The Language Show - for language learners, language teachers and everyone with a passion for languages.
This years show doubles in size with up to 120 exhibitors, tasters for beginners in 20 different languages, 80 FREE seminars and a dedicated speaker programme for teachers with over 20 sessions.

or a free ticket, comprehensive list of exhibitors and the full seminar programme please go onto the Language Show website.

4.2 Conference for teachers of all modern languages in HEIs

"The Implementation of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) in UK Higher Education Institutions - Chances and Challenges"

Friday 24 November 2006
Queen Mary, University of London

The aim of this Conference is to inform participants about the implementation of the Common European Framework for modern languages and to provide a forum for discussion. For more details and information on registration, please go to Queen Mary Conference website.

4.3 Other events

Please visit our other events page for events, calls for papers, news which are not organised by LLAS Subject Centre.

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

Sue Nash
Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
Modern Languages
School of Humanities
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton SO17 1BJ

tel: 023 8059 4814
fax: 023 8059 4815
email: llas@soton.ac.uk

A Subject Centre of the Higher Education Academy