LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Working with CETLs

What are CETLs?

The Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) initiative has two main aims:

• to reward excellent teaching practice
• to further invest in that practice so that CETLs funding delivers substantial benefits to students, teachers and institutions

There are 74 HEFCE funded CETLs in England and seven Department for Employment and Learning funded CETLs in Northern Ireland. A full list is available on the HEA website.

How is the LLAS Subject Centre working with CETLs?

Two CETLs are working almost exclusively in the area of Languages: Languages of the wider world based at SOAS/UCL and Multimedia language learning hosted by the University of Ulster. The Subject Centre is working with these CETLs to help them disseminate their work more widely. We organised the launch event for the Languages of the wider world CETL on 13th October 2005. The CETL at Ulster commissioned us to carry out a research project investigating the use of multimedia technologies in modern languages in higher education.

We have also identified a number of CETLs that have a small llas element and/or that share common themes and interests with our constituency, e.g. assessment, e-learning, employability, linking teaching and research, and outreach. We have set up a network group for these CETLs to facilitate cooperation and the sharing of ideas. This group meets in January of each year and communicates between meetings by means of a Jiscmail discussion list. If you work for a CETL and are interested in joining this group, please email S.Holdom@soton.ac.uk.

Are you engaging with CETLs?

The Subject Centre is interested in hearing from languages, linguistics and area studies colleagues working in an institution which has a CETL. Are you currently working with your CETL, and if so in what way(s)? Or, would you like to work with your CETL and if so, is there anything we could do to help facilitate this? Please send your comments to S.Holdom@soton.ac.uk.

Which CETLs are working almost exclusively in the area of Languages?

Which CETLs share common themes and interests with the LLAS constituency?

The following CETLs have a small llas element and/or an interest in the areas of assessment, e-learning, employability, linking teaching and research, and/or outreach. This list is not exhaustive.

Further reading

Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs)

Professor David Robey, University of Reading, has prepared a briefing document summarizing the main issues of the proposals to establish Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Centres for Excellence in language-based Area Studies

Funding targets greater understanding of China, Japan, Eastern Europe and Arabic-speaking world.