LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Building the language base for research: the impact and future of Language-Based Area Studies
Event date: 14 December, 2012
Location: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre SOAS, London

Collaborative working using open research data to create Open Educational Resources for the humanities
Event date: 23 May, 2012
Location: Room 2151, Blg 65, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton

Teach for Success: supporting international students in the classroom
Event date: 15 February, 2012
Location: MHG15 Main House, Bath Spa University

Using facebook for (language) teaching
Event date: 14 February, 2012
Location: The Language Space, University College London

The Utopian years? Radical Left Movements in Pompidou's France
Event date: 11 May, 2011
Location: Room 2.09, Park Building, University of Portsmouth

Bridging the gap (11 March 2005)
Event date: 11 March, 2005
Location: Lower College Hall, St Andrews University

Teaching Literary Studies Theory in Practice
Event date: 8 February, 2002

Curriculum Innovation in the Teaching of Literature and Culture on Modern Foreign Language Programmes
Event date: 26 April, 2002
Location: CILT, London

Lancaster – Graz intercultural Web-based project: intercultural learning across the Net

This paper presents a web-based, cross-cultural project designed to develop foreign language students’ awareness of both their own culture and the target culture. In addition to the cultural sensitising aspect of the project, students also benefited in terms of their language learning, in particular their reading and writing skills in the foreign language. This was a joint project with Karl-Franzens University, Graz.

Autonomous acquisition of Italian culture within language learning: the experience of CAMILLE (Cultural Awareness Modules to Improve Language Learning Experience)

This contribution focuses on an innovative e-learning project recently initiated at the University of Manchester. CAMILLE (Cultural Awareness Modules to Improve Language Learning Experience) aims to design, develop and implement innovative e-learning resources to enhance students’ awareness of Italian culture (understood in the widest sense) in support of their language learning experience. The paper presents some of the content and resources that have been developed for the project, and discusses how this innovative e-learning approach to teaching Italian culture fits into the language learning experience of different groups of students.

Delivering the international agenda - are we, as language lecturers, the best people to do it?
Language and culture are inseparable. Or are they? Do you necessarily deliver cross cultural awareness through the teaching of a module on Italian literature or Spanish politics? Does being a French specialist automatically equip you with the ability to contribute to the international agenda of your institution? The assumption is yes. And yet, there is a need to challenge such assumptions. As the European Union refers to pluriculturalism and is gone beyond a 'binary' system, as there is clear evidence of a decline in the number of undergraduates taking language degrees, I would argue that there is a need for language lecturers to re-invent themselves, reflect on their practice and methodological approach as well as content of delivery if we are to come closer to matching these assumptions. This paper is proposing to look briefly at the challenges faced by language specialists in Higher Education, offer reflections on language learning and language teaching and finally offer a positive, researched answer to the question in the title.

Translation Studies in the UK

Translation Studies in the UK is a small but expanding field of study. Programmes are primarily at postgraduate level though some elements of translation studies are included in first degree programmes in ancient and modern languages. The cultural approach to translation is the most recent development in a field that has been growing steadily since the 1970s. What distinguishes Translation Studies from translating is the emphasis on cultural history and the role and function of translation in the broader socio-cultural context.

American Studies

A general overview of the nature and variety of American Studies degree courses in United Kingdom universities, including notes on the differing structures and content of degree courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, opportunities for study abroad and the wide range of resources available for students and lecturers in American Studies.

French studies in UK higher education
A survey of French area studies teaching in the UK, covering curriculum content, design and delivery.

Call for manuscripts
Academic Exchange Quarterly is looking for articles dealing with the teaching of literature and culture.

Spanish: Los Peruanos
A sample of a programme developed on the theme of Los Peruanos which includes linguistic and cultural work on web documents, simplified texts and videoclips. The materials are for intermediate level and can be used in combination with the work done in the classroom or as part of an independent learning programme.

Spanish: Contemporary Language and Culture

This is a specialist online language and culture course for students who have achieved an advanced level in Spanish because they are in the final year of their University degree, have spent time in a Spanish-speaking country or are false native speakers. The course has been devised to reinforce and develop the language through reading, writing and speaking. The materials in the components follow each other closely and complement vocabulary expansion with development of linguistic structures. The contents of the course cover contemporary cultural issues such as TV, cinema, family and work, and linguistic minorities in the Spanish-speaking world. The cultural-linguistic diversity of Spain and Latin America is exploited through a selection of authentic materials showing different styles, accents and media. The course is structured to develop transferable as well as language skills through hands - on experience of IT use and language activities. The materials can be easily adapted to meet the requirements of students in secondary schools, sixth form colleges or Higher Education. The website also contains pages to help teachers to adapt their own materials or to produce their own courses.