LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Identifying student needs for the year abroad preparation
The author examines student needs in preparing for the year abroad, looking at the relationship between metacognitive learning strategies and linguistic development during the year abroad, and how students' subjectivities relate to their linguistic development. The author summarises her findings by producing a list of steps that would ideally be included in a year abroad preparation course.

Enhancing student awareness of employability skills through the use of progress files
This study, which was inspired by the Dearing Report, aimed to explore the nature of student perception of their skills development. Taking place over five years and involving 35 undergraduate students, the study found that students had a low awareness of the skills that they were intended to develop and many of them were unaware of the skills requirements of employers. As a result of these findings, Personal Development Plans were used to bridge this gap and it is hoped that the experience gained form this study can be transferred to other contexts.

The year abroad: A critical moment
The year abroad component has faced challenges in recently, although it represents a life-changing experience for most students. This paper illustrates the importance of the year abroad to the undergraduate language degree, drawing on research evidence arising from an ESRC funded project of the development of criticality in undergraduates. Our suggestion, supported by our empirical evidence, is that the Year Abroad has a powerful role in allowing language students to develop in the domains of the self and the world which in turn helps progression in the domain of reason, and feeds into their ability to engage critically with academic work.

Teachers' roles and training in intercultural education
Foreign language degree programmes have been engaged, more than ever, in an active dialogue with other disciplines. In addition, these programmes can now be delivered in various environments. These recent developments have enhanced the learning experience, but they have also highlighted important implications for the roles and responsibilities of foreign language teachers. Here the authors summarise their investigation into the extent to which new approaches to foreign language teaching have had an impact on current established models of teacher education, and in particular, on how effectively the intercultural agenda has been incorporated in language teacher education programmes.