LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Southampton Feedback Champions

Residential workshop for Islamic Studies PhD students
Event date: 16 February, 2011 - 17 February, 2011
Location: Conference Aston, Birmingham

Language against the odds: plenary lecture at the 5th Newcastle postgraduate conference in linguistics
Event date: 23 March, 2010
Location: Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne

Life and work in academia: event for new lecturers in languages, linguistics and area studies
Event date: 15 April, 2010 - 16 April, 2010
Location: Aston Business School Conference Centre, Birmingham

Teaching languages in Higher Education
Event date: 21 May, 2009
Location: CILT, the National Centre for Languages, London

Life and work in academia: event for new lecturers in languages, linguistics and area studies
Event date: 16 April, 2009 - 17 April, 2009
Location: Clare College, Cambridge

Rough guide to MFL postgraduate research (20 Nov 06)
Event date: 20 November, 2006
Location: CILT, London

Postgraduate conference: Identity formation (4 Apr 07)
Event date: 4 April, 2007
Location: University of Manchester

PG certificate in teaching languages of the wider world

From October 2009 (SOAS) the School of Oriental and African Studies in association with the Languages of the Wider World CETL will be running a new Postgraduate Certificate in teaching languages of the wider world.

Call for bids: HE Academy Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group

The HE Academy Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group invites bids for up to £8,000 each for two small-scale projects. Practitioners from any discipline in UK higher education are welcome to apply.

PhD opportunities in Languages
Opportunities for doctoral study in Languages at the University of Ulster and Queen's University Belfast.

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.

The Applied Linguistics MA: course content and students' perceived needs
This article considers the expectations of students attending MA courses in Applied Linguistics, many of whom have a background in language teaching. It contrasts academic approaches to language with those widely adopted in the language classroom. It identifies four possible rationales when planning course content for Grammar and Linguistics modules at MA level. One treats linguistics as a body of knowledge; another aims to develop students language awareness. A third meets short-term goals by providing the linguistic knowledge necessary for the study of second language acquisition. A fourth aims for long-term goals by equipping students for new professional roles.

The role of Linguistics in the Applied Linguistics MA
This article first asks what linguistic knowledge, understanding and skills a graduate from an MA programme in Applied Linguistics should ideally have, and then considers what might reasonably be expected of graduates in the real world.

Relating linguistic theory to TESOL practice in a distance MA programme
This paper considers some of the issues involved in ensuring that a distance Masters programme is both academically rigorous and vocationally relevant. It will demonstrate that students are motivated not only by career concerns but also by their desire to deepen their understanding of theoretical aspects of Linguistics and language learning and show how one Department (at the University of Leicester) meets these demands in their distance MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL.

Turning students into researchers: Introduction to research methods in Applied Linguistics
The teaching of research methods to postgraduate students in Applied Linguistics presents a particular challenge. For the most part students will come to the course with a humanities degree. Their undergraduate study previously involved reading secondary sources, textbooks or review chapters that summarized large bodies of evidence and spelled out their theoretical significance. In postgraduate study and research, however, primary sources of evidence become crucially important. Students need to become acquainted with a variety of empirical approaches to research questions and must learn to pose questions in such a way that clearly specifies the type of evidence and analysis required to produce the answers being sought. In addition, there are general research skills which are essential equipment for academic pursuits. Training students to become researchers in Applied Linguistics presents a challenge: how to encourage the development and acquisition of the critical skills, conceptual and analytical tools as well as the practical knowledge to enable students to navigate the research literature and develop their own research agenda.

Designing Applied Linguistics masters programmes: the issue of "coherence"

If there is a single academic core for a Masters programme, it should probably rest with descriptive Linguistics, but a pedagogic core should rest with the needs of the participants. The tension and potential conflict between these are explored, with particular reference to a succession of only partially successful attempts to make descriptive work directly relevant to language teaching and other applied concerns. This paper will also try to show some associated ways of making the overall course both coherent and genuinely research-based.