LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Supporting students' learning in modern languages (3 Nov 06)
Event date: 3 November, 2006
Location: Aston University

Supporting students' learning in ML (8 June 06)
Event date: 8 June, 2006
Location: University of Westminster

How can key skills "sell" Linguistics to students and employers?
In this article Richard Hudson argues that an undergraduate course in Linguistics is an exceptionally good source of important life skills, given the right input from both the student and the teacher. He distinguishes three kinds of learning experience: application of a given system of categories (e.g. the IPA), understanding of how language works, and self-reflection; and for each of these general categories he comments on the educational benefits and illustrates a range of more specific sub-categories. He also list some specific life-skills that these educational experiences should develop, e.g. respect for evidence, tolerance, self-understanding. He concludes with a few preliminary remarks on how these benefits can be "sold" to students and employers.

Facilitating reflective learning: an example of practice in TESOL teacher education
Reflective learners are said to demonstrate self-awareness and motivation, awareness of the process of learning and independence. However, some learners can find the process of reflection problematic. In this case study I describe the impact of a specific reflective 'tool', the Statement of Relevance, on a language teacher education programme for which I am responsible. I outline the potential of this tool to help learners work autonomously, to qualitatively enhance learners' reflection, to enable reluctant reflectors to develop the tendency to habitually look for learning from a variety of knowledge sources, and to enable learners to predict future needs more successfully.

Online languages and reflective learning
This paper describes a programme of university language courses, delivered as a combination of both online and face-to-face teaching. The authors believe that the approach taken can promote learner reflection. Evaluation studies reported a good level of student satisfaction and focus groups indicated an increased quality of student work. Further work to foster greater reflection is discussed.

Before navigating: Grief and the new landscape for Languages
This paper engages critically with the futures we are presently imagining in terms of the language of 'employability', 'service teaching', and 'skills'. It engages the energy of grief as of key structural import and argues that for us to learn to navigate anew, for us to be people who language and who bring the intellectual delight and the trouble of languages to life, in the university, then collective grief and the sense of loss are not marginal affairs. Indeed, the authors argue, this is the ground from which innovation, hope and imagination grow.

An interim assessment of the introduction of accredited portfolios in introductory French courses
This paper reports on the introduction of accredited portfolios into an ab initio French language course at the University of Stirling. These were introduced to help students progress from a teacher-led learning environment into one in which a more autonomous approach was required. Student feedback was mainly positive, whilst a slight improvement in grades was also reported. However, some areas of difficulty would benefit from further development.

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.

The agony and the ecstasy: Integrating new literacies and reflective portfolio writing into the languages curriculum
This article reports on the impact of a curriculum innovation in the area of academic and professional skills for undergraduate linguists at Coventry University, the aims of which were to raise students' awareness of language learning processes and reflect upon their own learning. The authors that all involved found this curriculum development very beneficial.

LATCOF: Lessons from a secondary/sixth-form - HE consultative forum for language teachers
The University of Manchester has hosted a forum for dialogue between tertiary and secondary language teachers to share pedagogic and curricular experiences and realities with the aim of facilitating student progression and bridging the secondary-tertiary 'gaps'. Participants have been surveyed to assess the impact of the dialogue process on them and their practice and to start to identify issues of broader relevance to the sector as a whole. This paper reports the experience of participants and responses to the survey.