Working towards theory: The accelerated ab initio language learning experience in Spanish and Portuguese at the University of SouthamptonJulia Kelly5 July 2012

2

Overview

– Origins of idea

– Context: accelerated Spanish and Portuguese at UoS

– Initial and long term aims

– Methodology

– Findings

– Next steps

Context

Accelerated Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Southampton

4

Typical progression

Progression of Spanish Accelerated Students

STAGE 7 CEF C2

Final year STAGE 6 CEF C1/C2

Year Abroad STAGE 5 CEF C1

Year 2STAGE 4 CEF B2/C1

STAGE 3 CEF B2

Year 1STAGE 2 CEF B1

STAGE 1 CEF A1/A2

5

Typical progression

Progression of Portuguese Accelerated Students

STAGE 7 CEF C2

Final year STAGE 6 CEF C1/C2

Year Abroad STAGE 5 CEF C1

Year 2 STAGE 4 CEF B2/C1

Year 1

STAGE 3 CEF B2

STAGE 2 CEF B1

STAGE 1 CEF A1/A2

Outline of researchThe original idea

7

Starting point – facts• Increasing numbers taking ab initio languages

courses as part of their degree

• Students are required to demonstrate prior knowledge/experience

– A or B at A level or at least a GCSE in another language

– or equivalent

8

Assumptions• Students will be able to achieve an equivalent of

AS/A level in Spanish or Portuguese in a year because

– They will be ‘passionate’ about learning new languages

– They will be able to use their existing knowledge to succeed in their chosen ab initio language

– They will be able to do all this whilst coping with demands of university life

Initial and long term aims

10

Initial aims • To find evidence for the assumption that students

can achieve AS/A level in a year because of previous language knowledge

• To ascertain how students used their existing knowledge/language learning skills

• To produce a ‘study skills’ resource for new students based on what current students had identified as being successful

11

• To bridge the theory gap

– Address the absence of existent theory covering the process of ab initio accelerated language study at HE level

– To ascertain the nature of particular teaching and learning needs of ab initio accelerated language students

Long term aim

Methodology

13

Pilot focus group• Invited students from accelerated Portuguese and

Spanish courses

• Video and audio recorded focus groups

• Prepared questions in advance about

– What they had done before they arrived at UoS

– Where they saw themselves in relation to course outcomes

– What they did to achieve outcomes

14

Second phase focus groups• Adopted a more guided approach, using a variety of

methods to elicit responses

– Q and A

– Sentence completion

– Likert scale

– Prompts

Research findings

16

Research findings• Being able to take up a language at university is a

strong motivating factor

“One of the reasons I came here was because you can pick up a language from scratch without even having done it at GCSE….because I could start a language from scratch, it added a bit more excitement”

17

Research findings• Students see their accelerated language as an

important part of their whole degree

“…you don’t really want to finish at like Stage 3 or something in a language because if you’re

leaving with fluency in one or two other languages, you don’t want to feel like you can still only have phrasebook Portuguese or Spanish”

18

Research findings• Students do find their other foreign languages an

advantage

“Because you’ve learnt languages before, it’s nowhere as hard to pick it up quickly”

Research findings• There are drawbacks

“When I go into my Spanish I’m kind of thinking of French structures and a lot of my Spanish ends up looking like a French sentence would, which is not all the time correct.”

19

20

Research findings• Students use a range of learning strategies

– Often based on what has worked for them in the past

– New methods to suit different learning approach

21

Research findings• Students are very aware that a different approach

from GCSE/A level is required

“I think I was aware this is much more of a descriptive approach here at university rather than GCSE and A Level was prescriptive. It tells you how you have to do this and this but I think here we’re being encouraged to discover the Portuguese that we want to speak …we’ve been given quite a broad scope”

Research findings• Students perceive their accelerated courses as

being ‘different’ from their other language courses

“I think if it wasn’t accelerated as well it’d be easier to let the other languages dominate, because you can say so much more in them”

22

23

Research findings• Motivation needs to be seen in context of whole

degree

“I think it’s easier to be motivated though with an accelerated course because I think when you are just doing one stage it can get a bit tedious sometimes…”

24

Research findings• Students do find the challenge aids their motivation

“I think to start with you have to make sure you keep up-to-date, because with an accelerated course you move so fast that you just have to keep on top of everything”

“You have to put in a lot of effort and a lot of work but it does really pay off. It’s really rewarding in the end”

–In that case, how far can we realistically push them?

Next steps…

26

• Interactive handbook

– Available online prior to arrival/taking course

– Based on the Focus Group data

• Mind the gap!

– Filling the theory gap

Questions?

J.A.Kelly@soton.ac.uk