Key strategic issues for language-based area studies

Anne PauwelsSchool of Oriental Studies and African Studies

Is language an essential component of Area Studies?

A no-brainer?

Does global English and English as a lingua franca diminish the importance of skills in other languages for area studies? Impact felt on surface level interaction Less obvious for in depth interaction

Starting point for this lecture: language continues to be a desirable, even essential component of LBAS

The ambivalent discourses and attitudes towards language

learning

Move to more public discourses in support of the value of foreign language learning ‘Overwhelming support for foreign languages plan’ DfE Nov2012 ‘All children should learn foreign languages, say peers’ BBCNews

March 2012

The yo-yo approach to languages policy Yes-no-yes to primary school foreign language learning Yes or no to compulsory foreign language learning at

secondary level The numerous reviews and reports on the status, situation

and role of languages and language learning in the past 2 decades

The divisive character of foreign language learning

debatesFLL is (good) for the elite: social-cultural and

intellectual

All languages are equal but some languages are more equal than others

The semilingualism of heritage language speakers

Bilingualism as a problem for heritage language speakers and as an asset for majority language speakers

The university language learning scene

Fee restructure and its negative impact on enrolments in language degrees

Interesting interpretations of Worton (2009) report re the role of HEFCE and Universities in the sustainability of languages

The support and advocacy for languages by AHRC (ESRC) and British Academy

The increased vulnerability of less widely taught languages

Maintaining and strengthening language provision in LBAS with specific attention to Less Widely

Taught Languages

The strength and positive influence of the Centres of Excellence in LBAS

The essence of cooperation, sharing among and moving beyond the Centres

Easily accessible language repositories

Tackling the challenge of expertise and resources for LWT

Elements in the language learning

process

learner

teacher

curriculum + resourcesdelivery

outcomes

Impacts and challenges for the language learning process in a

global context The learner: e.g., diversity in linguistic profiles, histories and

trajectories, orientation, motivation, aptitude

The teacher: e.g, diversity in linguistic profiles, histories and trajectories, training, orientation, pedagogical aptitude

The curriculum approach: e.g., communicative orientation, intercultural, re-balancing the four skills, new modes of communication, new genres/registers

The resources : explosion in potential learning resources – the web & internet

The modes of delivery : beyond the traditional language classroom into content-based (partial) immersion, country immersion, virtual classroom, blended learning

The outcomes: defining outcomes by reference to framework (e.g. CEFR), moving beyond the native-speaker model

Language teaching in 21st Century?

‘ Une didactique plurilingue dans le sens profond du terme… viserait moins ce qui est, et plutôt ce qu’on fait et comment accéder à une position qui permet de faire. Donc, moins un enseignement de la langue, de la culture, de l’identité, mais plutôt une formation qui tient compte des pratiques langagières, ainsi que des ideologies, des intérêts et des relations de pouvoir qui les sous-tendent’ (Heller 2003)

The learners

‘…language learners cannot be conceived any longer as individuals affiliated to a single territory, language and culture. Rather, they participate in the constant flow of ideas and people of which today’s mobile society is made. Like the post-national citizen envisaged by Urry, language learners can be seen as learners on the move, in-between nationalities and constantly constructing their own personal trajectories… ‘( Ros i Solé & Fenoulhet 2010)

The teachers

“Since postgraduate research [in language departments] still tends to be dominated by social science, literary, and cultural topics, the academic background of most staff in language departments, especially the older ones, is non-linguistic, and there may therefore be no tradition or culture of language pedagogy. While some have sympathy, in principle, with the view that all language teachers ought to be introduced to, for example, the rudiments of instructed second language acquisition, in practice there are few at subject level able or willing to organise and deliver such training.” Klapper (2001)

Particular challenges and issues for LWT in universities

The profile of the learners

The profile of the teachers

The learning resources

The curriculum

The modes of delivery

The outcomes

The LWT learners

Previous formal LL experience with cognate and non-cognate languages

Previous linguistic immersion experience

Ab Initio

Learner Issues

Ability to actively draw upon previous language learning experiences The transferability of learning strategies: e.g.,

paraphrasing, simplification, recognition of formulaic language, hypothesis testing, scaffolding processes

Reduction in levels of anxiety Increased ability for contextualisation Heightened awareness of intercultural aspects

Is this taking into account when constructing a programme/

Teacher Issues

Supply

Status within HE

Discipline focusLanguage Pedagogy

Linguistic background and trajectories

Cooperation in addressing Teacher

Issues for LWT Support across LBAS Centres and universities :

sharing insights e.g., in language pedagogy, second language acquisition and learning, developing learning resources, approaches to language teaching

Examples of Good Practice Professional Development Training Workshop on

Teaching Slavonic Languages in Universities (CEELBAS)

Training Opportunities for Arabic Teachers (CASAW)

Certificates/ Diplomas in Arabic, Chinese, South Asian Languages (SOAS)

The learning resources

Minimal supply of traditional learning resources

Preparation of learning resources: training, time, sources, sharing, repositories

The role of LBAS centres of excellence and affiliated agencies

Modes of delivery

The challenge of sustaining ‘super-small’ classes

The opportunities of collaboration in alternative modes of delivery ‘Summer school’ - intensive weekends Blended and e-learning – strong support

available On line: Virtual language classes

Hindi – NYU Sanskrit – SOAS

Cooperative models: ‘teacher travels’ – ‘student travels’

OutcomesMoving beyond the aim of ‘native –like’

proficiency The new language environment What is native-like proficiency?

Few course descriptions have clear criteria (if any) re (proficiency outcomes

Limited knowledge or understanding of the European Framework

The need to address this absence