8/18/2019 UL1 Welcome to Understanding Languages

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Video transcript

University of Southampton © 2014 Page 1 of 1 Understanding Language

Welcome to Understanding LanguagesDR. DARREN PAFFEY: Hello, I'm Darren Paffey, a lecturer at the University of Southampton.

SARA PIERSON: I'm Sara Pierson, head of English for Education Systems with the British

Council. Welcome to this course.

DR. DARREN PAFFEY: We'll be your guides over the next four weeks as we explore together

some of the current issues in research looking at language learning and teaching. Each week,

we'll cover a different topic and give you a taster of some of the ideas from our joint onlinemaster's in English language teaching.

We'll be asking some key questions. What exactly is language? How do we go about learning

a language? What does an effective language teaching classroom environment look like?

What about technology? How do we use that in language learning today? What about the

implications of the global spread of English? Now, some of the ideas we'll be looking at are

controversial. We'd like to hear your opinions on the current debates, too.

SARA PIERSON: We will hear from colleagues and friends who will share their expertise in

language research and teaching. A team of expert tutors from the University of Southampton

and the British Council will be available to join in the discussions and to answer your queries.

Darren and I will pop in from time to time to see how you're doing.

At key points in the course, there will be an opportunity for you to join live discussions and

debates with the educators to talk about some of the issues around language learning and

teaching.

DR. DARREN PAFFEY: Teaching a language is very exciting, and learning one can be incredibly

empowering. So, we really hope that you enjoy this course and we look forward to meeting

you in the discussion areas. Make sure that you tell us about yourself and your experiences of

learning a language and teaching one, too.