XIV CercleS International Conference Enhancing Learners

XIV CercleS International Conference
Enhancing Learners’ Creative and Critical Thinking: the role of
University Language Centres.
22-23-24 September 2016
Book of Abstracts
Keynote Speakers
Manuel Celio Conceicao
Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Language Landscape in European Higher Education Area:answers for new
complexities
Languages in European societies are changing beyond recognition. Societal
changes, mobility, and internationalisation introduce burning issues with which
Higher Education has to deal. Although the language question is not often referred
to, Higher Education institutions are struggling with new demands and new
questions in the field, not only in teaching and research but also in governance and
in their relations with society. New conceptions, new voices of multilingualism are
emerging.
In this presentation, we intend to contribute to the identification of the complex
language landscape in Higher Education and to the possible answers for Higher
Education Language Policies (HELP).
The role of language in the curriculum, and in Higher education in general, is seen
either as adornment or as an instrument for internationalisation. Their real value
as construction / expression of knowledge and of identities is often forgotten
because of their commodification. The relation with professional fields and the
respective representations seem to be criteria to choose which languages to teach
and to learn. That creates hierarchies and power conflicts among them.
Relationships between language and science, language and research and the
impact of the knowledge of languages will be approached. To maintain equity
among students, and among staff, new contexts (including virtual contexts) of
formal education reshape teaching methodologies and strategies. Non formal and
informal education must be considered and questions of certification and of
quality will also be mentioned.
Summary
Na sociedade europeia, o lugar das línguas tem vindo a sofrer alterações não
expectáveis. As mudanças sociais, a mobilidade e a internacionalização
reconfiguraram-no também no ensino superior. Ainda que a questão das línguas
nem sempre seja referida, as instituições de ensino superior debatem-se com a
obrigatoriedade de dar resposta a novas necessidades nas diferentes áreas do ensino
e da investigação, da gestão e da extensão.
Abordaremos, pois, a complexidade da paisagem linguística no ensino superior e as
respetivas implicações na definição de politicas linguísticas.
A presença das línguas no ensino superior oscila entre o adorno curricular e o
imperioso instrumento de internacionalização. Focaremos a relação entre as línguas
e a ciência e a relação do conhecimento com os meios profissionais. Para manter a
equidade, com critérios de qualidade que validem a certificação, os novos contextos
(incluindo os virtuais) de ensino formal exigem alterações nas metodologias e nas
estratégias de ensino e de aprendizagem e a educação não formal e informal tem
também
que
ser
considerada.
David Little
Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Agency and voice: towards a new synergy between university language
teaching/learning and research
This presentation will bring together the three themes of the conference. I shall
argue that the voice of university language centres will make itself heard most
effectively when language centres carry out ground-breaking research; that
university language learners develop a multicultural voice when the L2s they learn
become an integral part of their identity; and that we are most likely to achieve
both these outcomes by adopting teaching and learning procedures that exploit
learners’ agency and engage them as participants in action research (this part of
my argument will be developed with reference to practical examples). I shall
conclude by briefly considering the implications of my arguments for the relation
of university language centres to the institutions of which they are a part.
Summary
La presentazione creerà una connessione tra i tre temi della conferenza,
sottolineando come: a) la voce dei Centri Linguistici di Ateneo acquisterà maggiore
corposità attraverso la ricerca; b) gli studenti di lingua svilupperanno una voce
multiculturale quando le lingue oggetto del loro studio diventeranno una parte
integrante della loro identità; c) ambedue i risultati si raggiungeranno se si
adottereanno procedure di insegnamento e apprendimento che incoraggino gli
studenti a partecipare nella ricerca-azione. La presentazione, infine, considererà le
implicazioni di queste tematiche nel rapporto tra I Centri Linguistici di Ateneo e le
istituzioni di cui fanno parte.
Applying Research to Pedagogical Practice
Ulrike Arras
Università Libera di Bolzano, Italy
Language mediation competences in a multilingual academic context: need
of research
Language mediation is a rather frequent language activity in globalized,
intercultural and multilingual contexts. Especially in environments like the
trilingual University of Bolzano (with German, Italian and English as languages of
communication) with administrative staff, teachers and students from more than
70 countries, language mediation plays an important role and is part of daily life,
work, study and research. However, we still know little of how language mediation
in such academic/professional contexts functions and how we can assess such
competences. The Unibz, as a model for multilingual academic contexts,
consequently is an ideal place to do research in this field.
The presentation will outline the design of an explorative study to gain empirical
data on language mediation in a multilingual academic environment. In a first
explorative step, interviews with administrative staff, teachers and students in
Unibz should reveal information on the following questions: How frequent is
language mediation in academic multilingual settings like Unibz? What exactly
happens in these situations, which language activities and cognitive or
interactional and intercultural competences are required, what difficulties do the
partners face and how do they solve these problems?
A follow-up study should then be based on video-recorded language mediation
situations to gain detailed information on the required competences and
strategies. Thus we should get answers to questions like these: How can we
describe and model language mediation competences? And how can we link such
competences to the CEFR?
The overall aim of the study will be to understand language mediation as part of
our academic communication and to model effective language mediation
strategies. This allows us to draw conclusions on curriculum, teaching material
and test formats.
Summary
Sprachmittlung rückt mehr und mehr in den Fokus der Mehrsprachigkeitsforschung,
den Sprachmittlungshandlungen gewinnen an Relevanz in einer globalisierten Welt,
nicht nur im Berufsalltag, sondern auch in von Mehrsprachigkeit gezeichneten
akademischen Kontexten. Wir wissen allerdings nach wie vor wenig darüber, wie
genau Sprachmittlungshandlungen zu charakterisieren sind und wie wir
Sprachmittlungskompetenzen modellieren können. Der Beitrag wird eine Studie in
diesem Bereich skizzieren, die anhand von empirischen qualitativen Daten zu
ermitteln sucht, welche Sprachmittlungshandlungen im akademischen Kontext
relevant sind. Dabei bietet sich als Forschungsfeld die dreisprachige Freie Universität
Bozen an, an der Deutsch, Englisch und Italienisch als gleichberechtigte Sprachen
unter den Studierenden, Lehrkräften, ForscherInnen und Verwaltungsangestellten
aus über 70 Ländern fungieren. Das übergeordnete Ziel der Untersuchung wird es
sein, Sprachmittlung in diesem spezifischen Kontext zu verstehen und zu modellieren
und darüberhinaus die Grundlage zu schaffen für eine Verortung am Gemeinsamen
europäischen Referenzrahmen.
Niccolò Banchetti
Univerisità della Calabria, Italy
Metodo Onda: creatività a disposizione dell’applicazione delle conoscenze e
del mantenimento delle competenze linguistiche.
Questa breve relazione riporta l’essenza e l’esperienza del Metodo Onda applicato
alla didattica delle lingue straniere. Ispirato dallo humanistic approach e dal
learning centered approach, e influenzato dagli studi di autori quali Argondizzo C.
(2004), Little D. (2002), Rinvolucri M. (2003), Widdowson H. (1978), il metodo
nasce come risposta pratica a una problematica legata alle attività didattiche
svolte in classe. Si è spesso notato che un nuovo argomento linguistico viene
considerato completato quando la sua trattazione soddisfa tre fasi: 1)
presentazione (introduzione dell’area di interesse dell’argomento da trattare, dei
termini chiave, ecc.); 2) trattazione (esplicitazione delle regole costitutive
dell’argomento, delle costruzioni, delle funzioni, ecc.); 3) esercitazione (momento
in cui si dovrebbe chiarire, approfondire quanto trattato e fissare i modelli di
riferimento). L’insieme delle tre fasi costituisce un passaggio e il loro susseguirsi
rappresenta il percorso didattico da affrontare. Per la loro natura auto-conclusiva,
i passaggi sono considerati troppo spesso percepiti dagli studenti come dei
compartimenti stagni a sé stanti. Ne consegue un apprendimento slegato dai
naturali nessi logici tra argomenti e si palesano gravi problematiche, tra cui una
diffusa confusione e un precoce oblio di quanto studiato.
Il metodo onda si propone di risolvere tali problematiche inserendosi tra i vari
passaggi. Come il fenomeno naturale dal quale prende il nome, ritorna più volte e
inaspettatamente su un argomento considerato concluso, con ponderata ciclicità.
Le attività proposte, accattivanti e spiazzanti, dalla forte componente creativa,
differiscono da quelle eseguite nella precedente fase di esercitazione e sotto
mentite spoglie portano lo studente a misurarsi nuovamente con gli stessi
argomenti. La sfida proposta consente di creare dei legami attivi tra i vari temi, in
modo da dissipare i dubbi, ripassare e approfondire quanto già studiato. Lo scopo
del metodo è, dunque, di far fissare, mantenere e mettere in pratica le nozioni
spiegate e le competenze acquisite.
Summary
The Wave method is a response to a problem connected to the activity of teaching as
practiced in a classroom. A new linguistic topic is usually considered finished when
three steps are completed: presentation; treatment; practice. Their ensemble is
considered by students as an impermeable compartment, generating a general
confusion and a rapid forgetting of the studied topic.
The Wave Method proposes to solve such problems by inserting itself into the various
passages. It comes back often and without warning to a topic that has been
considered concluded, with calculated periodicity. The proposed activities, attractive
and creative, lead the students to take their own measure anew in the topics
themselves. This challenge allows the creation of connections between topics,
dissipating doubts, reviewing and deepening the knowledge of what has already
been studied.
Liga Belicka, Ruta Svetina
University of Latvia, Latvia
Translation in ESP – should it be banned, neglected or promoted?
The aim of the presentation is to share the experience of working with translation
in university ESP courses. For years, a rule of thumb for the communicative
approach in teaching EFL teaching has been “no translation” – just the target
language. However, if we look at the issue from a different perspective and in the
university context, translation works as an extension of the communicative
approach, both by carrying the message from one language into another and
backwards. Moreover, these days we are aware of the iceberg-like character of
cross-cultural communication where the bottom part of the iceberg is the most
unattainable – an intellectually challenging translation practice could provide
students with a clue for attaining it.
In the presentation the authors will focus on the use of translating in ESP courses
in Biology, Business and IT and attempt to prove how translating facilitates
students’ critical thinking for the purposes of language acquisition as well as
deeper awareness of the professional subject matter by demonstrating examples
from students’ assignments where students are faced with the relevance of
context.
Particular attention will be devoted to skilled use of the Internet-based
technologies as another facilitator of the development of both critical and creative
thinking as well as research skills.
Students’ translation practice, however, must be controlled and guided as students
in many cases find it rather challenging. At this point the authors would like to
discuss the qualifications and experience of the academic staff as professional
translation is not always a part of their daily routine. However, translation is a
rather time and effort-consuming activity and therefore its need must be carefully
considered.
Summary
Referāta mērķis ir dalīties pieredzē tulkošanas izmantošanā nozaru svešvalodu
kursos Latvijas Universitātē. Ilgstoši komunikatīvajā valodas mācīšanas metodikā
galvenais noteikums ir bijis iztikt bez tulkošanas un izmantot vienīgi mērķa valodu.
Tomēr šobrīd ir redzams, ka tulkošana var palīdzēt piekļūt līdz šim
neaizsniedzamajam, dziļākajam slānim starpkultūru komunikācijā.
Referātā autores ir plānojušas pierādīt, kā tulkošana studentos veicina kritisko
domāšanu, kas vēlāk noder gan tālākai svešvalodas apguvei, gan labākai
profesionālā konteksta izpratnei. Autores plāno demonstrēt konkrētu uzdevumu
piemērus.
Īpaša uzmanība tiks pievērsta prasmīgai Interneta tehnoloģiju izmantošanai kā
līdzeklim, kas stimulē gan kritisko, gan radošo domāšanu, kā arī pētniecības
iemaņas.
Noslēgumā autores vēlas apspriest akadēmiskajam personālam nepieciešamās
zināšanas, jo profesionāla tulkošana bieži nav šo darbinieku ikdiena.
Atslēgas vārdi: tulkošana, nozares svešvaloda, kompetences, konteksts, Internets.
Katia Carraro
Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria
A framework to promote metacognition in a tandem language learning
context
Whilst the benefits of tandem language learning cannot be denied, not all learners
seem to be able to exploit the full potential of this learning method. Initially many
learners are excited at the idea of learning a language with the help of a native
speaker, but underestimate the challenges that derive from having to manage their
own learning, and eventually abandon their project. Indeed, as Little (2003: 42)
points out, “the social organisation of tandem learning effectively imposes
autonomous behaviour on the partners. If they cannot rise to meet this challenge,
their partnership will soon collapse. But it is in the metacognitive processes
generated by the social operation of the principle of reciprocity that the unique
power of tandem learning resides”.
The Language Resource Center at the Vienna University of Economics and
Business has been home to a tandem language learning program for 12 years. The
program was held for the first time in 2002 and so far over 7400 students have
participated in over 54 different language pairs. Effective as of the fall of 2015, the
tandem program is also recognized as a free elective (4 ECTS) for those who are
interested in fulfilling all the requirements.
In this presentation I will describe the structure of the tandem language learning
program with particular reference to the measures that were introduced in order
to create a learning environment that supports and encourages reflection and
metacognitive awareness. Data based on the analysis of questionnaires, learning
diaries, reflective essays, interviews and video recordings of tandem sessions will
be presented and discussed.
Summary
Il progetto tandem dell’Università di Economia di Vienna esiste dal 2002 e finora ha
coinvolto oltre 7.400 studenti in 54 diverse combinazioni linguistiche. A partire dal
semestre invernale 2015, il programma tandem figura tra le offerte extracurriculari
che vengono riconosciute come materia facoltativa e per le quali è possibile ottenere
il riconoscimento in termini di crediti. Nel corso della presentazione verrà descritta
la struttura del programma, con particolare riferimento alle misure adottate al fine
di creare un percorso che facilita l’apprendimento attraverso la riflessione
metacognitiva. Verranno presentati e discussi dati basati sull’analisi di questionari,
diari per l’apprendimento, saggi riflessivi, interviste e registrazioni video.
Ruben Comadina Granson, Margaret McKinney
University of Groningen, Netherlands
Adding Value to Society: An example of a Language Centre’s Contribution to
Sustainable Development in Mozambique
The Netherlands Initiative for Capacity development in Higher Education (NICHE)
is a government-funded development cooperation programme which strengthens
higher education in partner countries, thus contributing to sustainable economic
development and poverty reduction. In 2013, the University of Groningen
Language Centre was asked to participate in a NICHE project in Mozambique with
the aim of enhancing the teaching and learning of English at the Universidade
Católica de Moçambique (UCM). In pursuing this overarching objective, our
Language Centre sees English essentially as a powerful tool for global
communication, helping future graduates in their personal development and
prospective careers. Therefore, in addition to the more classical methods of
language teaching, we also aim to offer students the opportunity to use new
technology to communicate with a wider audience than is possible in a more
traditional classroom setting. This paper will present the conception and
development of this four-year project. These experiences range from designing
training workshops drawn from a needs analysis at UCM to developing a language
learning vision and implementing it as part of a UCM grassroots e-learning pilot,
while designing a language toolbox based on the university’s demands. It will also
showcase examples of e-learning best practices for staff and will describe future
inter-university projects for students so as to ensure the continuity of this NICHE
project.
Summary
Desde el 2013 el Centro de Lenguas de la Universidad de Groninga participa en un
proyecto de iniciativa holandesa para el desarrollo de capacidades en la educación
superior (NICHE, por sus siglas en inglés) en Mozambique con el propósito de
mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje del inglés en la Universidad Católica de
Mozambique (UCM). Este artículo describe las diferentes fases de este proyecto de
cuatro años, empezando por la evaluación de las necesidades en la UCM, seguido del
planteamiento de una visión de aprendizaje de las lenguas y su posterior
implementación. A manera de ilustración, se presentan modelos de buenas prácticas
en el aprendizaje virtual para profesores y se describen proyectos de colaboración
interuniversitaria para los estudiantes de manera que se asegure la sostenibilidad
del proyecto NICHE.
Adriana Teresa Damascelli, Marie-Berthe Vittoz
Università di Torino, Italy
La formation des enseignants. Langues et discipline intégrées selon la
méthode CLIL
Les contextes de plus en plus complexes et multidimentionnels d’un monde en
constante évolution constituent un ensemble de nouveaux enjeux pour la
formation des étudiants. Il ne suffit plus de transmettre des notions et des savoirfaire généraux, mais des outils pour développer des compétences sur plusieurs
niveaux. Ainsi, la présence au sein d’une même société de cultures et de langues
différentes exige la mise en œuvre de compétences communicationnelles et
cognitives à même de permettre la cohabitation et l’échange des informations et
des savoirs. Comment les étudiants peuvent-ils acquérir les outils utiles à
atteindre ces objectifs? Et que peuvent faire les enseignants pour aider leurs
étudiants ? Il apparaît nécessaire de fournir aux enseignants des cours de
formation méthodologique pour les aider à recadrer et à mettre à jour leur
pratique didactique.
Le CLIL (Content Language and Integrated Learning) est une méthode qui intègre
l’enseignement d’une discipline non linguistique dans une langue étrangère. En
Italie, la méthode CLIL est devenue une pratique didactique rendue obligatoire par
la loi de 2012 du Ministère de l’Éducation dont l’application comprend également
la formation des enseignants en collaboration avec les centres de langues
universitaires italiennes selon des critères bien définis. Le Centre de Langues de
l’Université de Turin (CLA-UniTO) est responsable des cours de formation CLIL
adressés aux enseignants de l’école secondaire de la Région du Piémont. Depuis
2012, il a organisé trois sessions de formation et formé 400 enseignants.
Le but de cette contribution est de souligner l’importance de l’expérience de la
recherche dans la formation des enseignants, considérée comme un moyen pour
analyser les besoins, les contextes et les outils à même de répondre au mieux aux
exigences des enseignants. Il s’agira aussi de créer un réseau avec d’autres
universités afin de partager, de comparer et d’intégrer les bonnes pratiques.
Summary
The need for specialised competences has brought about changes in all fields of
education. The aim is no longer to exclusively deliver general competences, but to
make learners develop specific abilities to cope with an everchanging world
characterized by multicultural and multilingual contexts.
CLIL, Content and Language Integrated Learning, has changed the approach to
language teaching by integrating language and content. Since 2012, CLIL has been
part of the Ministry of Education Programme. The aim is to change the approach to
teaching and to provide specific training programmess for teachers. The University
Language Centre of Torino has been in charge of three training programmes
addressed to secondary school teachers.
The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of research in the teacher
training programmes to analyse the needs, the contexts and the tools for improving
their teaching activities. Also, the creation of networks allows sharing, comparison
and integration of good practices.
María Del Carmen Arau Ribeiro, Manuel Moreira Da Silva
Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do
Porto, Portugal
Meeting the Ongoing Challenges in Implementing CLIL in Higher Education
From 2012 to 2015, the Network Association of Language Centers in Higher
Education in Portugal (ReCLes.pt) collaborated to research, write the CLIL
Training Guide – Creating a CLIL Learning Community in Higher Education, and
finally implement CLIL courses in English taught by 33 different teachers in areas
ranging from Health to Management to Cinema. The teachers participated with
their English language teacher colleagues in Communities of Practice and
Learning, which promoted the fundamental notion of the L2 or FL “user” based on
appreciating language for the purposes of communication, with the related
benefits of promoting self-confidence and valuing the participation of others in an
intercultural environment. The teacher training courses also promoted a
TerminoCLIL approach that integrated tools to support the acquisition of essential
technical terms in the context of higher education, which was implemented to
different degrees depending on the teachers’ comfort levels. The resulting CLIL
courses taught to the students were closely monitored through observation,
questionnaires, and other data gathering tools to provide feedback for future
improvement and to motivate the ongoing promotion of these classes in the years
to come. Among the results, it was found, for example, that some of the areas
considered “essential” to the language teachers are not as highly valued by the
content teachers. In addition, teacher preference for certain teaching materials
may not always reflect student tendencies. A final challenge is related to the
ongoing efforts to create and maintain the requisite balance and respect between
the learning of foreign languages and other content areas.
Summary
Al seguir el proyecto de los últimos tres años de AICLE en la educación superior en
Portugal, la Asociación de Centros de Idiomas de la Educación Superior en Portugal
(ReCLes.pt) mantiene los esfuerzos en la investigación, la formación del profesorado
y la aplicación de la enseñanza en las clases AICLE con sus pilares principales y unas
premisas promovidas - el TerminoCLIL - herramientas y enfoques que apoyan el
aprendizaje de la terminología técnica, la promoción del alumnado (estudiantes y
profesores que enseñan en lengua extranjera) como los “usuarios” de ese idioma en
un entorno definido por la interculturalidad tal como las Comunidades de Práctica y
Aprendizaje. Esta presentación se centrará en los retos constantes, incluyendo las
bases de AICLE, la preferencia por materiales de enseñanza y la procura por el
equilibrio en el respeto entre profesores de lenguas y profesores de otras áreas.
Serafina Filice, Rosalba Rizzo
Univeristà della Calabria, Università di Messina, Italy
Comparing Italian and North American TV food commercials: a discourse
analysis perspective
Advertising transmits lifestyles and proposals about how to look, behave and
consume to be successful in society (Díaz-Soloaga, 2007: 28). Advertising does not
only offer products, but also models of attitudes, ways of life and images which
orient and in many cases define the needs and wishes of people (Peña and
Frabetti, 1990: 5). Thus, “advertising is an effective and pervasive medium of
influence and persuasion, and its influence is cumulative, often subtle, and
primarily unconscious” (Kilbourne, 1999: 67). According to Goffman (1979),
advertising conveys, implicitly, who we should be.
Bearing in mind that advertising is characterized by a precise identity and that
cultural differences between countries may influence the way the product is
perceived out of context, the study aims to trace the global identity parameters in
advertising of common food products in Italian and North American television
campaigns.
The orientation of the study will be primarily in line with Schriffin et al’s (2003)
second category of defining discourse, namely, “language in use” and with Hodges
et al’s (2008, p. 571) empirical discourse analysis (genre analysis). Sources of data
will be taken from samples of TV commercials by applying a microanalysis and
macroanalysis of the ways in which language and/or texts construct social
practices.
“Discourse analysis is not only about method; it is also a perspective on the nature
of language and its relationship to the central issues of the social sciences. More
specifically, we see discourse analysis as a related collection of approaches to
discourse, approaches that entail not only practices of data collection and analysis,
but also a set of metatheoretical and theoretical assumptions and a body of
research claims and studies” (Wood and Kroger, 2000).
Given that learning foreign languages should be functional in so far as language
embraces what Halliday calls “behavioural potential” and “meaning potential”, the
findings will aim at creating interactive spaces in which to insert adverts as
material selected and organized for linguistic activities.
Summary
Partendo dall’idea che la pubblicità si connota di una precisa identità e le differenze
culturali tra i Paesi possono influenzare il modo in cui il prodotto viene percepito
fuori dal proprio contesto, il lavoro cercherà di tracciare dei parametri di identità
globale nella pubblicità di prodotti commerciali nelle campagne televisive italiane e
nord-americane.
Dato che l’apprendimento delle lingue straniere deve essere funzionale in quanto la
lingua abbraccia quello che Halliday chiama “behavioural potential” e “meaning
potential”, i risultati saranno utilizzati per creare spazi interattivi in cui inserire
materiale selezionato e organizzato per attività linguistiche. L'orientamento della
ricerca sarà principalmente in linea con la definizione di discorso di Schriffin et al
(2003), vale a dire, "il linguaggio in uso" e con analisi del discorso empirico (genre
analysis) di Hodges et al (2008: 571). I dati saranno presi da campioni di spot
televisivi applicando una microanalisi e macroanalisi dei modi in cui il linguaggio e /
o testi costruiscono pratiche sociali.
Leena Karlsson, Sandro John Amendolara
University of Helsinki, Finland
Autonomous journeys in the realm of metacognitive narratives
In our talk we will introduce an ongoing project, two pieces of practitionerresearch in which we have been engaged since Autumn 2015. The purpose of our
project is to increase our understanding of both our students’ and our own metacognitive/meta-emotional processes in the context of language counselling in the
Autonomous Learning Modules (ALMS) Programme at Helsinki University
Language Centre, Finland. In ALMS, we invite our students to create portfolios of
language work during their autonomous course in English, which they have
chosen to do in order to fulfil the requirement for a foreign language as part of
their undergraduate degrees.
We have looked into the meaning of the narrative portfolio for our students (i.e.
diaries, journals, blogs, autobiographical/autofictional writing), and its role in
promoting and supporting learner autonomy. We share a deep interest in
reflective writing in language learning and language counselling practice, and have
now explored the dialogue between learner and counsellor arising from the
reflective writing done by the students and discussed in the face-to-face
counselling meetings. In our parallel inquiries, we have had slightly different
approaches as to how we use the portfolios in our counselling practice and how
we research our practice. We have both wanted to shed light upon the range of
reader/writer/listener roles emerging in the counselling interaction. We have also
focused on the lifewide and lifedeep learning experiences the students have had
during their course and how these experiences are reflected upon in the portfolios
and discussions. In our talk, we will share understandings gained through our
inquiries and lessons learnt in the counselling discussions. We will also discuss
further needs for research. Our ultimate aim is that of providing a sound
pedagogical underpinning applicable to this crucial form of learner support in
ALMS.
Summary
Il contributo intende documentare le prime fasi di una ricerca bifocale sul ruolo del
processo di riflessione nel contesto dei corsi modulistici di apprendimento linguistico
autonomo (ALMS) del centro linguistico dell’Università di Helsinki, Finlandia. Per
l’intera durata dei corsi ALMS gli studenti documentano l’attività autonoma
attraverso elaborazioni in forma scritta (diari, blog, racconti autobiografici). Il
progetto é nato dalla necessità di incrementare la nostra comprensione di questi
processi metacognitivi/metaemotivi, sia per poter avere conferma o meno
dell’efficacia dei concetti introdotti agli studenti, sia per poter comprendere meglio
l’utilizzo delle riflessioni nella dinamica interattiva fra docente e discente.L’obiettivo
ultimo del progetto è la creazione di fondamenta pedagogiche solide per questa
forma cruciale di sostegno linguistico all’interno dei corsi ALMS.
Hana Katrnakova
Masaryk University Language Centre, Czech Republic
Looking for parallels: similarities and differences between persuasive
strategies in authentic native speakers’ formal interaction and students’
production. Sociolinguistic and pragmatic aspects of persuasive strategies.
This presentation shares results obtained largely from an analysis of BBC Radio
Four’s ‘Any Questions’ discussions with a special focus on the strategies used by
native speakers to persuade the general public about their truths and views. In
particular, an analysis of modality and transitivity within the Hallidayan
framework and the representation of social actors (i.e.: how language relates to
social cognition) was conducted. The role of questions was also observed and
evaluated.
In comparison, international students’ production in mock trials, their
argumentation practice and discussions in a virtual classroom were analysed
wherein the above linguistic aspects were observed. The latter group of
participants practised their interaction in ‘artificially created’ situations and were
mainly non-native speakers from different cultural backgrounds, with varying
degrees of experience and expertise in persuasion, and with little or no advance
formal training of discourse tactics and persuasion. Despite this, interesting
features were observed and the major mistakes made by practising students in
terms of adjacency pairs, politeness, face-threatening facts, a lack of hedging, and
the use of inappropriate modality, were highlighted among other features. The
results from the analysis can be challenging for the teacher, who needs to unravel
whether inappropriate student interactions were caused by an inadequate
command of English used as a lingua franca, or by intercultural differences among
participants.
The most challenging task for future students of law at Masaryk University is to
practise formal interaction and to raise awareness of the strategies that they may
use. Their partners at the Helsinki University Language Centre are more
experienced inboth strategies and in the use of formal language, whereas
international students at Aberystwyth University provide a rich source of different
cultures.Although the Czech students are given a mini-lesson in aspects of formal
interaction, specific features and differences in communication across cultures,
their first-hand experience has more validity for them as they are frequently
unaware of the impact of their language use.
Summary
Die Präsentation greift die Ergebnisse der von der BBC Radio 4 unter ‘Any Questions’
ausgestrahlten linguistischen Analyse auf, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung von
Strategien zur Überzeugung der Öffentlichkeit über die Wahrheit des Gesagten.
Schwerpunkte sind die Analyse der Modalität, die Transitivität (Halliday) und die
Benennung eingezogener Personen sowie die Rolle von Fragen und deren
Formulierung.
Zum Vergleich dient ein Musterbeispiel von internationalen Studenten, die in
Modellgerichtsverfahren kommunizieren, die Argumentation trainieren und im
virtuellen Milieu diskutieren. Die letztgenannte Gruppe agiert in einer ‘künstlich
gebildeten’ Umwelt, sie enthält nichtgebürtige Sprecher aus verschiedenen Kulturen,
mit unterschiedlicher Erfahrung sowie verschiedener Wendigkeit in der
Überzeugungskunst, ohne vorangegangene Schulung, wie man die eigene
Wahrhaftigkeit glaubwürdig macht, und doch ergab die Analyse interessante
Tatsachen. Die bilden jedoch für den Lehrer eine harte Nuss beim Abwägen,
inwieweit die Fehler der Studenten der unzulänglichen Sprachkenntnis, oder aber
den interkulturellen Unterschieden zwischen den Sprechern zuzuschreiben sind.
Natalie Kübler, Alexandra Mestivier, Mojca Pecman
University Paris Diderot, France
Corpus use and translation: Does it really work?
Over the last fifteen years, corpus linguistics opened up new possibilities for
translation teaching. As claimed by many authors, corpus linguistics applied to
translation training leads to an improvement in translation students’ skills on the
following points: becoming familiar with a domain and acquiring specialist
knowledge; dealing with bilingual terminology; acknowledging the specific
phraseology of a domain in the source language and finding equivalents in the
target language; identifying points that can cause translation errors; revising
translation. However, experiments carried out in the classroom principally report
on the students reactions to the use of corpora. We present an experiment which
was run with Master’s students in specialised translation. The objective of the
experiment consisted in assessing in which areas corpus linguistics applied to
translation allows students to improve or not their translation skills, from a
quantitative and qualitative point of view. We first describe the corpus-based
translation teaching approach, in which students had to translate highly
specialised articles in earth science. Students had to go through the following
steps: compiling comparable French/English corpora in earth science; corpusbased terminology work; contacts with experts; translating articles using either
dictionaries or corpora and revising translations using corpora. All translations
were annotated with an error annotation scheme, which allowed us to create two
sub-corpora: a corpus of translations performed using dictionaries, and a corpus
of translations carried out using corpora. The quantitative analysis of the errors in
the annotated corpora reveals a significant decrease in errors, when using
corpora, producing thus statistical evidence that the use of corpora improves
translations. The analysis of the different error types in the two annotated subcorpora shows which linguistic areas are improved by using corpora. Finally, we
demonstrate how the corpus-based translation teaching approach adopted is an
efficient way to train translation learners to become confident and competent
translators.
Summary
Ces quinze dernières années ont vu se développer une application de la linguistique
de corpus à l’enseignement de la traduction. De nombreux auteurs affirment que
l’utilisation des corpus en traduction permet aux étudiants, et donc aux futurs
traducteurs, d’améliorer leurs compétences dans de nombreux cas: se familiariser
avec un domaine, travailler sur la terminologie et la phraséologie bilingues, repérer
les passages du texte source qui poseront des problèmes dans la traduction ou
réviser les traductions. La plupart des expériences menées en classe analysent les
réactions des étudiants face à l’utilisation du corpus. Nous présentons une expérience
dans laquelle sont analysées des traductions réalisées avec et sans corpus, afin de
vérifier si l’utilisation des corpus apporte une amélioration. Deux sous-corpus de
traductions, avec et sans corpus, ont été annotés à l’aide d’une typologie d’erreurs.
L’analyse statistique des corpus annotés démontre que leur utilisation réduit
significativement
le
nombre
d’erreurs.
Donato Martano
Università della Calabria, Italy
ELT and Social Media: using WhatsApp as a Virtual Learning Environment
The paper is inspired by the growing importance acquired by social networks in
the field of CALL (Levy 1997), and the possibilities they offer to language teachers.
Over the past years there has been a flowering of literature on blended learning,
and language teachers have become familiar with acronyms such as VLE (Virtual
Learning Environment), NBLT (Network-Based Language Teaching) or MALL
(Mobile Assisted Language Learning). Growing attention is devoted to the use of
internet and social networks to integrate class work.
This paper concentrates on WhatsApp, the most popular instant messaging
application for smartphones, analysing the didactic uses of chats in one-to-one and
group interaction. The objective is to show how, far from being a mere class
management tool (e.g. to share notices, assignments, materials), WhatsApp group
chats create a virtual environment dedicated to informal learning and practice; a
relaxed and anxiety-free space (Krashen 1981), offering an extension of class time
and exposure to the target language.
Attention is paid to the effects on student’s motivation, awareness, and sense of
belonging to a community. The roles and behaviours of students and teachers are
discussed, referring to the issues of peer tutoring, imitation, monitoring, dealing
with mistakes, encouraging production. The advantages and disadvantages of
WhatsApp as a learning tool are observed, reporting the experience of school
group chats of different level and background. The key steps to create and manage
a class group are also examined, trying to identify good practices and mistakes,
considering the delicate issues of privacy and possible abuse.
The paper ends with an attempt to investigate the possible applications of the
described practice in a University context, referring to specific targets
(empowerment or remedial groups, international certifications) or collateral
activities within the Language Centres, such as the experiences of English Corner
and Conversando at the CLA - Unical.
Summary
Partendo dall’importanza acquisita dai social network nel campo del CALL, il paper
si concentra su WhatsApp, popolare applicazione di instant messaging per
smartphone, analizzando l’uso delle group chats come strumento di class
management e ambiente virtuale di apprendimento informale.
La motivazione e consapevolezza degli studenti, lo sviluppo del senso di comunità, i
ruoli e comportamenti di docenti e studenti in chat (imitazione, peer tutoring,
monitoring, gestione degli errori), i vantaggi e svantaggi sono valutati osservando
l’esperienza di gruppi di diverso livello. Si analizza inoltre la gestione di un gruppo
WhatsApp, considerando aspetti sensibili quali privacy e possibili abusi.
Infine, sono investigate le possibili applicazioni della pratica descritta in ambito
universitario, considerando contesti specifici (potenziamento, recupero,
certificazioni) e attività collaterali dei Centri Linguistici, quali l’English Corner e
Conversando del CLA Unical.
Aasa Mickwitz
University of Helsinki, Finland
"Some teachers just mumble!" The Importance of Feedback for Learning
Studies have shown that feedback is an important factor for deep learning among
students. However, the feedback that teachers in Higher Education give their
students is not always understood by the students. The reason to this is that the
feedback is not clear enough or too vague, it is too critical or it is not related to the
assessment criteria.
I have been investigating what students at Helsinki University think about the
feedback they have received from their teachers during their studies – if they
understand it, if it has been clear enough, the extent to which they get enough
feedback on their assignments (mostly essays), whether they know how to use the
feedback they get to enhance their learning and what kind of feedback they would
want.The material consisted of a questionnaire given to 20 students attending my
courses in Academic Writing. The students were requested to think about all the
written or oral feedback that they had been given during their studies.
In the paper I focus on the results of the study, which show that most of the
students wish for more feedback – in quantity, but also in quality. They want more
feedback and they want the teachers to explain why something is not good enough
and how they can improve their texts. The students also want more objective and
fair feedback. The paper will also present some general measures that have to be
taken in order to improve feedback processes at a university level.
Summary
Studier har visat att respons är en viktig faktor för studenternas djuplärande.
Studenterna missförstår dock ofta den respons som lärarna ger eftersom den bl.a.
inte är tillräckligt tydlig, eller så är den inte kopplad till bedömningskriterierna. I
mitt föredrag presenterar jag resultatet av en enkätundersökning som gjordes om
respons vid Helsingfors universitet år 2013. Materialet bestod av enkätsvar av 20
studenter som har deltagit I mina kurser i vetenskapligt skrivande. Studien visade
att de flesta studenter vill ha mer respons, både när det gäller kvantitet och kvalitet.
De vill att lärarna i högre grad ska förklara varför något är bra eller inte bra i
texten, och hur de kan förbättra sina texter. Studien visar att responsgivningen inom
den högre utbildningen borde utvecklas, för att bättre stöda studenternas
djuplärande.
Janne Niinivaara, Johanna Vaattovaara, Nina Sulonen, Sinikka Karjalainen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Developing Language Centre learning environments - from practice to
strategy
Learning environments are one of the top strategic development areas in higher
education. This is connected with changes in educational thinking, which
emphasize the versatile and creative combining of all learning resources physical, digital and human - for enhancing collaborative learning. These ideas are
also present in current discussions of language learning and teaching in the
postmodern era, promoting (re)considerations of out-of-classroom language
learning possibilities (e.g. Pitkänen et. al. 2011; Nunan & Richards 2015) and
learner autonomy (Little 2013).
In this presentation, we will focus on the strategic development of the University
of Helsinki Language Centre learning environments and learning support. This
development work benefits from a recent survey carried out at the Language
Centre in autumn 2015. In this survey, we explored university students' and
Language Centre teachers' everyday experiences of and attitudes towards
different learning environments (e.g. e-learning, peer-assisted learning, and
physical learning spaces). We will present some results from the data and, by
comparing students' and teachers' views, illustrate the relevancy of this type of
data for developing language learning environments. In successful strategic
planning, it is necessary to combine both pedagogical and administrative
considerations through giving voice to both learners and practitioners. In our
paper, we will also share the main points of the strategy for the development of
Language Centre learning environments.
Summary
Oppimisympäristöt ovat korkeakoulujen keskeisimpiä strategisen kehittämisen
kohteita. Tämä liittyy muutoksiin pedagogisessa ajattelussa, jossa korostuu
monipuolinen oppimisresurssien yhdistäminen (fyysiset, digitaaliset ja
henkilöstöresurssit). Tämä on keskeinen lähtökohta myös tämän hetken kielten
oppimisesta ja opettamisesta käytävässä keskustelussa, jonka tavoite on edistää
luokkahuoneen ulkopuolisia opiskelumahdollisuuksia ja opiskelijan autonomiaa.
Tässä
esityksessä
keskitymme
Helsingin
yliopiston
Kielikeskuksen
oppimisympäristöjen ja oppimisen tukemisen strategiseen kehittämiseen. Se pohjaa
syksyllä 2015 Kielikeskuksessa toteutettuun kyselyyn. Kartoitimme opiskelijoiden ja
opettajien
arjen
kokemuksia
erilaisista
oppimisympäristöistä
(kuten
verkkoympäristöt, opiskelijoiden välinen vertaistuki ja fyysiset puitteet).
Vertailemme opiskelijoiden ja opettajien näkökulmia sekä tarkastelemme tulosten
merkitystä kielten oppimisympäristöjen kehittämiselle. Onnistuneessa strategisessa
suunnittelussa on välttämätöntä yhdistää sekä pedagoginen että hallinnollinen
näkökulma ottamalla huomioon opiskelijat ja muut toimijat. Esityksessämme
avaamme myös Kielikeskuksen oppimisympäristöjen kehittämisstrategian
pääkohtia.
Kari K. Pitkänen, Sandro Amendolara, Fergal Bradley, Deborah Clarke, Tuula
Lehtonen, Roy Siddall, Kirby Vincent
University of Helsinki, Finland
Increasing student choice in academic writing courses
This presentation offers an overview of the recently redesigned academic writing
courses in English at the University of Helsinki Language Centre, Finland. This
redesign was driven by student feedback and teacher observations over a 10-year
period showing that existing courses lacked flexibility in meeting individual needs
(time, place and approach to learning; content).
The main feature of the updated courses is that they provide more choice to the
students: based on consultations with the teacher after six group sessions, they
design a personal study plan in order to complete the second part of the course.
This can include independent assignments, one-to-one teacher feedback sessions,
teacher-lead workshops and group activities, such as peer review workshops.
Using student learning diaries and the experiences of course teachers, we examine
and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the new courses and their potential
further development, for example through extending the support in optional
workshops. Our positive experiences and approach to redesigning the courses will
hopefully be applicable to other settings of a similar type.
This is a follow-up to our presentation at CercleS in Fribourg in 2014 (Pitkänen et
al. 2014).
Summary
El aumento de opciones para los estudiantes en los cursos de escritura académica.
Esta presentación tiene como objetivo mostrar los cambios efectuados en los cursos
de escritura académica de inglés del Centro de Lenguas de la Universidad de
Helsinki, Finlandia. Los cambios surgieron a raíz de las evaluaciones de los
estudiantes y las observaciones de los propios profesores en las que salieron a la luz
la falta de flexibilidad a la hora de atender las necesidades individuales de los
estudiantes.
La principal característica de la actualización llevada a cabo es que otorga más
alternativas a los estudiantes fundamentadas en que, tras las horas de tutoría con el
profesor y después de seis clases en grupo, los propios estudiantes (junto con el
profesor) crean un plan de estudio personal. Este plan puede incluir tareas
independientes, consultas personales con el profesor, talleres dirigidos por un
profesor y actividades en grupo, tales talleres de evaluación de corrección recíproca
entre estudiantes.
Kari K. Pitkänen, Kirsi M. Wallinheimo
University of Helsinki, Finland
iPads in Teaching Medical English and Swedish at the University of Helsinki
Over the past few years, all the medical students at the University of Helsinki have
been given iPads to support their studies. In addition to providing the devices, the
Faculty of Medicine has developed a complete infrastructure consisting of iPadcompatible material, e-books, course materials, and additional support and
training. Everything is made compatible with the same ecosystem built around
Apple iPads.
In this presentation, based on a survey among our students, we have investigated
how they actually use their iPads in learning languages and as language support.
We shall focus on the English and Swedish courses, since in these languages we
have tailor-made teaching dedicated specifically to the students of Medicine and
Dentistry. We begin the presentation with an overview of the courses and the
pedagogical background for using technology in language teaching. Then, we will
continue with a description of how the iPads are used in classrooms and how the
students utilize them outside the classrooms for improving their language skills.
Based on the survey, the students have found various new uses for the devices and
most of them use them relatively actively. However, there were also some cases
where our expectations of what they actually do with them did not match with
reality.
The results of this project will be used for developing new language courses
beginning in 2017, when the University goes through a structural modification of
the degree system.
Summary
Il contributo intende documentare l’uso di iPad nell’insegnamento della lingua
Svedese e Inglese agli studenti della facoltà di Medicina all’ Università di Helsinki,
Finlandia. Questa facoltà ha costruito un’intera struttura in supportoall’uso di questi
marchingegni tecnologici, a cui tutti gli studenti hanno accesso. Nel contributo,
analizzeremo le applicazioni degli iPad nel sostenere l’apprendimento linguistico, e
come questo s’instaura nel nostro paradigma pedagogico.
Mat Plews
Humboldt University, Germany
How a task-based approach fosters critical thinking
According to Paul and Elder (2008), a critical thinker:
• raises vital questions and problems, formulating them clearly and precisely;
• gathers and assesses relevant information, using abstract ideas to interpret it
effectively;
• comes to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant
criteria and standards;
• thinks open-mindedly within alternative systems of thought, recognizing and
assessing, as needed, their assumptions, implications and practical consequences;
and
• communicates effectively with others in figuring out solutions to complex
problems.
In this presentation, I will explain how all of the above elements can be fostered
through the use of a task-based approach, giving the example of an academic
discussions course which is wholly-adherent to the principles of TBLT, currently
being offered at the Language Centre of Humboldt University Berlin.
Developed according to key principles of EAP syllabus-design, and incorporating
CEFR-based continuous assessment, the course consists of a series of academic
discussions and (C2+-speaker-based) 'foci on form' aimed at enabling participants
to identify and address their individual language needs, the whole being linked
together within the framework of a virtual learning environment (Moodle).
By explaining the course’s ‘task cycle’ in detail, with examples, I will relate each
step to the aforementioned definition, showing clearly how a task-based approach
helps to develop creative and critical thinkers. Further evidence will be provided
by reviewing course outcomes and student feedback.
Summary
Am Beispiel eines Kurses für wissenschaftliche Diskussionen auf Englisch am
Sprachenzentrum der Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, der gänzlich den Prinzipien
des handlungsorientierten Fremdsprachenunterrichts folgt, erläutere ich in diesem
Vortrag, wie (laut einer Definition von Paul und Elder, 2008) alle Elemente des
kritischen Denkens durch einen handlungsorientierten Ansatz gefördert werden
können.
Entwickelt entsprechend der Grundprinzipien der Lehrplankonzeption, unter
Einbeziehung von, auf GER-basierender, kontinuierlicher Evaluierung, mit dem Ziel,
es den Teilnehmer(innen) zu ermöglichen, ihre individuellen Sprachbedürfnisse zu
ermitteln und anzugehen, besteht der Kurs aus einer Reihe von wissenschaftlichen
Diskussionen mit „Fokussen auf Form“, während derer die Teilnehmer(innen) ihre
Leistungen mit denen der Muttersprachler(innen) vergleichen. Der gesamte
Kursinhalt wird innerhalb einer Lernplattform (Moodle) verlinkt und dokumentiert.
Jeder Teil der Handlungssequenz wird detailliert und mit Beispielen erklärt und auf
die Definition von Paul und Elder bezogen, um zu zeigen, wie ein
handlungsorientierter Ansatz kreatives und kritisches Denken fördert. Mit einer
Auswertung der Kursergebnisse und des studentischen Feedbacks werde ich diese
Aussage untermauern.
Manuel Silva
Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto, Portugal
Translator? Localizer? Transcreator? The role of multimodality in bringing
the translator out of the box
The cutting edge industry of translation and localization is rapidly changing its
demand for highly skilled multifaceted professionals. This brings new challenges
to the training offered in HEI. The market place for translation is global,
specialized, virtual, and truly demanding and translators are increasingly involved
in various forms of foreign language corporate communication, including web
communication, localization or intercultural mediation and consulting. When we
consider website localization, each new project may require new approaches and
concepts. Translators and localizers must develop and apply new skills and
understand the new environments they work with. With web texts being instantly
available to readers anywhere, the translator’s role as a cultural mediator attains a
special significance as the texts may be accessed by a diverse audience with a
multifaceted cultural background (Rike, 2013). Language is no longer seen as
dominant, but as one mode among other potentials for making meaning (Kress,
2010). Meanings are created by the interplay of the semiotic resources, and image
and text “interact synergistically in the construction of meaning” (Unsworth and
Cléirigh 2011). What is new is the idea that translators should not only pay
attention to non-verbal elements but actively and creatively use various semiotic
resources and be involved in the production of multimodal texts as a whole. This
means that prospective translators or localizers now need to master new ways to
prepare and present themselves to the market, perhaps as transcreators. In this
presentation, we will consider this dynamic reality and reflect on how an
integrated localization teaching/learning environment may help to better prepare
students and higher education institutions to cater to this demand. Finally, we will
discuss the roles, skills, environments and concepts we - teachers and students
alike - are required to master in order to meet such a fast-pace and technologydriven context.
Summary
La industria de la traducción está cambiando rápidamente su demanda de
profesionales altamente cualificados con múltiples facetas. Esto supone nuevos retos
para la formación que se ofrece en las IES. El mercado de la traducción es global,
virtual y exigente y los traductores participan cada vez más en las diversas formas
de comunicación corporativa, incluyendo la comunicación web, la localización o la
mediación intercultural y la consultoría. Lo que es nuevo, es la idea de que los
traductores no sólo deben prestar atención a los elementos no verbales, sino utilizar
activa y creativamente diversos recursos semióticos y participar en la producción de
textos multimodales en conjunto. Esto significa que ahora los traductores o
localizadores potenciales necesitan dominar las nuevas maneras de prepararse y
presentarse al mercado, tal vez como transcreadores.
Anthony Stenton
Université Toulouse 1, France
The re-intoduction of syllables into adult foreign language learning and
pronunciation teaching : a creative challenge for learners and teachers
Syllable-based methods predominate in teaching L1 reading and cognitive
psychology research suggests phoneme-based or ‘holistic’ methods are slower. In
L2 reading, however, many students ignore syllables. Tests of auditory perception
in such readers regularly demonstrate that they cannot inhibit mother tongue
interference (MTI). We argue that L2 oral production problems are a linguistic
example of ‘cognitive bias’ (D.Kahneman), a tendency to choose easy,
instantaneous solutions rather than considering pronunciation carefully. The
degrees of MTI are variable partly because syllabic complexity is variable. In
Sweden, 70 to 80% of children aged 16 generally acquire a B1 level or higher in
their chosen L2 (English). In England, the figure is only 8% for those learning
French and in France, only 12% for those learning English (ESLC). The high
morphological proximity of these last two languages helps to generate syllable
‘deafness’ which is intensified by the use of the same Latin alphabet symbols for
radically different sound systems. Since 2005, language centres in Toulouse and
collaborators in Cercles have used the automatic SWANS authoring system to
experiment typographical annotation and sound synchronisation to increase
awareness of stressed and weak syllables. Vision comes to the aid of defective
listening. Feedback suggests that deviant L2 oral production is often stigmatized
and that this can lead to demotivation and poor performance. We conclude that
there is a mismatch between excessively bilingual teacher training and the real
variety of multilingual interference problems of students (Chinese, Arabic and
European) in today’s universities. Students should be encouraged to experiment
creatively with different colours for highlighting syllables and discovering rules of
stress. We present details of significant improvements (Cognitive bias therapy) in
L2 oral performance after working with SWANS and outline a coordinated
programme included in the French ‘InnovaLangues’ project to improve distance
learning of pronunciation via onscreen annotated texts.
Summary
L’apprentissage de la lecture pour une langue maternelle se base souvent sur les
méthodes syllabiques jugées nettement plus rapides que des méthodes
holistiques. Par contre, pendant l’apprentissage de la lecture lors de l’étude d’une L2
la présentation des syllabes accentuées est souvent écartée. Par conséquent de
nombreux adultes n’arrivent jamais à lire dans une L2 sans souffrir d’un niveau
élevé d’interférence de la L1. L’effet est à la fois nuisible pour la perception auditive
et pour la production orale de la langue cible. Nous avançons l’idée que ces
problèmes sont un exemple de ce que Daniel Kahneman a appelé « biais cognitif » qui
exige une thérapie liée aux carences de l’alphabet utilisé. Un alphabet conçu et
adapté dans chaque communauté linguistique par les monolingues pour les
monolingues ne conviennent plus aux besoins multilingues du monde moderne. Le
défi créatif que nous examinons dans plusieurs centres de langues de Cercles repose
sur la lecture à l’écran : l’utilisation d’annotations typographique des syllabes
accentuées et la synchronisation son/texte. L’utilisation collaborative du système
auteur développé pour l’apprentissage à distance, et la mise en place de réseaux, est
aujourd’hui analysé dans le cadre du Programme ‘InnovaLangues’ à l’université de
Grenoble III.
Johanna Vaattovaara
University of Helsinki, Finland
Quality of teaching as ”quality of life” – evidencing the passion of
professional development through teachers’ research engagement
Quality of teaching is often discussed in the framework of quality assurance, but
this paper concentrates on the aspect of enhancing the quality of life – of both
teachers as well as learners – through teachers’ research engagement. Teacher
research is a complex issue in Language Centres, but fruitful when facilitated as a
teacher interest driven activity (e.g. Lehtonen, Vaattovaara & Manner-Kivipuro
2015; Borg 2013). The evidence of this presentation comes from the University of
Helsinki Language Centre where the staff (teachers and academic administration
personnel) have been invited to do research within in-house University Pedagogy
Training and otherwise.
The presentation introduces ways to enhance research engagement in teaching
and organizational development, and looks at it from the participants’ perspective:
how is it possible for a language centre teacher and admin staff to get involved in
research, why bother, how to find time to do it, and how to find it inspirational?
How does all this contribute to the quality of teaching at the institutional level?
The presentation deals with these questions by introducing some case examples
and evidence from a research project concentrating on the impact of in-service
university pedagogy training on the development of a teaching community.
The final aim of the presentation is to invite interested colleagues across the
European Language Centres to join us in designing an internationally accessible
joint on-line university pedagogy training for Language Centre teachers. The idea
would be to facilitate research engagement in teaching development through an
international professional development course, hopefully also contributing to
more local collaboration in the future.
Summary
Opetuksen laadusta puhutaan usein laadunvarmistuksen nimissä ja hengessä. Tämä
esitys käsittelee opetuksen laatua oppimisympäristöjen elämänlaadun
näkökulmasta – sekä opettajien että opiskelijoiden elämänlaadun kannalta.
Näkökulman keskiössä on opetuksen kehittämisen tutkimuspohjaisuus, joka
kielikeskuksissa on yleisesti ottaen ongelmakohta, koska tutkimus ei useinkaan
kuulu kielenopettajan työnkuvaan. Tässä esitelmässä tarkastellaan esimerkkien
avulla, miksi tutkimuspohjaisuus kannattaa ja kuinka se voi olla käytännössä
mahdollista ilman erillistä tutkimusaikaa. Esityksessä käsitellään keinoja kytkeä
tutkimus mukaan opetuksen kehittämiseen sekä opettajia itseään että myös
opiskelijoita inspiroivin tavoin. Esimerkit tulevat Helsingin yliopiston
kielikeskuksesta, jossa on systemaattisesti tuettu opetuksen tutkimuspohjaista
kehittämistä ja alettu myös tutkia sen vaikuttavuutta opetusyhteisön ammatillisessa
kehittymisessä – joka viime kädessä heijastuu opetuksen ja oppimisen laatuun.
Giving Learners a Multicultural Voice
Claudia Buffagni, Beatrice Garzelli, Elisa Ghia
Università per Stranieri di Siena, Italy
La vita è bella (Benigni, 1997): una riflessione didattica sui sottotitoli in
inglese, spagnolo e tedesco
Il contributo prende in analisi il film La vita è bella come strumento per lo sviluppo
delle competenze linguistiche in inglese, spagnolo e tedesco, nonché delle abilità
traduttive dall’italiano verso queste lingue.
Il progetto, che nasce all’interno del Centro Linguistico CLASS dell’Università per
Stranieri di Siena, da anni coinvolto in ricerche e attività didattiche plurilingue, è
indirizzato a studenti italofoni del corso di Laurea in Mediazione Linguistica e
Culturale con livello di competenza avanzato nelle tre lingue target.
La scelta del film in questione come oggetto di analisi è legata a diverse ragioni, in
primis la sua natura multilingue e il contesto storico-culturale in cui è collocato,
aspetti che possono fornire spunti di riflessione linguistica, traduttiva e culturale
nella classe di lingua e traduzione. Verranno prese in esame le versioni
sottotitolate del film in inglese, spagnolo e tedesco realizzate da professionisti del
settore e tratte dai DVD in commercio, selezionando in particolare alcune
sequenze che evidenziano scelte traduttive differenti tra un idioma e l’altro, nello
specifico in riferimento a situazioni culturalmente marcate, al contesto storico,
all’impiego di umorismo verbale e non verbale, fino a fenomeni di multilinguismo
e commutazione di codice (italiano standard, italiano regionale, tedesco, inglese).
Obiettivo ultimo dell’analisi sarà proporre attività didattiche che, sulla base della
riflessione contrastiva e della creatività linguistica del film, promuovano lo
sviluppo di metacompetenze e capacità critiche negli studenti. L’analisi contrastiva
dei sottotitoli nelle diverse lingue porterà all’individuazione di scelte dettate
anche da fattori storico-culturali. Lo scopo è di contribuire alla formazione di
figure professionali di mediatori linguistici con solide competenze linguistiche,
interculturali e traduttive, capaci di operare in un contesto complesso e
multilingue, in linea con le richieste dell’Unione Europea (Buffagni e Garzelli
2014).
Summary
The present contribution focuses on Benigni’s film as an instrument for the
development of language competences in L2 English, Spanish and German, as well as
of translation skills from Italian into these languages. The project addresses Italianspeaking students from the degree course in Linguistic and Cultural Mediation at
advanced proficiency level in the three target languages. The study will examine the
English, Spanish and German subtitles of the film (taken from the DVD versions),
focusing on sequences which result in different translation outcomes in the three
languages and specifically relate to the following aspects: culture-bound language,
historical contextualization, verbal and non-verbal humour, instances of
multilingualism and code-switching (standard Italian, regional Italian, German and
English). The analysis aims at suggesting teaching activities which, moving from the
contrastive reflection and the linguistic creativity that characterize the film,
promote the development of students’ metacompetences and critical skills.
Elisa Caruso
Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Il translinguismo universitario: l'uso di più lingue per l'analisi dei contenuti
Questo studio intende approfondire la presenza del translinguismo a livello
accademico europeo e il suo utilizzo nella didattica. Lo studio si inserisce nel
quadro teorico degli studi sul translinguismo, inteso in contesto didattico come
l'impiego di più di una lingua nell'analisi e nell'elaborazione dei contenuti e come
il complesso atto performativo messo in pratica dai parlanti plurilingue per
massimizzare il loro potenziale comunicativo.
Il translinguismo è utilizzato con gradi variabili di consapevolezza nella didattica
universitaria. Se da una parte può prendere forma nelle molte università europee
immerse in un contesto sociale bilingue o multilingue, d'altra parte il suo uso può
realizzarsi, in maniera più o meno consapevole, ogni qualvolta si ricorra all'uso di
più di una lingua nell'analisi dello stesso contenuto, durante lezioni universitarie o
in contesti di ricerca. Possono costituire degli esempi ricorrenti a livello
accademico le situazioni in cui, per analizzare i contenuti, il docente ricorre
contemporaneamente a un materiale scritto (proiettato o su cartaceo) in una
lingua e a un materiale orale (la propria spiegazione) in un'altra lingua.
Sarà oggetto di studio un caso specifico nell'Universidade do Algarve in cui viene
richiesto agli studenti di preparare una ricerca su un argomento e di presentarla in
tre lingue diverse: una per l'elaborazione scritta, una per la proiezione e una per
l'esposizione orale. Si analizzerà, da un punto di vista didattico, come
l'acquisizione di contenuti analizzati attraverso l'uso di due o più lingue diverse
possa costituire allo stesso tempo uno stimolo per gli apprendenti, costituendo
uno strumento per lo sviluppo della loro competenza multilingue, e un metodo
didattico creativo da parte dei docenti. Inoltre, in un'ottica di una didattica
dell'inclusione, la presentazione si interrogherà sull'uso didattico del
translinguismo come metodo volto a favorire l'inclusione di tutti i partecipanti
durante il processo di apprendimento.
Summary
Este estudio se propone profundizar la presencia del tranlingüismo a nivel
universitario europeo y sus implicancias didácticas. El translingüismo es entendido
en el contexto didáctico como el empleo de diferentes idiomas para analizar el
mismo contenido y como el acto perfomativo de los hablantes plurilingües para
maximizar su potencial comunicativo. El translingüismo es utilizado en la enseñanza
superior con varios grados de conciencia, no solo en las universidades emergidas en
contextos sociales multilingües, sino también en los frecuentes casos en que se
recorre a más de un idioma. El objetivo de este estudio, a través de la observación de
un caso específico en la Universidadde Algarve, es investigar como la utilización de
más de una lengua para tratar el mismo contenido puede constituir un incentivo
para los estudiantes y un método creativo para los docentes y si puede representar
una posibilidad para la promoción de la inclusión.
Anna Dal Negro
University and ETH Zurich, Switzerland
La competenza passiva dell'Academic Italian Word List
L’Academic Italian Word List (AIWL), simile all’Academic Word List per l’inglese, è
la lista delle parole più frequenti dell’italiano accademico scritto. Le parole
dell’AIWL, combinate a quelle del vocabolario di base e a quelle più specifiche di
ogni disciplina, dovrebbero garantire una buona comprensione di testi scientifici
di diversi ambiti specialistici.
E’ dunque sicuramente importante tenere presente questa lista in corsi di italiano
LS per scopi accademici. Altrettanto interessante è tuttavia conoscere la
competenza che gli studenti hanno della stessa in diversi stadi di apprendimento.
Sapere ad esempio quali e quante parole gli studenti di un determinato livello
linguistico possono riconoscere senza problemi, permette al docente di scegliere
testi adeguati per l’insegnamento, così come sfruttare fin da subito preconoscenze
per una comunicazione di base. Viceversa individuare le parole meno disponibili
della lista o i fattori che ostacolano la loro comprensione, consente la preparazione
di attività mirate.
In questo contributo intendo presentare sia i risultati di una piccola ricerca di
campo sulla competenza passiva dell’AIWL da parte di informanti di diverso livello
linguistico, sia sue possibili applicazioni in corsi di italiano per scopi accademici.
Summary
The Academic Italian Word List (AIWL), consists of the most common words in
scholarly texts written in Italian. Together with Italian basic vocabulary and the
terminology from the discipline concerned, the AIWL enables good comprehension of
texts from different academic fields. Hence, the AIWL should play a special role in
Italian classes for academic purposes. Furthermore, knowing how many and which
words learners with varying language competence levels can easily recognize
enables teachers to choose appropriate texts for their classes and to exploit prior
knowledge for basic scholarly communication. Identifying the less familiar words as
well as the reasons for difficulties in comprehending them, can also facilitate the
preparation of suitable activities.
This presentation will discuss the results of a survey of the AIWL passive competence
in subjects with different language skills as well as possible applications in Italian
classes for academic purposes.
Marketa Denksteinova
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
The role of the teacher and tasks in CMCL
The use of multimedia in language learning is currently both widely spread and
finds new and challenging ways. Consequently, the number of methodological
questions increases when language teachers become aware of the potential of
CMCL (Computer Mediated Communication Learning) and how it efficiently can be
a natural part of increasing students’ communicative competence and
intercultural awareness. Since international communication today is a natural part
of business, academic and organizational work, requirements on intercultural
awareness go hand in hand with the successful information, negotiation and
cooperation. To a certain extent CMCL can be carried out without the language
teachers’ supervision but at the same time CMCL demands careful preparations
and detailed strategical planning by teachers to facilitate and mediate learning.
The tasks in the CMCL are evidently within the field of the teachers’ planning and
responsibility and require their knowledge and shared experiences. One crucial
aspect in CMCL is the teacher’s role and what priorities and decisions should be
considered. It goes without saying that the online teacher’s role differs from that
of a teacher in a face-to-face classroom and calls for new perspectives and skills.
Secondly, the task design is another aspect that has to be adapted to the online
setting. Thirdly, CMCL often makes students into contexts of collaborative learning
and this setting can affect students’ constructing their knowledge. All these
aspects complement the socioaffective factors relating to the student experience
and are to be questioned and discussed.
When speaking about multimedia technologies the authors want to concentrate
mainly on videoconferencing (VC) technology used as a means of teaching
intercultural communication based on VC modules implemented into the
university courses of ESP. Not only VC technology, but also social media like
Facebook, Hangouts and Skype, have been incorporated in the struggle to let the
students of the University of Pardubice, Cz, University of Uppsala, Swe and
Masaryk University of Brno, Cz, communicate across the European continent
about intercultural issues with their background knowledge and intercultural
awareness. The purpose in these VCs is to highlight issues of international
business and intercultural communication and in this way develop the students’
language competence in authentic communication and interaction in English
between non-native speakers of English.
Summary
Potenciál využití multimediálních technologií pro výuku cizích jazyků je v povědomí
odborné veřejnosti stále více na vzestupu. Do určité míry je jejich samotné použití při
výuce nezávislé na vyučujících, ale příprava na výuku vyžaduje na vyučujících velmi
detailní promyšlení strategie výuky a přesné plánování. Zásadním momentem se jeví
právě role učitele a priority, které při výuce upřednostňuje. Právě role vyučujícího,
její potenciál a nástrahy, které online výuka prostřednictvím videokonferenčních
modulů zasazených do kurzů ESP v terciárním vzdělávání; je předmětem zkoumání
autorky.
Alessandra Fazio, Elisa Fiorenza
Università degli Studi di Roma Foro Italico, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy
E-task based language teaching: un’esperienza italiana con e-tools di
supporto
Lo sviluppo del pensiero critico e, più in generale, dell’autonomia dei discenti sono
sostenuti da numerosi studi e ricerche nel campo dell’apprendimento delle lingue
straniere (Little 1997, 2005; Macaro 2001; Nunan 2004).
Il presente intervento si basa su un’esperienza condotta presso il Centro
Linguistico di Ateneo dell’Università degli Studi di Roma “Foro Italico” negli anni
accademici 2014-16, con 113 studenti del corso di Laurea Magistrale in Attività
Motorie Preventive e Adattate. Questo studio si inserisce nel filone di ricerca
dell’e-Task based language teaching (ETBLT) tenendo conto delle
obiezioni/percezioni degli studenti sottoposti a un contesto di apprendimento
della lingua inglese di questo tipo e coadiuvato dall'integrazione di strumenti
multimediali (Thomas & Reinders 2010; Chapelle 2001), attraverso un approccio
pedagogico critico-riflessivo ed esperienziale (Nunan 2004).
Si descriverà il processo di integrazione degli e-tools utilizzati nel corso per la
gestione della classe virtuale (Moodle ed Edmodo). Si indagherà su come viene
percepito l’utilizzo della piattaforma virtuale da parte degli studenti, sulle
strategie usate per stimolare collaborazione e creatività, come pure sulle ricadute
positive/negative sulla reattività e partecipazione degli studenti nella gestione del
task e sull’apprendimento della L2.
A tal fine verrà presentata l’analisi dei dati raccolti attraverso osservazioni del
gruppo classe in presenza (10 ore), dell’interazione tra la community virtuale (3
mesi) e i questionari anonimi (circa 100).
Infine, verranno evidenziati alcuni aspetti/aree di intervento per migliorare la
pratica didattica (e-Tutoring) in simili contesti di apprendimento/insegnamento.
Summary
This study describes an E-task based teaching experience carried out at the
University Language Center “Foro Italico” over a single semester during two
academic years (2014-16). A sample group of 113 students Mastering in Adapted
Physical Activity participated in an L2 English task-based blended course supported
by online e-tools.
A description of the learning process is followed by a comparison of the results
obtained with expected outcomes. Special attention is given to students’
reactions/perceptions not only during face-to-face meetings but also during peer
online interactive tasks (Thomas & Reinders 2010; Chapelle 2001), using a more
critical-reflective and experiential methodology (Nunan 2004).
Results are evaluated in terms of creativity and fulfillment of the task assigned,
interaction in the virtual learning environments (Moodle and Edmodo) and etutoring strategies.
Marta Genis
Nebrija University, Spain
Pragmatics Assessment with an holistic approach
Designing a reliable procedure to measure learners’ pragmatic competence in EFL
context is a difficult task, yet necessary. This workshop aims to describe a
technique used in a teacher training course to help teachers understand and use it
in their teaching and as an assessment tool.
Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale (1928) analyzed the basic plot
components of Russian folk tales to identify their simplest narrative elements that
he called narratemes and the dramatis personae involved. Later, Joseph Campbell
in his work, A Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) identified a pattern that
appears in literature, drama, storytelling, mythology, and rituals, calling it the
Hero’s Journey, which had 17 stages, later reduced to 12 by Christopher Vogler
The writer’s journey: Mythic Structure for writers (1998), and 8 characters in
order to fit Jung’s archetypes. This pattern is used as a template of all the stories in
which a hero begins an adventure. In this workshop teachers will learn how to
carry out an activity that involves creating a collective story following Campbell’s
Hero’s journey or Propp’s functions & characters.
Teachers will develop an appreciation of stories as educational resources, learning
how to: (a) improve lesson plans with the use of a story within a unit; (b) take
advantage of the information contained in a story (geography, history, culture,
etc.) for cross-curricular work; (c) connect with the students’ prior knowledge,
creating interest, attention and motivation; (d) increase communication skills by
learning to build up a narrative piece and to use the voice and intonation for storytelling; (e) raise students’ awareness of the relationship between language, voice
and body; (f) assess pragmatic competence using an holistic approach that
ensures a more comprehensive view of a student’s oral language.
Summary
Un procedimiento fiable para medir la competencia pragmática en el contexto de la
enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras es una tarea difícil, pero necesaria. Este taller
tiene como objetivo describir una técnica utilizada en un curso de formación de
profesores para ayudar a los maestros a entenderla y utilizarla en su enseñanza y
como herramienta de evaluación.
Vladimir Propp, en su Morfología del cuento (1928) analiza los componentes básicos
de los cuentos populares rusos para identificar lo que él llamónarratemas. Más
tarde, Joseph Campbell en Un héroe de mil caras (1949) identificó un patrón, El viaje
del héroe, que aparece en la literatura, el teatro, la narración, la mitología y los
rituales, que tenía 17 etapas y 8 personajes para poder adaptarse a los arquetipos de
Jung. Este patrón se utiliza como una plantilla de todas las historias en las que un
héroe inicia una aventura.
Alena Hradilova
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Teaching politeness in videoconferencing classes
The presentation offers an insight into the structure and basic methodological
principles used in delivering an international and cross-cultural course of English
for students of law which is offered jointly to law students at Masaryk University
in Brno, Czech Republic and University of Helsinki, Finland. With the use of
videoconferencing technology, the two groups of students meet in a virtual
classroom in order to practice presenting, negotiating, debating, case studies and
role-play. They also communicate outside the classroom via wiki in order to plan
the sessions and practice their writing skills.
The fact that the two groups of students are physically distant and communicate
via the videoconferencing equipment makes the communicative situation slightly
different from the traditional classroom. Apart from the obvious technical issues,
there are certain psychological moments that can distract or even disable the
intended communicative situation. These are mostly connected with the wrong
choice of words in terms of expected semantics, level of formality, politeness and
other pragmatic issues.
Authentic examples of learning situations (i.e. short videos) will be played and
discussed in order to demonstrate the universal importance to teach soft skills and
to introduce language pragmatics, and especially politeness principles, to the B2C1 CEFR level students, who are the future lawyers. Another aim of the
presentation is to show that raising awareness of cultural differences is an issue
that must be considered, pointed out to and discussed with the students, no
matter how close their cultures may seem.
Samples of teaching materials will be offered for inspiration and discussion.
Summary
Cette contribution traite de cours d’anglais interculturel international pour les
étudiants en droit lequel est enseigné à l’aide de la technologie de visioconférence
à l’Université Masaryk en République tchèque et à l’Université d’Helsinki. L’auteur
examine avant tout l’importance de l’enseignement des principes de politesse et
d’autres soft skills de sorte que la communication entre deux groupes d’étudiants
physiquement distants se produise sans problèmes et malentendus perturbateurs.
Andrea Koblizkova
University of Pardubice, Czech Republic
Managing one´s understanding through ELF
How can we manage to walk a tightrope between different concepts and
tendencies of rhetoric through ELF?
Today´s political situation more than ever reveals speakers of different cultural
backgrounds need to pay utmost attention to the careful formulation of their ideas
and broaden understanding of the ones of the others. ELF (English as lingua
franca) is a conveyor of intercultural communication and as such needs to be
treated with regard to motivations and values of both the speakers and the
recipients of their messages.
The presentation gives an insight into pragmatic aspects of ELF and potential
implications for intercultural communication. It presents stages of globalized
communication, a brief overview of cross-cultural and intercultural
communication schools and a concept of politeness reflected in a research-based
study and its interpretations.
The globalization phases as referred to by T.L. Friedman (2007) are of utmost
attention for internationalization practices for which language centres prepare
their students. The consequent communication has changed not only
quantitatively, but also qualitatively. The focus thus naturally shifts from the
cross-cultural perspective of Hofstede or Trompenaars to more individual
approaches of sociopragmatics as having been conceptualized by Spencer- Oatey.
The presentation draws upon theoretical principals introduced by Trompenaars
and Lewis, but more importantly, for the purpose of the sociopragmatic analysis,
applies perspectives of Brown´s and Levinson´s politeness model and (1987) and
Spencer-Oatey´s rapport theory. The author presents an overview of a research
study based on responses to communication scenarios in the international
environment. The scenarios were distributed in the Czech Republic, Germany and
Britain and their contextual analysis addresses specifically issues of interactional
and transactional language functions, implicit and explicit communication, face
and positive or negative politeness, face-threatening or face-saving acts.
Summary
Schaffung eines gemeinsamen Verständnisses durch ELF
Wie können wir uns zwischen den verschieden Konzepten und Tendenzen der
Rhetorik durch ELF bewegen?
Die heutige politische Situation zeigt mehr als je zuvor, dass die Sprecher
verschiedener kultureller Herkunft mit hoher Aufmerksamkeit darauf achten sollten,
ihre Ideen präzis zu formulieren und Verständnis für die Gedanken der anderen zu
haben. ELF (Englisch als lingua franca) ist ein Vermittler der interkulturellen
Kommunikation und sollte im Hinblick auf die Motivation und Werte der beiden, des
Sprechers und des Empfängers, behandelt werden.
Der Vortrag gibt einen Einblick in pragmatische Aspekte von ELF und mögliche
Auswirkungen auf die interkulturelle Kommunikation. Er präsentiert Phasen der
Globalisierung von Kommunikation, wie nach T.L. Friedman konzipiert wurde,
informiert über interkulturelle Ansätze von Hofstede, Trompenaars und Lewis und
beschreibt das Konzept der Höflichkeit von Spencer-Oatey reflektiert in einer
forschungsbasierten Studie und ihre sozio-pragmatischen Interpretationen.
Daniele Lazzeri, Stephan Meyer
Sprachenzentrum der Universität Basel, Switzerland
Promuovere creatività e pensiero critico in “tempi bui”: quale contributo
possono offrire le conversazioni multilingue e interculturali?
In “tempi bui” creatività e pensiero critico vengono spesso trascurati; eppure
sarebbero necessari per immaginare nuove prospettive. Il paradigma
comunicativo ha indubbiamente portato a significativi progressi nell’ambito
dell’insegnamento-apprendimento linguistico; rischia tuttavia di ridurre la lingua
a un “sistema di transazione”: la creatività viene soffocata dal linguaggio
formulaico, il pensiero critico ridotto a locuzioni di logica informale.
Con questo contributo intendiamo mostrare come le conversazioni, plurilingue e
multiculturali, possano contribuire a realizzare le “promesse” (mancate) della
creatività e del pensiero critico, indispensabili per una formazione completa.
Descriviamo lo sviluppo dell’offerta multilingue del Centro Linguistico
dell’Università di Basilea: l’ideazione del ciclo di conversazioni intitolato
«SprachRäume – Interkulturelle und multilinguale Gesprächsrunden»– frutto di
una nuova interpretazione di “scambio plurilingue e interculturale” – e
l’allontanamento dal precedente «Kommunikationstraining im mehrsprachigen
Umfeld», nel quale i partecipanti utilizzavano tre lingue in un comune contesto
comunicativo. Delineamo quindi lo spostamento del focus sugli aspetti
interculturali e discorsivi dell’interazione e il relativo ridimensionamento di
attività task-based e (meta)riflessioni su strategie d’apprendimento e
consapevolezza linguistica.
Negli «SprachRäume» presentiamo materiali di stimolo, incoraggiamo i
partecipanti a scambiarsi idee (in un’atmosfera informale) e ad integrare i temi
proposti (p.e.: “The right to offend and the duty not to take offence” e “Favole,
identità e comunicazione”) con input personali legati ai contesti culturali di
riferimento. Nella serata-evento conclusiva i partecipanti possono esprimere la
propria creatività senza vincoli di forma e contenuto.
Nella nostra presentazione spieghiamo le dinamiche comunicative di questi
scambi interculturali e interdisciplinari, l’influsso dei fattori emozionali,
l’importanza di una connessione tra creatività e “autocritica/critica dell’altro”
incentrata su contenuti e semantica. Mostriamo inoltre i canali scelti per
avvicinare i docenti del Centro Linguistico a quest’offerta formativa. In
conclusione, invitiamo gli uditori a riflettere sulle modalità con cui tali scenari
d’interazione possono contribuire a promuovere paradigmi di creatività e
pensiero critico adeguati ai tempi.
Summary
In dark times creativity and critical thinking are – by definition – often eclipsed.
Despite its many strengths, the communicative paradigm is sometimes complicit in
substituting formulaic language for creativity and critical thinking. This
contribution explores ways in which the unfulfilled promises of creativity and
critique can be kept alive through multilingual intercultural conversation. We
present aspects of such conversations in which participants share views on topics
such as ‘The right to offend and the duty not to take offence’ and ‘Fairy tales, identity
and communication’ in Italian, German, French and English alongside other
languages they know. We explain the communicative dynamics of this transcultural
and transdiciplinary exchange of views, the impact of emotional factors, the
importance of meaning and content, and how these conversations combine critique
of self and other.
Tuula Lehtonen
University of Helsinki, Finland
“You will certainly learn English much faster at work than from a textbook.”
– Law students as trainees learning English beyond the language classroom
The relationship between higher education and the world of work is intriguing.
Higher education is expected to educate new, skilled employees, but on the other,
it is not always clear what skills particular contexts require. It is also difficult to
predict what professional contexts graduates will occupy in the changing world.
Thus the language teaching curriculum easily lags behind both the individual
needs of future employees and the future needs of the workplace.
Large-scale surveys have indicated a gap between the skills recent graduates have
learned and those that would be helpful at work. How could this gap be bridged? I
argue that, in addition to using research findings to prepare our students better,
we need to be aware of the opportunities for learning that recent graduates, or
student trainees, have at the beginning of their career, and the uptake of those
opportunities. This initial learning at work provides us with important
information about the transition from university to work and shows that
graduates do not need to be fully proficient, but ready enough to learn more.
I use the understanding gained from nearly 150 self-reports by law students 1) to
tentatively highlight typical features related to language use and learning at work
in the gradual transition from a student to a lawyer in Finland and 2) to
(re)consider the curricular goals, content and rationale of language teaching in
higher education, with the help of my own particular context.
Three complementary approaches are used to interpret the data: language
learning beyond the language classroom, the idea of community of practice and
the ecological approach to language learning.
Summary
Un gran número de estudios han indicado la brecha existente entre las habilidades
que los recién graduados han aprendido en sus estudios y aquellas que serían útiles
en su vida laboral. ¿Cómo se podría eliminar esta brecha? Defendemos la necesidad
de ser conscientes de las oportunidades de aprendizaje que tienen los recién
graduados o los estudiantes en prácticas al comienzo de sus carreras profesionales y
absorber dichas oportunidades. Este aprendizaje inicial en el trabajo nos aporta una
importante información sobre la transición de la universidad al mercado laboral y
nos muestra que los graduados no necesitan una competencia total, sino que están
preparados para aprender más.
Usamos los datos obtenidos de aproximadamente 150 autoevaluaciones realizadas
por estudiantes de Derecho para, por una parte, realizar un intento de resaltar los
rasgos típicos relacionados con el uso y aprendizaje de la lengua en el trabajo en una
transición gradual entre el estado de estudiante y profesional del derecho y, por otro
lado, reconsiderar los objetivos curriculares, contenido y base de la enseñanza de
lenguas en la universidad con la ayuda de nuestro contexto particular.
Soultana Maglavera
Aristotle University, Greece
Teaching English Fine Art terminology through the use of the aesthetic
experience
This paper is based upon the idea that infiltrating ESP teaching methodology with
arts-based approaches to learning can foster critical reflection and thus contribute
to an enhanced understanding of specialized discourse. The paper forms part of a
broader exchange of teaching practices for fostering critical thinking by means of a
cross-fertilization between the aesthetic experience and pedagogy.
The experiential class described here was conducted in the context of ESP
teaching to first year University students of Visual & Applied Arts at the Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki. Students typically major in painting, sculpture, and
printmaking and participate in this class as part of their undergraduate program
of studies in visual and applied arts. During each class throughout the term we
have made systematic use of one or more stimuli of diverse form, be it textual,
visual, auditory, or performative. The teaching approach used incorporated and
adjusted the stages described by Perkins in his The Intelligent Eye: Learning to
Think by Looking at Art. The stages used in class included the student’s intense
and free-spirited experiencing of the stimulus, the creation of narratives inspired
by the stimulus, and finally, the description of artworks and expressive statements
based on the students’ narratives.
The preliminary evidence supports the idea that the use of the aesthetic
experience in ESP Fine Art teaching contexts can have a considerable impact upon
the way the students actually construct meaning and assimilate the material.
Interestingly enough, the specific method takes on a special meaning for art
students who realize that they can use creative and imaginative acts to acquire a
heightened awareness of language. In addition, the evidence shows that the use of
the aesthetic experience made the students more creative in their interactions in
class and more involved in the study of the English language in general.
Summary
Diese Mitteilung basiert auf der Idee der ESP- Lehrmethode in Verbindung mit der
Anwendung der ästhetischen Erfahrung, die dazu beitragen kann, dass die Studenten
kritisches Denken entwickeln und einen speziellen Diskurs verstehen können. In
dieser Publikation wird ein Teil von Lehrpraktiken dargestellt, wobei kritisches
Denken aufgrund gegenseitiger Befruchtung gefördert wird.
Die experimentelle Klasse, die hier beschrieben wird, wurde durch den Kontext des
ESP geleitet. Es ging um Studenten im ersten Studienjahr der Fakultät fürBildende
und Angewandte Künste der Aristoteles Universität Thessaloniki. Während der
Vorlesungen wurden systematisch eine oder mehrere Anregungen von Formen
verschiedener Art eingesetzt, d.h. textuelle, visuelle, auditive oder performative. Der
Lehransatz enthielt die im Werk The Intelligent Eye: Learning to Think by Looking at
Art von Perkins beschriebene Stufen.
Dieser Versuch hat gezeigt, dass der Einsatz der ästhetischen Erfahrung wesentlich
zum besseren Verständnis des speziellen Diskurses beigetragen hat.
M. Antonietta Marongiu
Università di Cagliari, Italy
Does authenticity matter when it comes to teaching pragmatics and culture
in L2 classes? How relevant is the choice of teaching material in L2 language
teaching?
The notion of authenticity was already addressed in the ‘80’s in the debate on L2
teaching methodology, and it became a solid aspect of the communicative
approach to L2 teaching in the ‘90’s. The teaching material based on the
communicative or task-oriented approaches in the USA, or on the functional
notional-approach in Europe, published back then chose teaching materials
pragmatically meaningful and with cultural connotation. Both teacher trainers and
teachers would talk about “realia” referring to objects, pictures or texts to bring
into L2 classes. The underlying idea was that teaching an L2 also means teaching
the culture of the language community(ies), the pragmatics of a language.
Accordingly, especially FL teaching materials, ought to be real, current, genuine,
original, first-hand, and contribute to construct real contexts, facts and situations
where the FL is used by native speakers.
However, the teaching material recently published to teach English as FL does not
seem to be based on the mentioned underlying principle. To support what for now
are just but impressions, I will analyze some current available teaching material
for ELT; I am particularly interested in finding out whether this is pragmatically
valuable and if it provides adequate cultural connotation. As a matter of fact, in a
post-methodology era such as the current one, language teaching has to consider
pragmatics more than ever, since the meanings constructed in L2/FL classes
convey cultural views, and can significantly influence the learners’ opinions on a
specific culture, create prejudice or misconceptions.
Summary
Nella didattica della L2 la nozione di autenticità fu presa in considerazione negli
anni ’80 e divenne un aspetto importante nell’approccio comunicativo degli anni ’90.
I materiali didattici pubblicati allora avevano rilevanza pragmatica ed erano
culturalmente connotati. L’insegnamento di una lingua doveva includere anche
l’insegnamento di aspetti pragmatici, far comprendere i contesti socio-culturali reali,
fatti e situazioni in cui la LS è usata da parlanti nativi.
Il materiale didattico recentemente proposto per l’insegnamento dell’inglese come
LS non sembra avere più queste caratteristiche. Per verificare questa ipotesi è mia
intenzione analizzare del materiale didattico di recente pubblicazione per la
didattica dell’inglese. Infatti, per quanto siamo in fase post-metodologica, la
didattica delle LS non può ignorare gli aspetti pragmatici e culturali di una lingua, e
nemmeno che i contenuti portati in classe riflettono percezioni culturali che possono
influenzare gli apprendenti e creare pregiudizi.
Anna Nunan
University College Dublin, Ireland
Student motivation and perception of foreign language learning in a
university language centre
Difficulties establishing support for native speakers of English taking foreign
language electives in postsecondary education in Ireland led to research on how
language modules could be more accessible, creative, interactive and relevant for
students in a university language centre. It is important to try and discover why
students choose a foreign language module on an English speaking campus, how
prior experiences of language learning are processed by students and how student
suggestions for future semester offerings may be relevant.
3,200 student evaluations over 4 semesters were analysed in relation to student
motivation in taking a foreign language elective. 25 students were interviewed on
their motivation in language learning, prior experience of language learning and
suggestions for future foreign language modules.
Motivation in language learning is a complex process (Dörnyei, 2009), yet
encouraging numbers in an Institution-Wide Language Programme prompted the
question of why students choose a language elective from a wide range of options
and pursue the language enthusiastically providing positive feedback despite
minimal support from their academic disciplines.
The results reveal an interest in plurilingualism and multiculturalism that is not
being addressed by secondary school education and the experience of prior
language learning falls significantly short of the benefits of creative and
multicultural approaches to language teaching. Collaborative or task-based
approaches and culturally explicit materials have the potential to redefine the
student experience of language learning, reinforce plurilingual curriculum design
(Piccardo, 2013) and enhance intercultural growth.
Studentenmotivation und Wahrnehmung des Fremdsprachenlernens in einem
universitären Sprachzentrum
Summary
Schwierigkeiten bei der Unterstützung von Studierenden mit Muttersprache Englisch
bei fremdsprachlichen Wahlfächern im Rahmen der irischen Hochschulbildung
haben zu einem Forschungsprojekt geführt, welches sich mit der besseren
Zugänglichkeit von Sprachkursen in Bezug auf Kreativität, Interaktionen und
Relevanz für Studierende in einem universitären Sprachzentrum beschäftigt. Es ist
von zentraler Bedeutung herauszufinden, warum Studierende auf einem
englischsprachigen Campus ein Fremdsprachenmodul wählen, wie frühere
Erfahrungen des Sprachenlernensvon diesen Studierenden verarbeitet werden und
wie relevant Studentenvorschläge zur Verbesserung von Angeboten in zukünftigen
Semestern sind.
Die Studienergebnisse zeigen ein Interesse an Mehrsprachigkeit und
Multikulturalismus auf, welches nicht im Rahmen der Sekundarschulbildung
angesprochen wird und frühere Erfahrungen des Sprachenlernens unterschreiten
deutlich die Vorteile der kreativen und multikulturellen Ansätze beim
Sprachunterricht. Gemeinsame oder aufgabenbasierende Ansätze und
kulturbezogener
Unterrichtsstoff
haben
das
Leistungsvermögen,
die
Studentenerfahrung beim Sprachenlernen neu zu definieren, sowie eine Verstärkung
bei der Gestaltung von mehrsprachigen Lehrplänen (Piccardo, 2013) und ein
verbessertes interkulturelles Verständnis.
Kari K. Pitkänen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Student Needs and Course Aims: A Perfect Match?
Over the past decades, Finland has become more international, and the need for
good academic and professional language skills have increased. Also, the type of
skills required has changed towards more productive skills. In this presentation, I
shall give an overview of this development as it can be seen through the course
catalogues, and compare it with student needs, strengths and weaknesses as they
themselves see them. The material consists of a sample of course descriptions
from the 1970s to this year which are used for tracing the evolution and
development of our courses at the University of Helsinki Language Centre,
contrasted with 94 CEFR self-assessments my students have completed at the
beginning of their faculty-specific English courses (English Academic and
Professional Skills) and 20 interviews by our former students who have gathered
experience of professional language needs. Based on the results, the Language
Centre has clearly developed the courses towards the right direction, focusing
more on the productive skills the students find demanding and essential for
coping both academically and professionally. The results will be used as
background material for planning the future courses to be taught as a result of the
so-called Big Wheel restructuring which will be implemented in 2017. This
process gives us a new possibility to reassess what we teach and how we do it.
Summary
Durante las pasadas décadas Finlandia se ha vuelto un país más internacional, por lo
que las habilidades lingüísticas académicas y profesionales han aumentado. Estas
habilidades requeridas se han vuelto más productivas. En esta presentación daremos
una visión de conjunto de este desarrolloconcretada el conjunto de los cursos
ofrecidos y la comparación de las necesidades de los estudiantes, fortalezas y
debilidades vistas por ellos mismos.
El material consiste en el seguimiento de extractos de descripciones de los cursos
desde los años 70 hasta nuestros días donde se pueden apreciar la evolución y el
desarrollo de nuestros cursos en el Centro de Lenguas de la Universidad de Helsinki.
Todo esto contrastado con 94 autoevaluaciones de nivel (MCER) realizadas al
comienzo de los cursos específicos de inglés en sus facultades (Inglés Académico y
Habilidades Profesionales) y con veinte entrevistas a nuestros antiguos estudiantes
que han aprendido qué necesidades lingüísticas han necesitado en su vida
profesional. En función de los resultados, el Centro de Lenguas ha dirigido su oferta
haciendo hincapié en las habilidades más productivas que los estudiantes
encuentran más exigentes y esenciales en lo profesional y académico. Los resultados
serán usados como fondo a la hora de la reestructuración llamada Big Wheel (Gran
Rueda) que se pondrá en marcha en 2017.
Suvi Punkkinen, Nina Sulonen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Language learning with international students - Giving learners a
multicultural voice
Since the autumn term 2013 the international students have been invited to
participate in a growing number in the University of Helsinki Language Centre
courses as course assistants. The Course Assistant Programme is for all
international students from all the faculties of the University of Helsinki who are
interested in supporting language teaching. The programme is currently running
in English, French, Danish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
or Swedish teaching. However, the situation can vary from year to year depending
e.g. on the courses offered and the need for assistants in different languages. The
idea of the activity is that international students act as native peers for the local
students learning the assistant’s native language. The aim of the programme is
integrating international students into our University community, giving them the
possibility to meet local students, internationalization at home for the Finnish
students and bringing new aspects into language teaching and learning. The
assistants diversify the learning environment by bringing their own background,
culture and current issues to the classroom. The feedback collected has shown
that the students, the assistants and the teachers all gain especially from the social
and cultural dimension of this kind of language learning. The students get used to
not only hearing native speakers and developing their oral skills, but also have a
better opportunity to develop intercultural competence in a real time manner.
Critical cultural awareness is raised in an atmosphere where everyone can ask
questions, discover and create new knowledge together. The language teacher's
important role is to create tasks in and out-of-classroom which make the
intercultural encounters fruitful. In the long run, it is a growth process which
changes the nature of language learning profoundly.
Summary
Dans le but de promouvoir les interactions entre les étudiants finlandais et les
étudiants étrangers, le centre de langues de l’université d’Helsinki a mis en place à
l’automne 2013 un nouveau programme : les assistants de cours. Ce programme
consiste à faire bénéficier les cours de langues de la présence des étudiants Erasmus
qui se voient offrir la possibilité de participer à certains cours en qualité d’assistant
du professeur responsable. Dans cette présentation, nous aborderons aussi bien les
pratiques concrètes de ce programme que les défis auxquels doivent faire face les
professeurs de langues étrangères. Nous démontrerons que l'apprentissage de la
langue acquiert un caractère holistique et prend en compte une dimension
interculturelle. Dans ce type d’interaction tous les participants se trouvent
confrontés au besoin de développer une vision critique de celle-ci. Le rôle de
l'enseignant est essentiel car c’est à lui que revient la tâche de créer des activités
favorisant le développement de la compétence interculturelle.
Donata Puntil, Silvia Colaiacomo
King's College London, United Kingdom
Learning to be Intercultural
The Intercultural Learning Module (ICC) at the Modern Language Centre- King’s
College London- is an assessed module that aims to introduce undergraduate
students to the fundamental principles of intercultural learning and ethnographic
research. It proposes to develop understanding and appreciation of different
cultural perspectives and values. The module is mainly attracting Study-Abroad
Students, the vast majority currently coming from North American and Asian
Universities. The course has progressively grown in terms of numbers and in the
current Academic Year demand doubled, resulting in the MLC offering two parallel
classes a Semester.
One of the objectives of the Module is to carry out a small-scale ethnographic
project with a clear intercultural focus (Roberts, 1993, 2016). The learning
process aims at developing awareness of cultural differences in dealing with both
practical and abstract matters. Students learn to explore their own culture,
including their academic culture, and to decode “foreign” cultural patterns.
Through discussing practical examples, as well as analysing relevant literature and
data, the course helps students to develop transferrable skills and gain an
understanding of the ways in which their construction of ”reality” may differ from
others’ experience of it. The course also aims at developing independent, critical
analysis and original thinking within a challenging interdisciplinary and multinational context (Alred, Byram & Fleming, 2003).
By analysing students’ feedback and projects, it emerged that the main challenge
students encounter in their period abroad is adjusting to a new academic system,
including new assessment patterns and different relations with peers and
lecturers. The students taking the module have expressed how class reflections
and discussions helped them setting in a new learning environment.
Summary
In questa presentazione si descriverà un corso di Cultura Interculturale (ICC) che fa
parte del portfolio di corsi al Modern Language Centre del King’s College di Londra.
Dopo una breve introduzione al corso, l’obiettivo della presentazione si sposterà sul
percorso di apprendimento interculturale e cross-culturale dei partecipanti al corso,
principalmente Study-Abroad Students. Si discuteranno i parametri della
valuatzione del corso ed i risulati ottenuti da parte degli studenti, sia dal punto di
vista didattico/accademico che da quello personale ed interculturale. La valutazione
del corso si basa su di un progetto etnografico di 4.000 parole svolto dagli studenti
durante la loro permanenza all’estero; i parametri del progetto verranno discussi
durante la presentazione. Verrà dedicata anche attenzione alla valutazione finale
degli studenti sul corso stesso.
Romain Racine, Alessandra Keller-Gerber, Katrin Burkhalter
Université de Fribourg, Switzerland
Soirées de cinéma et médiation interculturelle de terrain, ou comment
fédérer les étudiants d'origine linguistique différente autour d'un projet
interdisciplinaire
L’Université bilingue de Fribourg (CH) est la seule en Suisse à proposer des cursus
bilingues menant à des diplômes bilingues. Le programme Bilingue plus – organisé
par le Centre de langues de l’université en parallèle aux cours disciplinaires – est
une formation en langue étrangère diplômante, visant à accompagner l’étudiant
non natif en français, ou en allemand, dans ses études de droit tant au niveau
bachelor qu’au niveau master. Au-delà d’une acquisition de la langue de spécialité,
elle vise à apporter des outils supplémentaires de compréhension, d’analyse et de
production en langue deux.
C’est dans ce contexte qu’est né le projet droit et cinéma – issu d’un
rapprochement inédit entre les responsables de la formation Bilingue plus et des
membres de la faculté de droit. La programmation d’une série de soirées de films
et de tables rondes – sur le thème de la Liberté– a été l’élément déclencheur d’un
projet pédagogique interdisciplinaire, menant à la constitution d’un dossier
bilingue composé de productions variées et créatives (commentaire de film ou de
roman, analyse de caricatures ou de discours oraux,…). Rédigé à plusieurs mains
par les étudiants de DaF et de FLE, ce dossier fera l’objet d’une soutenance orale
devant un jury bilingue et interfacultaire.
Il s’agit d’un projet où se miroitent deux langues – le français et l’allemand – où se
croisent des cultures académiques contrastées et interagissent des interlocuteurs
d’origine linguistique différente. La Conférence CercleS 2016 serait l’occasion de
présenter ce projet interdisciplinaire naissant (de sa conception aux
questionnements issus de sa mise en route) et de montrer comment une initiative
externe (les soirées cinéma) s’est révélée fédératrice, propice à l’échange et au
décentrement, aussi bien dans les approches pédagogiques que dans les pratiques
d’apprentissage. C’est ainsi que ces locuteurs bilingues – devenus des
professionnels du droit – deviennent à leur tour des médiateurs culturels sur le
terrain.
Summary
La formazione Bilingue plus – Diritto, presso l’Università di Friburgo (CH),
accompagna in lingua straniera gli studenti che ambiscono alla menzione “bilingue”
sul loro diploma di Master o di Bachelor. In questo contesto è nato il progetto
“Diritto e Cinema”, che associa la lingua di specialità, nell’ambito degli studi e
professionale, e critica di testi provenienti da altre discipline umanistiche
(antropologia, letteratura o arte). Dalle sessioni di cinema e tables rondes,
organizzate dalla facoltà di Diritto, è nata l’idea di far costruire agli studenti di DaFe FLE- dei Dossiers a tema contenenti critiche di film o romanzi, analisi di documenti
media, caricature o altri tipi di dati – validati inseguito da una giuria
interdisciplinare (membri della facoltà di Diritto e Centro di lingue). Questo progetto
fa incrociarsi due lingue – il francese e il tedesco – due tradizioni accademiche e di
didattica, e ambisce a fare degli studenti, futuri professionali di Legge, dei mediatori
culturali di terreno.
Kateřina Sedláčková
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Travail sur la jurisprudence en classe de français juridique : un laboratoire
de la pensée critique
Développer la pensée critique à l’université comprend, entre autres, exposer les
étudiants aux tâches complexes et authentiques qui, étant pour ces derniers d’un
intérêt éminent, représentent un défi intellectuel. Les cours de langues de
spécialité deviennent un milieu naturel et parfaitement propice pour cette
pratique. La présente contribution se fixe pour objectif de présenter et analyser les
activités correspondant à ces fins réalisées dans le cadre de cours de français
juridique dispensé par le Centre de langues de l’Université Masaryk (Brno,
République tchèque).
Le cours de français juridique en question est consacré au droit pénal matériel
français, les étudiants ayant déjà pris connaissance de la procédure pénale ainsi
que des juridictions pénales françaises durant le semestre précédent. Dans la
première phase, les étudiants se familiarisent avec la base de données des textes
juridiques français disponible en ligne et apprennent à s’orienter dans le Code
pénal et à rechercher les décisions de justice. La seconde phase consiste à
rechercher des jugements et arrêts selon les critères donnés, les analyser,
reconstituer le déroulement de la procédure, présenter les faits sur l’axe temporel
ainsi qu’à exposer les motifs des décisions successives. La dernière phase,
comparative, comporte l’application des prescriptions légales tchèques
correspondantes sur les affaires pénales analysées et la discussion des différences
de forme et de fond entre les deux systèmes nationaux.
Nous voudrions partager l’expérience de ces activités, en évaluer les résultats et
expliciter les procédés qui développent et renforcent la pensée critique,
notamment l’application des règles et le travail avec les analogies et les concepts
dont résulte la reconnaissance et la création des schémas de problèmes et leur
solution. Enfin, il convient de rappeler l’influence de l’interaction sociale et de
l’interdépendance de la pensée sur l’intellect humain.
Summary
Developing critical thinking may include exposing students to complex and authentic
intellectually challenging tasks. Academic LSP courses have become an environment
that particularly suits critical thinking practice. Our aim is to present and analyze
activities carried out for the purposes of critical thinking development in a course of
Legal French offered by the Masaryk University Language Centre (Brno, Czech
Republic). The activities are based on navigation in an online database of French
legal texts. Their objectives vary, students may seek laws and court decisions
according to the given criteria, analyze them, reconstruct procedures or present
facts on a time axis. Differences in form and substance between the two national
systems are also compared and discussed. The paper also explicitly considers
processes that develop and strengthen critical thinking, namely work with concepts,
creation of a problem schema, construction of shared knowledge and an
interdependent way of thinking.
Dagmar Sieglova
Vysoká škola Škoda Auto, Vysoká škola finanční a správní, Czech Republic
Critical Thinking as a Potential for the Tertiary Language Education Practice
in the Czech Republic and beyond
The information revolution affects societies across disciplines including tertiary
level education. Students face an increasing need to deal with information
overload, growing expectations and competition not only during their studies, but
also in their approximating practice. To succeed in school and later at work, they
need specific skills – to orient in, process and apply information available to them
from utterly unfathomable resources, and what is more, in multiple languages.
Therefore, mastering foreign languages provides them with a competitive
advantage to succeed or excel in school or at the job market.
Traditional language teaching methods still widely applied, frontal teaching or
accent on grammar perfection and drills to name a few, become inefficient for the
globally interconnected world of the information age. The paper accentuates the
need to enhance student critical thinking skills in combination with foreign
language competences. It argues that developing critical thinking together with
language skills activates study potential, refines key competencies for both study
and job performance, and reflects the needs for modernization and optimizing
teaching methods at the tertiary level. A concept for promoting critical thinking
will be introduced in the context of foreign language instruction. The suggested
approach is based on an existing critical thinking methodology, unique in its
complexity as it describes a set of cooperative teaching methods for teachers as
well as study techniques for students. While empowering teachers as mediators of
the teaching process, and students as active participants of the learning process,
this approach is a suitable reflection of the changing roles in the learning and
teaching process that information society imprints into the relationship between
the student and teacher. At the same time, it is a powerful tool to optimize the
efficiency of the educational processes as a preparation for future practice.
Summary
Die heutige Informationszeit legt mehrere Anforderungen auf die Studenten den
Hochschulen, weil sie steigenden Informationenmenge, Erwartungen und
Arbeitskonkurrenz schaffen müssen. Um erfolgreich zu sein, brauchen sie einige
Kompetenzen: Informationen, oft in mehreren Sprachen, richtig zu organisieren,
bearbeiten und in der Praxis anzuwenden. Deswegen ist es wichtig nicht nur die
Muttersprache zu kennen. Wenn sie Fremdsprachen beherrschen, gewinnen sie einen
kompetitiven Vorteil im Studium und später in der Arbeit.
Die traditionellen Lehrmetoden, wie der Frontalunterricht, sind nicht mehr effektiv
in der heutigen global verbunden Informationszeit. Das Entscheidende ist die
Fähigkeit des kritischen Denkens in der Kombination mit den Kenntnissen der
Fremdsprachen. Der Beitrag betont ein Konzept für die Entwicklung des kritischen
Denkens im Kontext des Fremdsprachunterrichts, der einzigartig ist, weil er nicht
nur die Methoden des kooperativen Unterrichts für Lehrer, sondern auch die
Lernstrategien für Studenten anbietet. Diese Kombination spiegelt die Bedarfe der
heutigen Veränderungen in der Gesellschaft.
Libor Stepanek
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
Authenticity Unlimited: An Analysis of a “Key Competencies in International
Academic Communication” Course
Exposing students to authentic tasks that require high levels of creativity, critical
thinking, and active engagement in problem solving and international
collaboration has recently become central to many academic language courses.
This paper presents an analysis of an experimental “Key Competencies in
International Academic Communication” course organised by the Masaryk
University (MU) Language Centre in 2015.
The objective of the thirteen-week course was to improve language and
communication skills of students in international contexts. Its experimental
objective was to explore the pedagogical potential of Creative Approach to
Language Teaching (CALT) in highly authentic situations. To successfully complete
the course, students were expected to actively participate in three parallel
asymmetric tracks: Track I (Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca,
Argentina) focused on academic language using individual asynchronous written
and oral communication. MU students created short academic texts, videoreviewed papers of their Argentinean peers, and compared characteristics of
written and oral language. Track II (Uppsala University, Sweden) focused on
culture using oral synchronous communication. MU students discussed cultural
topics in intercultural pairs via Skype, shared their experience in four
videoconferences and identified cultural influences on communication. Track III
(New York University Shanghai, China) focused on the meta-level of
communication using task-based collaborative techniques. Having chosen bridges
as a metaphor for communication, MU students communicated both
synchronously and asynchronously. They gathered information and materials on
pedestrian bridges in Brno and Shanghai and collaboratively produced video
stories and individual synthesizing essays. The final course outcome was a list of
key competencies and strategies for international academic communication
created by the course participants.
The aim of this paper is to share experience with the experiment, offer insight into
the course organization, present views of the course participants and discuss
pedagogical outcomes and practical limitations of CALT in authentic teaching
situations.
Summary
Este trabajo presenta el análisis de un curso experimental "Las Competencias Clave
en la Comunicación Académica Internacional" organizado por el Centro de Lenguas
de la Universidad Masaryk (UM) en 2015. El objetivo ha sido mejorar las habilidades
comunicativas y lingüísticas del alumnado en el contexto internacional construyendo
vías diferentes: entre los estudiantes de la UM y (1) la Universidad Nacional del Sur,
Bahía Blanca, Argentina, centrándose en el lenguaje académico del individuo que
usa la comunicación escrita y oral asincrónica; (2) la Universidad de Uppsala,
Suecia, centrándose en la cultura usando la comunicación oral sincrónica; (3) la
Universidad de Nueva York de Shanghai, China, centrada en el nivel meta de la
comunicación utilizando técnicas basadas en tareas de colaboración. Este trabajo
comparte la experiencia con el experimento, presenta los puntos de vista de los
participantes y discute los resultados pedagógicos y limitaciones prácticas de CALT
en situaciones de enseñanza auténticas.
Jessica A. Thonn
Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy
Journeys/Viaggi: Intertwined multi-university English L2 and Italian L2
courses for bilingual and intercultural growth
University students in Italy, roughly the same age, but from two different
countries, studying two different languages. Interacting together weekly, in and
outside of the classroom, in structured activities, bilingually. In the Fall 2015 cycle,
CLA UniFi and an American university, Middlebury College, jointly created two
intertwined courses: “B2 Conversation: Journeys” (English L2) and “Viaggi nella
letteratura, cinematografia e canzone italiane” (Italian L2). Students ranged in L2
language ability from B1-C1, with most at the B2 level. The main purpose for
Middlebury was two-fold: to further American students’ knowledge of Italian
culture and to encourage friendships with locals. The CLA’s objectives were to
increase language exposure/usage while increasing critical thinking about
multicultural issues.
Journeys can be physical/spatial or psychological/internal; our own or others’;
written, filmed or sung; voluntary or imposed. In whatever form, journeys incite
abundant conversation in a language classroom. The courses, in addition to
separate monolingual L2 lessons, were intertwined by 5 in-class tandem sessions,
4 joint homework activities, 2 movie nights, Forums on Moodle, and a Christmas
party. The homework grouped members from each school to work together; each
assignment required a tangible product. The initial tandem sessions exposed
students to different approaches to bilingual interaction; participants then worked
out among themselves the flavor of bilingualism that best suited them while
ensuring mutual L2-production fairness. Participants filled out a pre- and posttest, measuring perceived and actual language ability, as well as a final opinion
survey. The presentation will focus mostly on the joint activities, discussing the
methodological choices behind them. Then the findings from the pre/post-test
analysis and participant feedback will be put forth, to encourage audience
assessment of the courses’ success.
Summary
Nel ciclo autunnale 2015 il CLA UniFi e un’università americana, Middlebury
College, ha svolto corsi di lingua L2 paralleli ma frammisti: “B2 Conversation:
Journeys” (presso il CLA, inglese L2) e “Viaggi nella letteratura, cinematografia e
canzone italiane” (Middlebury, italiano L2). I percorsi tematici e le attività dell’uno
rispecchiavano i percorsi e le attività dell’altro; le classi hanno lavorato assieme in
5 tandem in compresenza, 4 lavori esterni svolti in piccoli gruppi misti, 2
cineforum, e forum su Moodle. Lo scopo era di far lavorare assieme gli studenti, di
età e capacitàL2 simili ma di nazionalità/culture diverse, in condizioni bilingui per
migliorare le conoscenze linguistiche, esercitare il pensiero critico in L2, e
generare amicizie. Una valutazione linguistica è stata svolta durante le prime ed
ultime lezioni, insieme a un sondaggio d’opinione anonimo finale. L’intervento
presenterà le scelte metodologiche sottostanti le attività e i risultati della
valutazione e dei sondaggi.
Patty van Bielder, Cristina Irun
Tilburg University, Netherlands
Activating Students with Prowise
One of the latest developments in digital education is the online presentation tool
Prowise Presenter. This tool is now used by the Tilburg University Language
Center combined with Prowise touchscreen digiboards that have replaced our
interactive (Smart) whiteboards. The Presenter allows (language) teachers to
create more interactive lesson plans and presentations, actively involving students
in discussions with voting tools, quizzes and by sharing the screen. Setting
Prowise apart from other online tools (Mentimeter, Socrative, Notebook,
PowerPoint with voting boxes) is that Prowise is one application encompassing all
these tools and that students can use their own mobile devices to partake in the
activities. We have found that this works well at all levels of education, from
beginners to advanced learners, both for language and skills courses. During this
presentation, we offer an insight into the application of this activating system.
This session should be interesting for (ICT) policy makers and teachers alike.
Because the presentation will be an interactive one in which we would like to
experience the possibilities of the presentation tool, we recommend you download
the
ProConnect
app
(https://www.prowise.com/nl/presentersoftware/proconnect/).
Summary
Tijdens deze presentatie lichten wij een tipje van de sluier op over het activeren van
studenten met digitale middelen. Tilburg University Language Center heeft in alle
lokalen interactieve whiteboards van Prowise. Met de bijbehorende software kunnen
studenten op hun telefoon of tablet input leveren. Dit stelt ons in staat om een
krachtige leeromgeving te creëren waarbij studenten worden uitgedaagd om actief
te participeren in de lessen. We zullen enkele van onze lesideeën presenteren, maar
wees voorbereid dat we ook van u een actieve bijdrage zullen vragen. Neem daarom
uw smartphone of tablet mee.
Jeroen van Engen
University of Groningen, Netherlands
Developing online language courses
Internationalization is an increasingly important factor in higher education in the
Netherlands and Europe. Universities are offering English-taught Bachelor’s and
Master’s programmes alongside programmes in the local languages. Although the
use of English as a tool of communication in higher education attracts
international students and staff, the importance of proficiency in the local
language remains necessary and could even serve as a catalyst for employability.
In March 2015, the University of Groningen Language Centre developed the first
foreign language MOOC on FutureLearn.com: ‘Introduction to Dutch’. This threeweek massive open online language course mainly serves as a means to engage
future incoming students and staff with Dutch, the Netherlands and Groningen. So
far, the course has attracted over 70,000 learners world-wide, who have learnt
Dutch up to a lower A1.
Parallel to the LMOOC, we developed online Dutch language courses up to
intermediate level. These courses run in the University’s LMS and use the
SpeakApps tools to facilitate online oral production and interaction skills. There
are also interaction sessions, which can be accessed from all timezones. The
approach taken will serve as a model for online language courses in the Dutch and
Modern Foreign Languages sections of the University of Groningen Language
Centre.
In this paper, we would like to present and share the conception and development
of the online language programme at the University of Groningen Language
Centre. By offering online language courses we believe we will be able to better
serve the interests of our international students and staff, both present and future,
and to reach out to a wider population of language learners than we ever thought
possible.
Summary
Wir möchten in unserem Beitrag die Konzeption und Entwicklung des OnlineSprachlernprogramms für Niederländisch und andere Moderne Fremdsprachen am
Sprachenzentrum der Universität Groningen vorstellen, das wir seit März/April 2015
in unserem Studienprogramm anbieten.
Im März 2015 haben wir die erste Fremdsprache für MOOC FutureLearn.com
entwickelt: "Introduction to Dutch". Dieser dreiwöchige “ massive, offene Online-
Sprachkurs” diente in erster Linie dazu um zukünftige Studenten und Mitarbeiter für
die niederländische Sprache, die Niederlande und Groningen zu begeistern. Bisher
haben mit "Introduction to Dutch" mehr als 87.000Interessierte weltweit
Niederländisch bis zur unteren Stufe A1 des Gemeinsamen Europäischen
Referenzrahmens (CEFR) gelernt.
Parallel zu “Introduction to Dutch” haben wir in unserer universitären
Lernumgebung (LMS) Online-Niederländisch Sprachkurse bis hin zu höheren
Niveaus entwickelt. Diese Kurse verwenden u.a. die SpeakApps Tools, damit die
Lernenden auch online ihre mündliche Interaktionsfähigkeit trainieren können.
Darüber hinaus gibt es interaktive Sitzungen, die weltweit von allen Zeitzonen aus
zugänglich sind. Dieser Ansatz dient als Vorbild für Online-Sprachkurse für
Niederländisch und andere Moderne Fremdsprachen des Sprachenzentrums der
Universität Groningen.
Satu von Boehm, Marja Suojala
University of Helsinki, Finland
Student approaches to peer editing in first and second language writing
Peer editing has already established its place in teaching languages and writing.
Based on a view on learning where knowledge is actively and jointly constructed,
shared and discussed, peer editing is a critical part of a social culture of learning
and assessment where students’ agency plays a central role (e.g. Sadler 2010).
Giving and receiving feedback on their own writing strengthens students’ analytic
approaches to language and writing by enforcing their metacognitive skills and
self-regulation (e.g. Nicol & Macfarlane 2006, Orsmond et al. 2013). Peer editing
also enables students to see what other students have done and can do, thus
expanding both their creativity and critical reading skills.
In this presentation, we explore students’ peer editing experiences in writing and
language courses at the university level. Our results are based on a student
questionnaire (N=149) focusing on peer editing as a process. The students are
from various levels of language learning, from CEFR A1-level students of French to
B2- and C1-level students of English to students writing in their mother tongue,
Finnish. The presentation focuses on what students think about the relation
between peer and teacher feedback, what kind of difficulties they find with the
approach and in what way the students think they benefited from the peer editing
process.
Most of the students in our study have a positive view on peer editing. According
to the student responses, peer editing is a successful approach even at beginnerlevel language courses, but what the students gain from peer editing at that level
may differ from what more advanced learners find beneficial. Moreover, there are
individual differences in what is considered difficult in the process. More details
and pedagogical implications are discussed in the presentation.
Summary
Peer Editing hat sich inzwischen im Sprachunterricht im schriftlichen Bereich als
Methode bewährt. Studierende können auf diese Weise zusammen arbeiten, um
Wissen zu konstruieren und darüber zu diskutieren. Mit Peer-Editing können
Studierende ihre metakognitiven Kenntnisse verbessern und mehr Erfahrung mit
analytischen Arbeitsmitteln im Sprachenlernen entwickeln.
In dieser Präsentation werden wir der Frage nachgehen, wie Studierende den
Prozess des Schreibens mit Peer-Editing erleben. Unsere Ergebnisse stammen aus
einem Fragebogen, den 149 Studierende ausgefüllt haben. Der Prozesscharakter des
Peer-Editings steht hierbei im Fokus. Unsere Studierenden befinden sich auf
verschiedenen CEFR-Niveaustufen, von A1 im Französischen bis B2 und C1 im
Englischen und muttersprachlichem Schreiben im Finnischen.
Unsere Präsentation konzentriert sich auf folgende Themen: Wie erleben die
Studierenden den Unterschied zwischen dem Feedback von Kommilitonen und
Lehrern? Welche Schwierigkeiten haben sie mit dem Peer-Feedback der
Kommilitonen? Welche Vorteile resultieren aus diesem Prozess? Spezifische
Einzelheiten und pädagogische Folgerungen werden in der Präsentation diskutiert.
Ewa Wapinska
University of Oslo, Norway
International Students’ Voices on Creating Communities of Practice
The social theory of learning assumes that involvement in social practice is the
basic process by which we learn and become who we are. This kind of social
theory of learning does not concentrate on analyzing the individual, or social
institutions, but on the situated informal communities of practice which engage
people in shared activities over time (Lave & Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998).
The aim of this presentation is to share international students’ reflections on
linguistic and social learning activities that effectively stimulate foreign language
acquisition. Results were gathered from student surveys conducted in Norwegian
language courses at the University of Oslo over the past six years.
The presentation illustrates and discusses how different approaches and
classroom practices affect the success of, and attitudes toward, the foreign
language learning experience, as seen from the student perspective. It shows how
collaborative and task-based approaches, and interaction between students,
students and teacher, and students with native speakers foster a creative
language-learning environment.
Finally, the presentation illustrates how students collectively, throughout the
learning process, expand and develop each other’s learning by creating
plurilinguestic and multicultural communities of practice, stimulating and
benefiting from collaborative task- and context-based practices while learning the
target language.
Summary
Le but de cette présentation est de partager les réflexions des étudiants
internationaux, apprenant la langue norvégienne en Norvège, sur un certain nombre
de méthodes d'apprentissage linguistique et social orales et écrites qui stimulent
efficacement les capacités d'acquisition d'une langue étrangère.
En s'appuyant sur quelques observations d'élèves issues d'enquêtes au cours des six
dernières années, la présentation tente d'illustrer et de mettre en exergue les
différentes approches de l'expérience d'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère, et les
changements d'attitude que cela peut induire, du point de vue de l'élève. Cette
présentation illustre donc le retour des étudiants sur ces stratégies d'enseignement
mais aussi sur les interactions entre les étudiants et l'enseignant ou les locuteurs
natifs ainsi que les interactions par paires ou encore en groupe.
Enfin, la présentation cherche à mettre en valeur la manière dont les étudiants,
collectivement et tout au long de leur processus d'apprentissage de la langue cible,
développent et encouragent l'apprentissage de chacun à travers la création de
communautés multiculturelles et plurilinguestiques de pratique, stimulant et
bénéficiant d’expériences basées sur les tâches et le contexte fondées sur la
collaboration.
Catherine Xiang
London School of Economics, United Kingdom
Audio-visual Media in L2 Teaching: A Grundtvig Project at LSE Language
Centre
The LSE Language Centre participated in an EU Grundtvig project named ‘Audiovisual Media in L2 Teaching’ for the past two years (from Aug 2010 to Sept 2014).
This paper aims to share the project experiences as well as a range of case studies
looking at the ways in which audio-visual media shape the teaching and learning
at language centres across Europe.
As we develop and grow professionally, our teaching methodologies also evolve to
meet our learners’ needs. Technology and social media has now become an
inseparable part of our classroom teaching and general language education. There
is a pressing need to examine and understand how language teachers use audiovisual media in their teaching and how language learners respond and contribute
to the teaching material production and learning outcomes themselves. With the
support from the Grundtvig Partnership funding, the LSE Language Centre,
representing UK, worked with three EU partner institutes from Cyprus, Italy and
Germany precisely on these issues.
The proposed presentation will cover three parts: Part 1, Teaching with Audiovisual Media; Part 2, Students at the Centre of Learning; and Part 3, Other
considerations. In the first two parts, a range of case studies and how audio-visual
media are incorporated by different teachers will be introduced across a range of
languages. The methodologies cover both teacher as well as students as producers.
The final part, a range of aspects such as copyright implications and student
feedback will be discussed. The presentation aims to show how audio-visual
media and project as such contribute to greater creativity in both teachers and
learners as well as a much more international outlook for Language Centres.
Summary
To be inserted
Giving Language Centres an International Voice
Simone Barnhoorn
Radboud University, Netherlands
In'to the future: a case study
As a university language and communication centre, how do you ensure quality,
knowledge and expertise in an environment of seeming contradictions and how do
you respond proactively and intuitively to customer demands in a setting that
both facilitates and inhibits?
It is against this backdrop that, in 2015, Radboud in'to Languages launched a
review process with the objective of better utilising and profiling our distinctive
qualities and working in a more efficient and result-oriented manner, with the
intention of consolidating our position. In doing so, we were faced with dilemmas
typical of a university language centre: remaining entrepreneurial while
embedded in a bureaucratic structure; being result-oriented and cost-conscious
while maintaining academic quality; striving for growth while staying decisive and
focused; standardising processes for the sake of efficiency while encouraging our
staff to strive for excellence; employing many temporary staff out of necessity
while simultaneously demanding commitment; having minimal interdepartmental communication while wishing to exchange and nurture knowledge
in the best possible way. In our presentation, we will demonstrate how we have
modified the organisational structure in order to streamline operations, increase
employee empowerment and encourage bottom-up initiatives. We will also
explain the choices we have made in the field of knowledge management in order
to acquire/add missing knowledge and secure vital expertise. Finally, we will
specify what resources we have employed to establish and communicate the
agreements we have made with each other.
Summary
Wie gelingt es dem Sprach- und Kommunikationszentrum einer Universität, im
Spannungsfeld zwischen scheinbaren Gegensätzen, in einem Umfeld, das fördert und
hemmt zugleich, die Qualität, die Kenntnisse und das Know-how zu sichern? Und wie
können die Wünsche der Kunden optimal und vorausschauend aufgegriffen werden?
Vor dem Hintergrund dieser Fragen hat Radboud in’to Languages im Jahr 2015
einen Neuorientierungsprozess in Gang gesetzt. Dabei wurden wir mit den Dilemmas
konfrontiert, die für Sprachenzentrum von Universitäten kennzeichnend sind:
Einerseits sollen wir unternehmerisch handeln, zugleich sind wir jedoch Teil einer
behördlichen Struktur. Wir wollen ergebnisorientiert und kostenbewusst arbeiten
und zugleich die akademische Qualität wahren. Wir wollen Effizienzverfahren
standardisieren, aber unseren Mitarbeiter auch die Möglichkeit bieten,
ausgezeichnete Leistungen zu erbringen. Wir sehen uns gezwungen, viele
Zeitarbeitskräfte einzusetzen, verlangen aber gleichzeitighohes Engagement. Hinzu
kommt der Spagat zwischen wenig struktureller Kommunikation einerseits und
andererseits dem Ziel, Wissen optimal auszutauschen und zu sichern.
In unserer Präsentation bieten wir eine Fallstudie, gewähren Einblick in die
Dilemmas, Best Practices und Lösungen. Zum Schluss möchten wir Ideen zur
Konsolidierung der Qualität austauschen.
Anje Dijk
University of Groningen, Netherlands
The implementation of a Language Policy within University - The role of the
Language Centre
Internationalization is a hot item within Dutch universities, and the University of
Groningen is no exception. Our University’s internationalization ambition is
rooted in the need to attract more international students. However, the University
is also very much aware that in today’s globalizing world creating an international
study environment is of vital importance for students. The international classroom
has clear added value for students, as it enriches the curriculum by utilizing the
diversity of languages and cultures that both students and lecturers bring into the
classroom.
Any university that is going through an internationalization process needs a clear,
widely supported language policy. After all, internationalization is not just about
teaching. The entire support structure of the university as well as its research are
affected by the presence of students and staff members from various linguistic and
cultural backgrounds.
The Language and Culture Policy focuses on the entire University, including
students, support staff, researchers and teaching staff. Staff and students from
various parts of the University were consulted during the drafting phase.
The University has designed three large-scale projects to facilitate implementation
of the Language and Culture Policy: the International Classroom, the Language and
Culture Policy, and Learning Communities, all three of which aim to strengthen the
international learning environment within the University.
The Language Centre is one of the parties involved in implementing the Language
and Culture Policy. In this presentation I will describe the process that has
resulted in the Policy, provide an outline, briefly introduce our Language Centre
and show what we have done to safeguard our role in this process and to fulfil our
task to the best of our ability. Finally, I will provide an overview of the activities
implemented by our Language Centre and discuss some of the pitfalls and
challenges that we are faced with.
Summary
Die Universität Groningen ist sich sehr bewusst, dass es in dieser globalisierten Welt
wesentlich ist, um für Studenten ein internationales Studienumfeld zu schaffen. Für
diese hat ein international classroom einen deutlichen Mehrwert, in dem der
Lehrplan durch die Nutzung der Vielfalt von Sprache und Kultur von Studierenden
und Lehrenden bereichert wird.
Eine Universität, die die Internationalisierung vorantreibt, benötigt eine auf breiter
Ebene unterstützte Sprachenpolitik. Die Universität Groningen hat eine Sprachenund Kulturpolitik aufgestellt, die auf die gesamte Universität zugeschnitten ist:
Studenten, Hilfskräfte, Forscher und Lehrpersonal.
Das Sprachenzentrum ist eine der Parteien innerhalb der Universität Groningen, die
die Umsetzung der Sprachen- und Kulturpolitik realisieren muss. In dieser
Präsentation beschreibe ich, welche Aktivitäten das Sprachenzentrum entwickelt
hat, um seine Rolle in diesem Prozess zu sichern und seine Aufgabe so weit wie
möglich zu erfüllen.
Johann Fischer
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany
From curriculum development to assessment and certification – The
challenges of implementing standardisation in university-specific and
student-centred approaches to teaching, learning and testing
In developing a language teaching and learning programme at university language
centres we no longer start by selecting a suitable textbook available on the market,
but by analysing the needs of the learners, of the departments and of the context in
which our graduates will work in the future. We then define the learning outcomes
of the programme in total and of the individual modules. This helps us to think
about suitable approaches to teaching and learning and to develop language tests.
These tests should obviously take into consideration the university context and
the learners’ linguistic and academic background, and try to identify whether the
learners will be able to manage a situation in their field of studies or their future
professional context from a linguistic point of view. Commercial tests available on
the market suit different needs and will not help us in our goal to find out how
well our students will manage situations in a foreign language. Task-based
approaches to teaching, learning and assessing can help us to combine university
context, academic discipline and our students’ personal competences, and to cater
for their needs and interests. Nevertheless, standardisation is needed to guarantee
objectivity, reliability and validity of the test, and to help students prepare for the
test. At national level we have to work towards common standards in testing and
assessment, at European level towards a common understanding of our learning
objectives and teaching aims, and work towards mutual recognition of our
certificates.
In this paper we will present the results of our own approach to developing
teaching, learning and assessment guidelines at institutional and national level,
the results of comparative studies at European level and the challenges ahead of
us to move towards a common European university testing and assessment
network.
Summary
Dans cette présentation nous montrerons comment nous avons développé des
programmes d’études pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage des langues étrangères
à l’université ainsi qu’un concept pour une évaluation qui reflète l’approche
actionnelle utilisée en cours. Vu que nos programmes et nos examens doivent
s’intégrer dans le contexte universitaire et les cursus de nos étudiants il nous faut
une approche très différente des manuels disponibles sur le marché et des tests de
langues commerciaux. Mais nous ne devons quand même pas négliger une certaine
standardisation de nos propres tests.
Cette présentation expliquera ensuite la mise en œuvre de cette approche à
l’enseignement et à l’évaluation à l’échelle nationale, avant d’analyser les
ressemblances et les différences entre les différents systèmes d’évaluation au niveau
européen et d’aborder les défis à harmoniser ces systèmes et à arriver à une
reconnaissance mutuelle de nos certificats en Europe.
Ivana Fratter, Luisa Marigo
Università di Padova, Italy
Forme integrate di autovalutazione e valutazione in entrata per l’italiano L2
per studenti universitari stranieri in scambio con l’Università di Padova.
Il crescente numero di studenti in mobilita’ internazionale con esperienze
pregresse di studio dell’italiano come L2 ha portato il Centro Linguistico di Ateneo
(CLA) dell’Università di Padova nel corso degli anni ad accettare attestati di
conoscenza della lingua italiana come indicatori per l’assegnazione del livello del
corso di lingua italiana. Tale scelta ha tuttavia messo in discussione l’opportunità
di mantenere in uso il test online di piazzamento presso il nostro centro (Fratter,
Marigo, Pescina 2015). Per tale ragione nell’anno accademico 2015-2016 è stato
condotto un progetto di ricerca e sperimentazione presso il CLA che ha introdotto,
per un campione di studenti, l’utilizzo di un sistema di valutazione integrato tra
autovalutazione e valutazione in entrata.
La prima fase del progetto ha previsto la somministrazione del test d’entrata
online del CLA erogato attraverso la piattaforma Moodle al fine di incrociare e
confrontare i risultati del test con altri attestati di livello in possesso degli
studenti, come per esempio l’OLS, Online Linguistic Support. Da una prima analisi
dei dati si sono riscontrate alcune criticità legate per esempio a dati incongrui tra i
diversi test o a situazioni di difficile valutazione (risultati molto differenti tra
abilità all’interno dello stesso test) che hanno rafforzato la scelta di introdurre
nella seconda fase del progetto anche l’autovalutazione ponendo, così, lo studente
al centro della scelta finale. Tale scelta aveva come obiettivo quello di verificare se
gli studenti fossero in grado di autovalutare il proprio livello di partenza
dell’italiano L2 e al contempo di scegliere la classe di italiano più adatta ai propri
bisogni linguistici. A tale scopo sono stati forniti degli strumenti di
autovalutazione integrata quali le griglie di riferimento del QCER e il sillabo
relativo a ciascun livello (Lo Duca 2006).
Gli apprendenti sottoposti a questa seconda fase della sperimentazione sono stati
invitati ad un colloquio individuale durante il quale sono emerse delle criticità
legate alla difficoltà di utilizzare gli strumenti di autovalutazione in autonomia
senza una guida.
Nella presentazione verranno esposti i risultati delle due fasi di sperimentazione e
la nuova proposta di autovalutazione e valutazione con strumenti integrati.
Summary
Our contribution aims at showing the results of an experimental research study
conducted during the academic year 2015-2016 at the University of Padua Language
Centre (CLA).
The objective of the study is to examine the results of a proposal to integrate self and
entrance evaluation aimed at foreign incoming students.
First step of the project involved the administration of an entrance test and the
comparison of the test results with the data collected from others certifications
presented by a sample of students. In the second step a different sample of learners
experimented self-evaluation tools based on the descriptors of the European
Language Portfolio and the syllabus used at the CLA. Critical aspects were found in
both steps: in the first, incongruities between the different systems of evaluation, in
the second, the necessity to guide students to use self-evaluation instruments to
develop a real self-awareness of their language needs.
Susanne Gundermann, Gregg Dubow
University of Freiburg, Germany
Certifying the Linguistic and Communicative Competencies of Teachers in
English-taught Programs
Language teaching centres have predominantly been responsible for ensuring that
prospective and enrolled students achieve established language criteria required
for both domestic and international study programs. This role of language centres
at the tertiary level is well-established and vital for universities’
internationalization efforts. It is less common, however, that language centres are
responsible for ensuring the language and communicative skills of teaching staff in
English-taught programs as it is widely assumed that teaching staff possess such
skills at a high level.
By establishing procedures and criteria to certify the linguistic and communicative
competencies of teaching staff in programs taught in a foreign language, language
teaching centres can contribute to creating a further quality standard for
universities opting for more English-taught degree programs as part of their
internationalization efforts. That is, in addition to preparing students for
internationalized studies in a foreign language in accordance with language skill
standards (CEFR), language teaching centres can also use and tailor these
standards to assess the specific communicative skill set required to teach a
multilingual group of students in English-taught programs.
In light of this fact, the English Medium Instruction (EMI) unit from the Language
Teaching Centre at the University of Freiburg will introduce its recently developed
procedure and specific linguistic and communicative criteria for certifying
English-taught programs. The development of this certification procedure not only
assures the quality of language use in English-taught programs, but it also
motivates teachers to reflect on and adapt their use of language and
communicative strategies when teaching in the international classroom through
the medium of English.
Summary
Bislang bestand die Hauptaufgabe von Sprachenzentren darin, Studierenden die
notwendigen Fremdsprachenkenntnisse für ihr Studium beizubringen. Nur selten
waren Sprachzentren jedoch damit beauftragt, die sprachlichen und
kommunikativen Fähigkeiten von Lehrenden in einer Fremdsprache zu überprüfen,
da meist ungeprüft ein hohes Sprachniveau als Gegeben angenommen wird. Durch
die Entwicklung von Kriterien und Testverfahren zur Qualitätssicherung der
fremdsprachigen Hochschullehre können Sprachenzentren aber einen weiteren
Qualitätsstandard für Universitäten schaffen und sichern, was besonders im Zuge der
zunehmenden Internationalisierung von Wissenschaft und Studium und der
wachsenden Zahl an englischsprachigen Studiengängen immer wichtiger wird. In
diesem Vortrag stellt der Fachbereich English Medium Instruction des
Sprachlehrinstituts
der
Universität
Freiburg
sein
neu
entwickeltes
Qualitätssicherungsverfahren sowie die Beurteilungskriterien zur Zertifizierung
englischsprachiger Studiengänge vor. Neben dem Ziel der Qualitätssicherung
motiviert dieses Verfahren außerdem Lehrende dazu, ihre sprachlichen und
kommunikativen Strategien zu reflektieren und dem englischsprachigen Unterricht
adäquat anzupassen.
Julia Harvey
University of Groningen, Netherlands
Language Centres
Management
as
translation
service
providers:
Terminology
In recent years, the Translation Focus Group (TFG) has paid particular attention to
issues concerning the production of multilingual institutional texts within the
context of European higher education, specifically in order to enhance the quality
and effectiveness of terminology and style in ways that ensure the availability of
best-possible accorded, validated and relevant options. Building on various
initiatives launched by TFG members at local level, the group as a whole is
currently designing a project that aims to create an integrated multilingual online
platform specifically to assist producers of HE institutional texts.
This abstract relates to one of three papers elaborating on this. My presentation
looks at the way terminology management can be improved. This covers not only
monitoring and disseminating education terminology in European and global
theatres, but also raising awareness of the dangers of misinterpretation. We take a
new approach to terminology management, starting with close communication
with policy creators in Europe (the Tuning project) to ensure that the conceptual
frameworks behind terminology related to new legislation is thoroughly
understood. This is crucial for ensuring appropriate translations of the new
terminology into the EU languages. Our terminology database will immediately
make the appropriate translations available to all users, in all language
combinations, with English as the hub, and with explanations of the conceptual
framework. A feedback option enables questions to be answered quickly, with
necessary adaptations swiftly incorporated. We also plan to create an app
enabling the database to be consulted whenever and wherever it is needed.
This presentation outlines our approach to terminology management,
demonstrates the new tools and gives some examples of new terminology. It will
also highlight some recent cases where misunderstanding has led to confusion. If
there is time, some examples of false friends in Dutch and English will also be
presented.
Summary
Eine der Speerspitzen der 2016 Erasmus+-Antragstellung ist das
Terminologiemanagement. Terminologiemanagement hat viele Aspekte – nicht nur
die Überwachung und Verbreitung neuer Terminologie im Zusammenhang mit
Bildung auf dem europäischen und sogar weltweiten Schauplatz, sondern auch die
Bewusstmachung für die Gefahren von Fehlinterpretationen. Wir streben ein neues
Konzept für das Terminologiemanagement an, dass von engen Beziehungen zu
Richtlinienerstellern in Europa (Tuning-Projekt) ausgeht, um sicherzustellen, dass
der konzeptionelle, hinter Begriffen im Zusammenhang mit neuer Gesetzgebung
stehende Rahmen gründlich verstanden wird. Dies ist ein entscheidender Schritt auf
dem Weg der Gewährleistung angemessener Übersetzungen der neuen Terminologie
in die EU-Sprachen.
Manuela Kelly Calzini
Trinity College London, United Kingdom
Teaching to the test or Tests that teach?
Change seems to be a constant in today’s world. Unpredictable economies, job
competition and the information rich era we are living in are just some of the
aspects that have impacted on the role of EFL education. We can better
understand and implement change in language teaching and learning if we look for
connections between changes. The concept of paradigm shift offers one means of
making such connections. This talk begins by defining the concept of paradigm
shift and discussing paradigm shifts of the past century in our profession as
teachers and testers. The discussion then turns to central concerns of second
language education and language testing communities and how these changes are
being implemented in our profession, including the competing demands of third
generation testing. It is argued that, while teaching practices have become more
communicative, testing seems to remain with the traditional paradigm creating a
washback effect that tends to pull teaching back towards the traditional paradigm,
even when EFL teachers and educators are pushing forward towards the new
paradigm. The talk will also seek to explore how integrative and communicative
tests, consisting of both knowledge of language and the capacity for implementing
that knowledge in communicative language uses, can help the development of
learner skills and enhance both performance and achievement. Ultimately tests
that teach!
Summary
Cambiamento e innovazione sono una costante nel mondo attuale. Nuovi scenari
planetari, la dimensione globale in ogni campo dell’agire umano, la rivoluzione
tecnologica, l’inglese lingua veicolare non possono essere ignorati nella
glottodidattica. Con questo contributo cercheremo di descrivere le linee
fondamentali del nuovo paradigma della didattica delle lingue e come esso abbia
condotto a nuovi approcci metodologici. Esploreremo poi gli sviluppi in ambito di
testing, con particolare attenzione ai test di terza generazione. In questa
presentazione proveremo a capire, in sintesi, se i test di oggi promuovano veramente
lo sviluppo delle competenze a fianco a una didattica maggiormente comunicativa o
se, invece, tendano a restare ancorati al vecchio paradigma.
Pierre Yves Mauron, Stefanie Neuner-Anfindsen, Barbara Etterich
University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Applying research to create language-for-academic-purposes courses in a
blilingual university: process, reflection and evaluation.
The University of Fribourg, Switzerland, is one of the rare universities in Europe to
offer a bilingual environment since its foundation. The two official languages,
German and French, share linguistic space in teaching, research, administration
and in daily life.
As its bilingualism constitutes a strong asset, the University proposes bilingual
bachelor and master degrees in various disciplines. In this context, one of the
missions of the University’s Language Centre consists in valorising, enhancing and
developing this French-German bilingualism by offering students courses fitting
their specific academic needs. In this spirit, it has lately extended its course
programme by creating language-for-academic-purposes courses.
They were developed on the basis of a needs analysis which consisted of three
elements:
1. A quantitative analysis of the answers to a questionnaire on language needs of
1785 university students,
2. a qualitative analysis of interviews with faculty members as well as
3. an evaluation of observations of lectures and seminars.
The two resulting courses “Fit für’s Studium”/ “En forme pour les études”, which
aim at supporting students who already attend lectures or seminars in the second
language of studies, focus on the acquisition of study strategies, on critical
introspection as a means to enhance strategical language learning and on task
orientation. They have been taught for the first time in fall 2015 and hosted
around 50 students.
This talk offers a comprehensive overview of the process of the creation of these
courses, from the very first analysis to the evaluation consecutive to its first
semester of teaching. Moreover, we aim to show how applied research allowed
implementing specific language courses whose purposes and teaching practice
correspond closely to the needs and expectations of both students pursuing a
bilingual university curriculum and an academic environment that encourages and
promotes bilingualism.
Summary
Die Universität Freiburg/Fribourg in der Schweiz ist eine der wenigen Universitäten
in Europa, die seit ihrer Gründung zweisprachige Studiengänge (BA und MA­­Programme) in verschiedenen Fächern anbietet. Das Sprachenzententrum der
Universität unterstützt diese Zweisprachigkeit mit massgeschneiderten
Sprachkursen mit akademischen Inhalten. Dazu gehören zwei neue Kurse, die
mithilfe der folgenden drei Elemente entwickelt wurden:
1. Quantitative Analyse eines von 1785 Studierenden Fragebogens,
2. Qualitative Analyse von Interviews mit Fakultätsmitgliedern,
3. Auswertung
Fakultäten.
der
Beobachtung
ausgewählter
Lehrveranstaltungen
aller
Daraus sind im Herbstsemester 2015 zwei Kurse entstanden: “Fit für’s Studium”/ “En
forme pour les études”, die den Studierenden durch die Vermittlung von sprachlichen
Hilfsmitteln, Studierstrategien und die kritische Selbstreflexion ihres Lernprozesses
beim Studieren in einer anderen Sprache unterstützen. In unserem Vortrag möchten
wir zeigen, wie angewandte Forschung die Planung eines auf die Bedürfnisse von
zweisprachig Studierenden ausgerichteten Sprachkurses positiv beeinflussen kann.
Estelle Meima
University of Groningen, Netherlands
The Implementation of a New University Language Policy: What Does this
Mean for the Staff?
The University of Groningen, like many other European universities, is rapidly
internationalizing. Many Bachelors and Masters programmes are now being
offered in English. These programmes draw students and teachers from all over
the world to the University of Groningen. To accommodate, the university has
devised a new language and culture policy (An inclusive, Dual-Plus approach) to
support all stakeholders. This presentation, however, will only focus on university
staff, both academic and non-academic staff, and what the implementation of this
policy means for them.
As each faculty is in a different phase of internationalization, it is difficult to have a
one-size-fits-all policy. For example, a particular faculty may predominantly work
through English, in which all internal communication to staff and students is in
English. This means that not only the lecturers but also the support staff need a
certain level of English. Another faculty, on the other hand, might still be
functioning mainly through Dutch, where only a small number of programmes or
just individual courses are taught through English, and thus most of the internal
communication is still in Dutch. The question then arises how we can ensure that
the staff have the language skills (Dutch or English) they require to properly
perform their jobs in the setting in which they find themselves. Should their
language levels be formally assessed and if so, how should this be done? Should it
be based on the position as a whole or based on the tasks they do? How will this be
monitored? How will the staff be supported? This presentation addresses these
questions and many more.
Summary
Wie viele andere europäische Universitäten internationalisiert die Universität von
Groningen in schnellem Tempo. Viele Bachelor- und Masterstudiengänge werden
jetzt in englischer Sprache angeboten und ziehen Studenten und Dozenten aus der
ganzen Welt an diese Universität. Um dem entgegenzukommen hat die Universität
eine neue Sprachen- und Kulturpolitik (einen inklusiven Dual-Plus-Ansatz)
entwickelt, der alle Beteiligten unterstützen soll. Diese Präsentation konzentriert
sich allerdings ausschließlich auf das Hochschulpersonal, akademisches und nichtakademisches, und was die Umsetzung dieser Politik für dieses bedeutet. Die
Präsentation versucht, Fragen zu beantworten - wie zum Beispiel die Frage, in
welcher Weise wir sicherstellen können, dass die Mitarbeiter die Sprachkenntnisse
(Niederländisch oder Englisch) haben, die sie benötigen, um ihre Arbeit in einer
derartigen Umgebung durchführen zu können. Sollte das Sprachniveau formal
beurteilt werden, und wenn ja, in welcher Weise? Sollte dies auf Grundlage der Stelle
insgesamt oder aufgabenspezifisch geschehen? Wie wird dies überwacht? Wie
werden die Mitarbeiter unterstützt?
John Morley
University of Manchester, United Kingdom
UNILANG: A certification scheme for language learning in higher education
Around 60,000 students in UK universities study languages in a non-specialist
capacity, often as a minor elective component of their degree, or sometimes as an
adjunct to their academic studies. This important area of activity in higher
education, commonly referred to as Institution-wide Language Provision or IWLP,
has grown rapidly in recent years. This is to be celebrated. However, among
students, teachers and employers there is a recognised need for some kind of light
touch and low cost, and at the same time reliable and standardised model for
language learning certification. The UNILANG certification scheme has been set up
to respond to this need. It serves to help UK university students articulate and
translate what their language learning outcomes mean in terms of the Common
European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). It provides a recognised
certificate that will inform students’ CVs and will explain to careers services and
employers the value of their languages. The scheme runs alongside the award of
credits or other HE awards by the HEI concerned. UNILANG is also designed to
assist course providers to map their courses onto a transparent and translatable
model. This paper will give an account of the principle features of the new
certification scheme and report on the experience of the first year of trialling. In
particular, it will focus on some of the issues and problems which arose, and how
these were negotiated.
Summary
En los últimos años ha crecido significativamente el número de estudiantes
universitarios en el Reino Unido que estudia un idioma en modo no-especialista. Sin
embargo, en estos momentos no hay modo universalmente aceptado que indique
claramente el nivel conseguido en este tipo de cursos en términos de capacidad
comunicativa. Existe, por lo tanto, consenso entre estudiantes, tutores y empresas de
la necesidad de algún tipo de sistema de certificación económico y sencillo, pero al
mismo tiempo de confianza y estandarizado. El programa de certificación de
UNILANG trata de dar respuesta a esta necesidad. Esta presentación tratará de dar
constancia de los aspectos principales del nuevo programa de certificación, a la vez
ofrecer un informe de la experiencia del primer año piloto llevado a cabo en seis
instituciones. En particular, se centrará en algunas de las cuestiones y problemas
encontrados y de cómo se acometieron.
David Owen
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Language Centres as Translation-Service Providers: Developing Style Guides
Over the last few years, the Translation Focus Group (TFG) within CercleS has paid
particular attention to issues concerning the production of multilingual
institutional texts within the context of European higher education, specifically in
order to enhance the quality and effectiveness of terminology and style in ways
that ensure the availability of best-possible accorded, validated and relevant
options. Building on various initiatives launched by TFG members at local level,
the group as a whole is now designing a project that aims to create an integrated
multilingual online platform specifically meant to assist producers of HE
institutional texts.
This abstract is one of three proposals elaborating on the above issues. In
particular, it looks at the way HE institutions produce multilingual institutional
texts.
Higher Education Institutions increasingly promote themselves through their
online presence, in which—and through which—their institutional texts are made
available. The production of these texts is no longer a centralised task, and this
may lead to considerable heterogeneity in written style. Such divergence is often
perceived as a lack of standardisation and quality. Our project aims to address this
issue.
Standardised, validated and effective terminological solutions are central to the
quality of textual production; evidently, this is also the case with style guidance.
This does not refer to the intangible subjectivity of “good writing” but rather to
questions for which clear guidance can be established, such as orthography,
punctuation, abbreviations, use of numbers, gender and plurality, etc.
Our project aims to produce a multilingual, context-sensitive online style guide,
interconnected with our online terminology tool.
The presentation will review the importance of standardised style guidance in
quality assurance, the current reference works that we aim to build upon and will
present the initial stages of our project in this ambit.
Summary
Uno de los puntos básicos en nuestro proyecto es la gestión del estilo en los textos
institucionales. Esto implica poner a disposición de los usuarios las orientaciones
pertinentes, validadas y adaptadas al contexto, que sean una ayuda eficaz para los
redactores en las cuestiones relativas al estilo y que, al mismo tiempo, afecten de una
manera constructiva tanto a la calidad como a la coherencia en un amplio corpus de
textos institucionales.
Nuestro objetivo es desarrollar una guía de estilo relevante, adaptada al contexto y
consultable durante el proceso de redacción, que contribuya directamente a
asegurar la calidad de las publicaciones institucionales y ofrezca un apoyo
profesional directo a los responsables de la producción textual.
Giuseppe Palumbo
Università di Trieste, Italy
Language Centres as translation service providers: A survey of needs and
practices
Over the last few years, the Translation Focus Group (TFG) within CercleS has paid
particular attention to the issues concerning the production of multilingual
institutional texts within the context of European higher education, specifically in
order to enhance the quality and effectiveness of terminology and style in ways
that ensure the availability of best-possible accorded, validated and relevant
options. Building on various initiatives launched by TFG members at local level,
the group as a whole is currently designing a project that aims to create an
integrated multilingual online platform specifically to assist producers of HE
institutional texts. This abstract is one of three papers elaborating on the above
issues. In particular, it looks at the way language centres in HE institutions are
already responding to the increasing demand for translation services coming from
within their parent institutions. The paper reports on the results of an online
survey conducted among European Language Centres (respondents: 69) over the
spring and summer of 2014. Initiated by the Language Centre of the University of
Trieste in collaboration with members of the TFG, the survey was meant to
elucidate what role (if any) translation is given within a university’s language
policy, whether a Language Centre has a dedicated translation unit and – if so –
how it operates, how translating staff is recruited or selected, how terminology is
managed and whether a Centre develops dedicated translational resources (such
as termbases and text repositories) meant for academic and administrative units.
Summary
L’intervento intende presentare i risultati di un sondaggio online svolto con il
supporto del Translation Focus Group di CercleS e rivolto ai Centri Linguistici di un
nutrito gruppo di università europee (numero di risposte: 69). Il sondaggio
intendeva delineare le modalità attraverso cui i Centri Linguistici erogano alle
università di appartenenza servizi di traduzione, revisione, interpretariato
ecomunicazione in lingua straniera. Dalle risposte al sondaggio emerge una
situazione piuttosto variegata quanto a: modelli di organizzazione dei servizi
linguistici; specifica tipologia dei servizi offerti; modalità operative; creazione e
utilizzo di risorse terminologiche.
Cristina Perez-Guillot, Julia Zabala Delgado
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
Rating writing exams: the role of language centres in rater training
Language Centres play an important role in accrediting language competence,
particularly with the need of universities to comply with EHEA requirements by
fostering student and staff mobility across Europe. As a direct result of this need,
European universities have faced the challenge of creating accreditation systems
that comply with international quality standards. However, the implementation of
such systems has meant that university language centres have had the need to
provide their staff with the language assessing literacy (LAL) required to design
and implement language tests according to the five principles of language
assessment: validity, reliability, authenticity, practicality and washback.
The Universitat Politecnica de Valencia has been involved in creating standardised
language exams for nine years, following the good practices established by ACLES
(Spanish National Association of Language Centres in Higher Education). Within
this framework, one of the most demanding tasks for the centre has been ensuring
the scoring validity of the exam, particularly for productive skills, which are
subjective and more difficult to assess. Since university exams are high stakes and
the university could be liable in case of malpractice, ensuring that language centre
staff is well trained and procedures are put in place to ensure good practices
becomes a necessity. Trying to ensure that the marking system complied with the
five principles mentioned above has meant designing not only suitable tasks and
rating scales, but also training modules for teachers in charge of such ratings.
Our work presents the training procedures implemented and their effect on the
reliability, severity or leniency and consistency of raters, as well as on their use of
the rating scale and their awareness of the common rater tendencies covered in
the literature. To carry out such study, the ratings of a group of 6 raters (native
speakers and non-native speakers, experienced and non-experienced) on 8
different writing performances was quantitatively analysed after a rating training
session, and the results given to the raters who in turn filled in a questionnaire on
the effect of the training on their performance. Our work has helped improve the
reliability of our raters and consequently the validity of our scoring system.
Summary
Los Centros de Lenguas Universitarios juegan un papel importante en la
acreditación de la competencia lingüística de sus miembros de cara a su integración
en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior. El Centro de Lenguas de la
Universidad Politécnica ha desarrollado exámenes CertAcles durante nueve años,
siguiendo las directrices de buenas prácticas establecidas por ACLES (Asociación de
Centros de Lenguas en Enseñanza Superior). Uno de los factores clave en el
desarrollo de estos exámenes es el proceso de corrección de destrezas productivas, al
tratarse de pruebas estandarizadas decisivas para el futuro académico y profesional
de los candidatos.
En el presente trabajo presentamos la formación llevada a cabo con evaluadores de
expresión escrita y los resultados de la misma, a través del análisis cuantitativo de
sus correcciones y del estudio cualitativo del ‘feedback’ obtenido de todo el proceso.
Este estudio nos ha permitido mejorar la fiabilidad y validez de nuestro sistema de
corrección.
Tony Prince, Richard Rosner
Norwich Institute of Language Education (NILE), Eaquals, United Kingdom
Eaquals Teacher Development framework in Languages for Academic
Purposes (LAP)
This oral presentation will outline the proposed addition to the Eaquals
Framework for Language Teacher Training and Development that focuses on the
requirements of Teachers of Languages for Academic Purposes (LAP).
The increasing international mobility of students has led to a wider diversity of
nationalities studying in many universities and departments across Europe. This
in turn has meant that university language centres need to provide greater
support to enable students to improve their understanding of universities’
expectations, as well as to develop their academic knowledge, language and skills.
This support frequently devolves to those who teach these students.
An ever-increasing number of course books are aimed at helping students develop
their academic knowledge, language and skills, but there are relatively few
resources to support teachers. The new framework proposed by Eaquals aims to
help teachers identify the areas of knowledge and skills which will help them
support LAP students, and assess their own competence and professional
development priorities in these areas. This is not only important to teachers in
terms of their professional confidence inside the class, but also as regards their
ability to communicate and collaborate with others outside of it.
The framework of descriptors organised over three successive ‘phases of
development’ will stand alongside the established Eaquals Framework. It will also
be useful to institutions and language centres with LAP programmes when
planning staff recruitment and development, to ensure the quality of student
support, and encourage collaboration within and among language centres.
The framework is the result of collaboration among individuals from a number of
Eaquals member institutions, representing university language centres and
departments across Europe.
Summary
Le thème de cette intervention sera le nouveau supplément du Cadre Eaquals pour la
Formation Continue des Enseignants de Langues. Ce supplément propose des
descripteurs des compétences d’enseignants de langues sur objectif universitaire
(LOU). Il vise à aider ceux-ci à identifier les connaissances et compétences
nécessaires pour le soutien d’étudiants de LOU.
La diversité croissante et le nombre croissant des étudiants étrangers qui assistent
aux cours universitaires européens rendent nécessaire un appui significatif et
constant pour ces enseignants LOU en ce qui concerne leur confiance professionnelle
en cours, leur formation continue, et la collaboration et communication entre eux.
Le nouveau cadre supplémentaire, issu de la coopération entre spécialistes
plusieurs centres accrédités Eaquals en Europe, sera également utile pour
institutions et centres qui proposent des cours de LOU pour la planification
recrutement et de la formation des enseignants, pour assurer la qualité
l’enseignement, et pour la collaboration entre ces centres.
de
les
du
de
Sabina Schaffner
University of Zurich, Switzerland
Principles and challenges of program planning and financial planning at a
Language Center serving two universities
The Language Center of the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich (SUEZ) offers
language-learning options at all levels in 13 modern languages to students and
staff of the two universities from all disciplines. Finding an appropriate model for
program planning and financial planning for a LC that serves two universities has
become more challenging under a tighter budget.
Since neither university’s study program includes compulsory language modules,
all language skills that students acquire are considered as additional courses
which can be accredited towards their degrees as electives. The Executive Boards
of both universities decided in 2010 not to formulate a language policy. Thus, the
SUEZ needed to develop its own program policy. The SUEZ’s current course
program is based on the principles of program development that were approved
in 2010 by the SUEZ Board of Trustees. The prioritization of key areas ¬–
languages for study, research and teaching; for integration; for academic mobility;
for future professional tasks; and for the furthering of individual multilingualism –
is now in place; participants’ needs have been identified in several needs analyses;
and the demand for courses during registration has been taken into account.
The SUEZ is funded on the one hand by both sponsoring bodies and on the other
by income from course fees paid by doctoral students and staff from both
universities. The allocation formula that is used to determine the percentage of
funding from each university is defined in a three-year financial plan.
In times of financial restriction, negotiating the program strategy and the financial
contributions has proven difficult. The existing model needs to be re-examined
because budget cuts in one area impact on the whole model.
In my paper, I describe the challenges of the current model of program planning
and financial planning at the SUEZ and discuss alternatives currently under
consideration.
Summary
Die Sprachlernangebote des Sprachenzentrums der Universität und der ETH Zürich
sind auf Studierende aller Fachrichtungen auf allen Studienstufen (sowie
Mitarbeitende) ausgerichtet. Bei finanziellen Engpässen stellt die Wahl eines
angemessenen Programm- und Finanzplanungsmodells einer zwei Hochschulen
dienenden Einrichtung eine Herausforderung dar.
Da in keinem Studienprogramm der beiden Hochschulen universitärer Spracherwerb
obligatorisch ins Fachstudium eingebunden ist, können während dem Studium
erworbene Sprachlernleistungen lediglich im Wahlbereich angerechnet werden. Die
Angebotsentwicklung ist sprachpolitisch begründet und berücksichtigt zusätzlich
Bedarfserhebungen und Nachfrage. Diese strategische Angebotsplanung ist
Referenzpunkt der mehrjährigen Finanzplanung, die dem Aufsichtsgremium
vorgelegt wird. Das Sprachenzentrum wird durch Betriebsbeiträge von beiden
Hochschulen sowie durch bei Doktorierenden und Mitarbeitenden erhobene
Kursgebühren finanziert. Bei Budgetkürzungen erweist sich das bestehende Modell
der Programm- und Finanzplanung als ungeeignet, da es einen starken finanziellen
Hebeleffekt enthält.
In meiner Präsentation werde ich die Herausforderungen des bestehenden
Programm- und Finanzplanungsmodells beschreiben und alternative Modelle
vorstellen, die aktuell diskutiert werden.
Dagmar Sieglova, Lenka Stejskalova, Ioana Kocurova-Guirgiu
Vysoká škola Škoda Auto, Czech Republic
Optimization of Tertiary Language Instruction: Student needs analysis
Job expectations and requirements of the information age bring along a need for a
change in teaching and studying. A quantitative approach to work with
information and frontal style of teaching, still being widely practiced in many
institutions, seems no longer to be a suitable preparation for current students’
needs. One of the areas affected by these changes are foreign language
competences necessary to efficiently deal with study and job related practices and,
correspondingly, to succeed in the job market.
Along with the change in student needs comes the need for change in the
organization of language classroom and instruction. Young people, while facing
the quantity of information and utterly unlimited access to resources, are
challenged by changing needs in processing the material. A qualitative approach to
information is needed with growing accent on information processing, analysis,
critical evaluation and implementation in practice. Similarly, the need for efficient
communication skills such as negotiation, argumentation or presentation seems to
be more pending over grammatical precision or quantity of encyclopedic
knowledge.
From this perspective, language instruction frequently organized through
activities focused on memorizing and drills needs to be restructured so the
students develop targeted key competences for their studies and future careers.
This paper focuses on the research of student needs and how they are perceived
from the perspective of students and their study or internship experience as well
as from the perspective of teacher practitioners. The purpose of the study is to
identify the key competences students need for succeeding in the job market as a
resource for restructuring tertiary language instruction into a modern language
classroom that would better reflect the current study time and work expectations.
Summary
Expectativas de trabajo y requerimientos de la era de la información llevan a la
necesidad de un cambio en la enseñanza y el estudio. Una de las zonas afectadas por
estos cambios son las lenguas extranjeras necesarias para hacer frente de manera
eficiente con el estudio y las prácticas relacionadas con el trabajo. Junto con este
cambio, viene la necesidad de una nueva organización de la instrucción. Se necesita
un enfoque cualitativo de la información, con cada vez mayor acento en el
procesamiento, el análisis, la evaluación crítica y la aplicación en la práctica
tambièn como la necesidad de habilidades de comunicación eficaces, tales como la
negociación, la argumentación o la presentación. En este documento deseamos
identificar lascompetencias necesarias para tener éxito en el mercado del trabajo
como un recurso para la reestructuración de la enseñanza de idiomas en la
universidad.
Ioana Sonea
Babes Bolyai University, Romania
Implementing a Quality Assurance System for Language Teaching in a State
University
The purpose of this presentation is to describe the process of implementing a
quality assurance system for language teaching in a state university and its impact
on our programmes and processes.
Why the need to review QA systems for language teaching in higher education?
Good language skills are increasingly important for students today, enabling them
to access specialized study material in another language or to participate in
mobility programmes. However, simply acknowledging this fact has not
necessarily led to increased standards of proficiency. Could it be that adopting an
external quality framework would contribute to higher standards of student
achievement? Furthermore, we considered the somewhat delicate issue of the
status of language centres within the wider university and we hoped that by
gaining external accreditation from international bodies, we would raise the
internal profile of our centre.
Needless to say, such a process involved a number of significant challenges.
Universities are often conservative environments where change, although fostered
and desired in research, is less appreciated when it concerns the management or
organizational level of the institution. In addition, university teachers value their
autonomy and any challenge to this view can be met with resistance. Finally, there
was the size of our institution and the diversity of our student body: 45,000
students, three official languages, plus a large number of language programmes.
My talk will describe the QA instruments we chose, our reasons for choosing them
and how they matched the needs of our specific context - ie language teaching in
HE. I will outline the role played by international associations, such as Eaquals and
ALTE, and set out the different stages of the process. Most importantly, I will
describe the impact it had on the quality of our services and the organizational
management processes.
Summary
Il fine di questa presentazione è quello di descrivere tanto il processo
dell’implementazione di un sistema di assicurazione della qualità
nell’insegnamento delle lingue, in un’università statale, quanto il suo impatto sul
lavoro dei dipartimenti universitari. In primo luogo descriveremo gli strumenti
utilizzati e le ragioni per cui essi sono stati scelti, ma anche la misura in cui si sono
rivelati adatti al contesto specifico dell’insegnamento delle lingue a livello
universitario. Poi valuteremo il ruolo svolto dalle organizzazioni internazionali
specializzate in materia di garanzia della qualità nella didattica delle lingue, come
sarebbero ALTE o EAQUALS, ed elencheremo le fasi del processo
sopramenzionato. In fine, ci soffermeremo sull’impatto avuto sui nostri servizi, ma
anche sullo svolgimento dell’attività a livello organizzativo e manageriale.
Liliana Szczuka-Dorna, Iwona Gajewska-Skrzypczak
Poznan University of Technology, Poland
ACERT-final language exam at Polish Higher Education Institutions
recognized by SERMO association.
SERMO-Polish association of language centres was founded in 2006. One of its
aims is to standardize language outcomes at three cycles of study. Members of
SERMO have taken one of their most important decisions in the SERMO activity i.e.
they developed procedures and requirements for all member universities for the
final exams students take. A new exam called ACERT has been introduced in Polish
universities. The presentation is divided into four parts. It shows ACERT
development at the Centre of Languages and Communication (CLC) at Poznan
University of Technology (PUT) in Poznan. The first part gives some historical
outline and describes the development of the exam. The authors present some
technical and logistics consideration which have been taken into account. The
second part concentrates on analysing practical application and evaluation of the
first exam results. Examples of exams are described focusing on language
requirements and differences in university profiles. The third part presents
academics’ and students’ opinions about the exam. Scores at different universities
are given and compared. The last part discusses the relations between the
language policy of the CLC and forms of assessment and evaluation of the language
skills and competences of PUT students. ACERT gets more popularity within Polish
universities although a lot of problems have to be overcome. Presently SERMO
association concentrates its activity on both promoting ACERT among SERMO
members and developing its national and international recognition.
Summary
SERMO- der Polnische Verband der Akademischen Sprachenzentren wurde 2006
gegründet. Eines seiner Ziele ist, die Sprachergebnisse in drei Etappen der Studien zu
standardisieren. Die Mitglieder von SERMO haben einen ihres wichtigsten
Entschlusses gefasst, d. h. sie haben Verfahren für alle Mitglieduniversitäten
entwickelt und Voraussetzungen für die Abschlussprüfung bestimmt. Eine neue
Prüfung , unter dem Namen ACERT ist an polnischen Universitäten eingeführt
worden. Die Präsentation ist in vier Teile gegliedert. Der erste Teil umfasst einen
historischen Umriss und beschreibt die Entwicklung der ACERT-Prüfung im Zentrum
für Sprachen und Kommunikation (CLC) an der Technischen Universität Posen. Der
zweite Teil konzentriert sich auf der Analyse praktischer Anwendung und
Einschätzung der ersten Prüfungsergebnisse. Es werden hier einige Beispiele von
Prüfungen beschrieben. Der dritte Teil präsentiert die Meinungen von Studenten/innen über die Prüfung. Derletzte Teil bespricht die Beziehungen zwischen der
Sprachpolitik des CLC und den Formen der Bewertung und der Einschätzung der
Sprachsachkenntnisse und den Kompetenzen von Studenten. ACERT erfreut sich bei
den Studenten an polnischen Universitäten großer Beliebtheit. Der SERMO-Verband
fördert zur Zeit die ACERT-Prüfung unter den polnischen Hochschulen und bemüht
sich
um
die
Prüfungsanerkennung
im
europäischen
Umfeld.
George Ypsilandis, Anna Mouti
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Investigating scoring procedures in language testing
One of the main concerns of a language tester, in the design and implementation of
a test, is the method of scoring that needs to be selected for the tool used to
perform the evaluation. The method of scoring is the precise quality in a test
which a) remains in the hands of the language tester and b) determines test
impact. As a result, it may be possible to argue that this attribute indirectly reveals
tester’s ethical beliefs and personal stance in testing pedagogy.
This study attempts to challenge the typical 1-0 method of scoring in multiple
choice test items and implements a polychotomous partial-credit scoring system
in official tests administered for the Greek State Certificate of Language
Proficiency (GSCLP). The MC tests chosen to act as the subjects of the study were
completed by a total of 1917 subjects in different levels of the GSCLP test. The
purpose of this investigation is to attempt to provide an alternative to the
standard 1-0 method of scoring, typically selected in such situations, and thus
challenge this ethical decision. The proposed polychotomous partial credit scoring
system was tested and compared to the standard scoring system in different levels
of the GSCLP test.
Results clearly indicate that this scoring procedure provides refined insights of
student’s interlanguage level and enhances sensitivity in scoring procedures
without jeopardising test reliability. Impact to fairness and ethics in language
testing, resulting from the analysis of the data, is considered in the discussion
section of the paper.
Summary
To be inserted
Poster Presentations
Maria Amono, Niccolò Banchetti
Università della Calabria, Italy
Letters outside the box: multilingual practices in high schools and academic
contexts
The aim of this work is to present some good teaching practices undertaken at the
University of Calabria and at the “I.T.C. C. Mortati” high school. The former were
conducted within the English for Basic Academic Skills courses, whereas the latter
were in place during the Spanish as a foreign language classes to students
attending the last two years of high school. Therefore, the two languages involved
are English and Spanish. The grammar and linguistic knowledge required for
writing and gap filling letters, emails and short messages are often problematic to
students struggling to learn a foreign language. The teaching experiences
illustrated show, on the other hand, how formal and informal letters can be
presented to pupils by combining conventional writing practices with other
creative techniques such as the total physical response, in order to make the
lessons more dynamic and entertaining in a relaxed environment. More
specifically, letters will be re-assembled in a jumbled style, through a cut and paste
technique. Piece of texts will then be given to the students at random in order to
create a reasonable collage. Special attention will also be given to the specific
contexts of action research.
Summary
L'idea di questo lavoro nasce dalla volontà di presentare una serie di attività
realizzate presso l'Università della Calabria e l'Istituto Tecnico Commerciale “C.
Mortati” di Amantea (CS) nell’ambito, rispettivamente, dei corsi di English for Basic
Academic Skills e dell’insegnamento dello spagnolo come seconda lingua
comunitaria agli studenti degli ultimi due anni del percorso scolastico. Le attività
presentate riguarderanno, in particolare, lo studio della lettera e dell’e-mail
(formale e informale, commerciale e personale) attraverso una serie di attività che
prevedono il coinvolgimento della sfera creativa, sensoriale, relazionale e fisica degli
studenti, oltre a quella più strettamente cognitiva.
María Del Carmen Arau Ribeiro
Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Portugal
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Learning Foreign Languages: The role of
creativity
This talk will explore aspects of creativity in Foreign Language Education, not only
from the perspective of teacher training but also for students of Technology and
Tourism & Hospitality. The results of an inquiry into the current position of
creativity in language teaching will set the stage for portraying a realistic point of
departure for the profession. The diverse array of definitions for “creativity” and
“learning” will help determine when these notions effectively come together and
why a balance is useful for the L2 user. The interrelated psychological and social
challenges as well as individual abilities that come together in the creative
moment are areas that teachers ought to know about. With this understanding,
teachers can then contribute to the creation of suitable learning environments by
providing appropriate feedback, setting up and enforcing realistic goals, and
establishing rules that allow for concentration. Additional questions will be
proposed for criticism regarding the creative arts, as these can be blended into
promising hybridizations with language learning, including Csikszentmihalyi’s
concept of “flow” and its relation to language learning. A critical examination of
what constitutes creativity and the conditions for its existence will be supported
by some promising approaches drawn from Music Education and a focus on
Phraseology in an exploratory attempt to interweave best practice identified in
these related but separate areas.
Summary
Al explorar los aspectos de la creatividad en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de las
lenguas extranjeras, tomamos como punto de partida los resultados de una
investigación sobre la posición actual de la creatividad. Sus definiciones no siempre
se parecen compatibles aún que sería importante para el usuario de la lengua
extranjera encontrar un equilibrio entre los dos. Serán expuestos aspectos
psicológicos y sociales tal como las competencias individuales para que el profesor
pueda adecuar el ambiente de la clase, al proporcionar la retroalimentación
deseada, establecer y hacer cumplir objetivos realistas y también establecer normas
que permitan la concentración. Incluye el conocimiento del concepto de "flujo" de
Csikszentmihalyi y las condiciones para la existencia de la creatividad, intentando
explorar las posibilidades oriundas de la Educación Musical y un enfoque en la
Fraseología bien como entrelazar las mejores prácticas identificadas en estas áreas
relacionadas pero distintas.
Natalia Fritsler
Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
The language of business presentations through cultural dimensions
Should a presentation in front of the German audience be different from the one in
Brazil?
Presenting in public is one of the most important soft skills required in business
environment nowadays. In highly volatile and complex conditions of today’s
diverse economic and commercial practices, managers and specialists must be
ready to make presentations in different markets across the globe. For this reason,
teaching business presentations at academic institutions must be performed with
regard to the cultural features of local markets.
Based on research results, as well as the author’s own experience, these cultural
features can be classified according to culture-specific dimensions into three
groups, the first one focusing on the Speaker, the second on the Contents, and the
third one on the Communication Strategies.
The Speaker-orientated cultural dimensions express, with reference to her/his
national values, the presenter’s key attitudes to the audience, such as, for example,
task versus relationship approach, which would determine, among other things,
the amount of personal background information. The Content-orientated cultural
dimensions deal with the logic and structure of the presentation. The
Communication Strategy-orientated cultural dimensions cover interactivity issues
and respective tools appropriate for different audiences.
An important task for the language and communication trainer would be, on the
one hand, to develop students’ awareness of these cultural differences and, on the
other hand, to analyze language resources relevant for these dimensions. Some
teaching techniques and suggestions will be discussed during the presentation.
Summary
Zielgerichtetes Präsentieren gehört zu den wichtigsten Eckpfeilern im heutigen
Geschäftsalltag. In der aktuellen komplexen Umgebung müssen Manager und
Spezialisten
vorbereitet
sein,
sich
auf
unterschiedliche
kulturelle
Rahmenbedingungen einzustellen. Aus diesem Grund müssen die akademischen
Einrichtungen bei der Vermittlung von Präsentationstechniken auf regionale
Besonderheiten eingehen.
Ein Sprach- beziehungsweise Kommunikationstrainer sollte zwei folgende Aspekte
berücksichtigen: einerseits, Bewusstsein für diese interkulturellen Unterschiede zu
schaffen; andererseits, die richtigen Werkzeuge bei der Analyse von kulturellen
Dimensionen zu vermitteln.
Einige dieser Techniken werden im Rahmen der Präsentation näher dargestellt.
Alena Hradilova
Masaryk University, Czech Republic
The Matrix, Staff Development and Quality Assurance
Masaryk University Language Centre (MU LC) has substantially expanded both in
the number of students and staff and become the largest LC in the Czech Republic.
This brought a necessity to adjust the organizational structure of the LC in order to
enhance quality of cooperation and communication at various levels of the
structure in terms of simplifying LC management, exploiting LC pedagogical
expertise and maintaining high quality of language education. It was decided that
the LC would be structured on a pattern of an adjusted matrix model whose
structure provides for communication across the various levels of the LC and
enables information to reach the intended audience via several avenues, thus
making cooperation of various staff members possible.
The paper concentrates especially on means that help to develop both internal and
external teacher training via the matrix and special interest groups within its
pedagogical section. The system helps the LC teachers to meet not only in the
traditional way according to the languages they teach and their language
specialisations but also according to their interests in teaching methodologies or
according to their needs as researchers. These platforms enable teachers to find
colleagues with similar interests and to start networking. Inspirational
cooperation with University of Helsinki Language Centre helped to enbed these
strategies into MU LC everyday life in order to ensure quality of staff and
pedagogy.
LC staff members’ on-going feedback on the change as well as the latest
developments in the LC matrix structure is used to illustrate how these novelties
help the teachers in personal and professional development and how sharing
know how, pedagogical expertise as well as hands-on classroom experience are
perceived as crucial in case pedagogical quality should be maintained.
Summary
Le Centre de langues de l’Université Masaryk a adopté un nouvel organigramme basé
sur l’organisation matricielle favorisant la collaboration et la communication entre
ses employés. L’objectif de la présente contribution est de démontrer comment cette
organisation matricielle a été mise en pratique afin d’améliorer la formation interne
aussi bien que l’externe des employés par le biais des groupes d’intérêt constitués au
sein de la section pédagogique de la matrice.
Yoko Kusumoto, Monica Hamciuc
J.F. Oberlin University, Miyazaki International College, Japan
Enhancing Thinking Skills Through Active Learning
Critical thinking is one of the common elements in the policies and
implementation plans the Japanese government has developed over the past
decade. Students have very few opportunities to develop meta-cognitive strategies
during their secondary education because the focus in secondary school is placed
on the memorization of a large number of facts for the university entrance
examination. Therefore, cultivating critical thinking in higher education has
become a primary educational goal. Along with developing competencies such as
critical thinking, recent curriculum reform (The Second Basic Plan for the
Promotion of Education, MEXT, 2013) advocates active learning as an alternative
to the traditional teacher-centered classroom, which remains the dominant type of
instruction in Japan.
This poster presentation reports on an educational practice using Project-Based
Learning (PBL) in the EFL classroom. The course was a mandatory English course
for first-year students in the College of Intercultural Communication at a private
university in Tokyo, with a standard syllabus requiring three group projects. PBL
involves significant amounts of self-directed learning, and it is said to help
students become critical thinkers (Beckett and Slater 2005). Although it is difficult
to find universally accepted definitions of critical thinking, critical thinking is
considered to include reasoning/logic, judgement, metacognition, reflection,
questioning, and mental processes (Fischer and Spiker, 2000). Moreover, the socalled critical thinking disposition is essential to develop critical thinking skills
(Ennis, 1987). Therefore, classroom activities were designed to enhance especially
metacognition and critical thinking disposition as a preparatory stage for fostering
critical thinking skills. Hirayama and Kusumi’s (2004) four categories of the
Critical Thinking Disposition Scale (awareness of logical thinking, inquisitiveness,
objectiveness and evidence-based judgement) were considered together with
Bloom’s taxonomy when classroom activities were designed. Results of the
examination of student metacognitive development through qualitative analysis of
student reflection papers are discussed.
Summary
Insieme con le competenze in via di sviluppo, come il pensiero critico, la recente
riforma promossa dal governo giapponese sostiene l'apprendimento attivo come
alternativa all'insegnamento tradizionale della classe incentrata sull'insegnante che
tutt'oggi rimane di dominanza nell'istruzione in Giappone. In questo poster è
riportata la pratica educativa del Project-Based Learning (PBL) nelle classi EFL.
Specifiche attività di classe sono state sviluppate per migliorare la metacognizione e
la propensione al pensiero critico come fase preparatoria per favorire la capacità di
pensiero critico. Le quattro categorie del "Critical Thinking Disposizione Scale" di
Hirayama e Kasumi (2004) (consapevolezza del pensiero logico, curiosità, obiettività
e giudizio basato sull'evidenza) insieme alla tassonomia di Bloom sono state
considerate per la progettazione delle attività di classe. In questo poster sono
trattati i risultati dell'analisi dello sviluppo metacognitivo dello studente attraverso
l'analisi qualitativa delle riflessioni auto-riferite degli studenti.
Claudia Lanza
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Milano, Italy
CLIL, una comparazione tra due regioni italiane: Lombardia e Calabria.
Esiste una collaborazione tra docenti di lingua e docenti disciplinari?
La ricerca sperimentale sull’uso effettivo del metodo CLIL (Content Language
Integrated Learning) nelle scuole liceali, si propone di indagare sull’applicazione
di tale strumento didattico in lingua veicolare negli istituti lombardi e calabresi. I
soggetti coinvolti nello studio sono docenti di lingua inglese e docenti DNL
(docenti di discipline non linguistiche) che, rispondendo a una serie di domande,
corrispondono a una campionatura ideale per comprendere l’esistenza del
supporto linguistico negli ambiti liceali, considerando come dimensioni
d’interesse i licei pubblici, privati e paritari. Lo studio prende in esame la
differenza di modus operandi nelle due regioni italiane: Lombardia (in particolar
modo la provincia di Milano) e Calabria. Scopo della ricerca è l’analisi approfondita
della collaborazione tra i docenti DNL e i docenti di lingua inglese. Il fine è di
individuare eventuali criticità nella messa in pratica del metodo CLIL nei contesti
liceali. Risultati dello studio possono essere utili per comprendere la
diversificazione regionale italiana negli istituti liceali e l’efficacia della
metodologia CLIL.
Summary
This study on CLIL methodology focuses its attention on the existence or absence of a
collaboration between language teachers and DNL teachers when the didactic tool is
applied. The field of analysis is the Italian high schools, in particular the public ones
in Milan and Calabria. The research is based on a comparison between the two
geographic dimensions. The results can be useful to learn about the variety of acting
in two different realities when we consider the effectiveness of CLIL in public schools.
Elvira Lato, Carla Vergaro
Università di Perugia, Italy
On developing translation competence: shared risponsibilities and
cooperation between language centers and departments
This presentation discusses good didactic practices aimed at developing
translation competence in students majoring in Foreign Languages at the
University of Perugia, Italy. The claim of the paper is that a stronger cooperation
between language centers and departments of Foreign Languages and Cultures is
necessary, if we want to tackle the issue of translation competence in its
complexity.
A productive cooperation between the Language Center and the Department led to
the establishment of a Translation Lab for second and third year Bachelor
students as a way of linking the Bachelor Degree in Foreign Languages and
Cultures and the Master Degree in Intercultural Translation. The aim is to
introduce students, who have already studied linguistics and acquired a
metalinguistic competence, to translate and to apply the competence acquired to
translation.
For the first Translation Lab the book Time by Eva Hoffman was chosen. The lab
met once a week for two hours, for two semesters. The students presented their
translations, accompanied by discussions on works on translation theory students
were required to read as another home assignment. At the end of the lab, Eva
Hoffman was invited to the University of Perugia to deliver a lecture at the
Department and have an informal meeting on translation and translating with the
students at the CLA.
The other joint effort between the CLA and the Department was aimed at first year
students. The CLA native speaker teacher and the professor in charge of the first
year course on Second Language Acquisition chose an autobiographical book, Eva
Hoffman's Lost in Translation, which raises engaging issues for students (identity,
second language acquisition, emigration issues). A selection of excerpts was made
and used both at the CLA and at the Department. Every week the students
translate a maximum of 2 pages which are then discussed in class. Students are
encouraged to compare, reconsider, ponder their translations and become aware
of the main cultural and linguistic differences. Moreover, those texts offer the
opportunity to tackle important issues that engage students in class discussions.
The same excerpts and translations are then analyzed from a purely linguistic
point of view at the Department, with special attention to the SLA issues they
raise.
Summary
Tema di questo intervento è la descrizione di una buona pratica attuata
all’Università di Perugia finalizzata a sviluppare le competenze traduttive degli
studenti iscritti al corso di laurea in Lingue. In cooperazione tra il CLA e il
dipartimento si è istituito un laboratorio di traduzione per gli studenti iscritti al
secondo e terzo anno della triennale, studenti che possono quindi applicare le
competenze linguistiche e metalinguistiche già acquisite alla traduzione vera e
propria. Si è scelto il libro TIME di Eva Hoffman che è stata poi invitata
all’Università.
Per gli studenti del primo anno è stato introdotto la traduzione nel corso di lingua al
CLA. Si è scelto il libro Lost in Translation della stessa autrice. In classe si sono
discusse e confrontate le traduzioni degli studenti, affrontando le relative
problematiche. Questi brani sono stati ripresi dalla docente per essere analizzati dal
punto di vista linguistico, ponendo attenzione alle problematiche riguardanti
l'acquisizione di una seconda lingua. .
Noriko Nagai, Seiki Ayano, Keiko Okada, Takayuki Nakanishi
Ibaraki Univeristy, Mie Univerisity, Dokkyo University, Japan
Explicit instruction on the other side of the same coin: A case for passive and
causative
Languages adopt different devices in grammar to express the same/similar
meaning, which can be a source of difficulties in second language learning. One
such example is how the Experiencer role of adversity is expressed in Japanese
and English. Japanese uses indirect passive. The subject of this passive bears the
Experiencer role, while English has recourse to have-causative whose subject
expresses the Experiencer of adversity (e.g., John had his wallet stolen) (Chomsky
1965, Washio 1993). Japanese learners of English make the type of grammar
errors illustrated in (1), due to this contrast.
(1) * John was stolen his wallet at the train station.
(1) shows that Japanese learners of English apply the knowledge of L1 to L2.
Assuming the effectiveness of explicit instruction (Norris & Ortega 2000) and the
role of negative evidence in second language acquisition (Izumi & Lakshmanan
1998), this paper proposes explicit grammar instruction on passives and havecausatives in English to Japanese university students. It draws on Nagai et al.
(2014, 2015), which proposes a sequence of tasks that enhances metalinguistic
knowledge of L2 and develops procedural skills based on that knowledge. As
illustrated in (1), passive constructions in English pose problems for Japanese
learners of English due to the presence of the type of passive in L1, which is not
available in L2. To teach such metalinguistic knowledge, our proposed explicit
instruction consists of structure-based focused tasks. They constitute two types of
tasks: (a) consciousness-raising tasks, and (b) production tasks. Consciousnessraising tasks are designed to make learners aware of (i) passive constructions
available in L1 and L2 and their properties, and (ii) similarities and differences
between indirect passive in Japanese and have-causative in English. Production
tasks such as picture descriptions and spoken/written recounts of adversity
reinforce the target grammar knowledge for use in context.
Summary
Um den Betroffenen eines Geschehens auszudrücken, verwendet das Japanische ein
indirektes Passiv und das Englische einenhaben? Kausativ, z. B. „John had his wallet
stolen.“ (Chomsky 1965). Im Fremdsprachenerwerb lassen sich bei japanischen
Englischlernenden jedoch ungrammatische Sätze wie *John was stolen his wallet.
finden, die auf den Einfluss von L1 zurückzuführen sind.Unter der Annahme, dass
explizite Erklärungen sich als effektiv erweisen (Norris & Ortega 2000) und ein
negativer Einfluss im Fremdsprachenerwerb (Izumi & Lakshmanan 1998)
nachweisbar ist, wird hier eine zweistufige Folge von strukturbasierten
Fokusübungen vorgeschlagen: a) Aufmerksamkeit steigernde Aufgaben und b)
Anwendungsaufgaben. Die Aufmerksamkeit steigernden Aufgaben sind derart
konzipiert, dass sie den Lernenden helfen sollen, i) die Besonderheiten der
Passivkonstruktionen in L1 und L2, sowie ii) die Ähnlichkeiten und Unterschiede
zwischen dem indirekten Passiv im Japanischen und dem haben Kausativ im
Englischen zu verstehen. Die Anwendungsaufgaben, wie z. B. Bildbeschreibungen und
Nacherzählungen von Missgeschicken,fördern das Verständnisdafür.
Edyta Olejarczuk
Poznan University of Technology, Poland
The relationship between the use of language learning strategies, learners’
beliefs about CALL, and FL speaking
As MacIntyre (1994: 185) states, “one of the most fertile areas of research in
language learning in recent years is the topic of language learning strategies”
(LLSs). However, similarly to other Individual Diffrences (IDs), such as for
example learning styles, research into this cognitive variable suffers from
theoretical weaknesses such as the lack of one commonly accepted definition or
the existence of rival taxonomies. The definitions and conceptualizations offered
in the second language literature were referred to as ‘inconsistent’, ‘elusive’, or
‘fuzzy’ (Dörnyei and Skehan 2003; Droździał-Szelest 1997). It is interesting to note
that there is a plethora of research into the relationship between use of language
learning strategies and FL achievement, with FL speaking skills being no
exception. However, the link between these variables has rarely been addressed
with respect to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), which is a vast area
that has evolved dramatically in the last 50+ years and is now a crucial component
of second and foreign language learning pedagogy. The current study was
conducted among English for Specific Purposes (ESP) students, as a part of
research into Individual Differences in Foreign Language Learning. The present
paper aims to investigate the following research question: ‘What is the
relationship between learning strategies, learners’ beliefs about CALL, and FL
speaking?’. Taking into consideration the fact that there have been very few
empirical studies investigating the relationship between the variables, the topic
appears to be both interesting and challenging.
Summary
Badanie zostało przeprowadzone wśród studentów uczelni technicznej uczących się
języka angielskiego, specjalistycznego. Było ono częścią zakrojonych na większą
skalę badań w zakresie roli różnic indywidualnych w uczeniu się języka obcego. W
szczególności, poszukiwano odpowiedzi na następujące pytanie: „Czy istnieje
związek pomiędzy strategiami uczenia się, przekonaniami na temat CALL oraz
mówieniem w języku obcym”. Biorąc pod uwagę fakt, że istnieje niewiele badań
empirycznych w tym zakresie, temat ten wydaje się być zarówno interesujący jak i
stanowi duże wyzwanie.
Sandra Reisenleutner
University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Creating a project out of tasks: a project-based approach in German as a
Foreign Language
Student engagement and motivation due to the possibility of drawing on their own
experience and empowering them in decisions they take in order to solve a task
while supporting spontaneous interaction are some of the advantages of using
tasks in foreign language classes. In a German A2 class at the University of
Nottingham, I wanted to bring together the different language tasks to a project,
on which students work for almost the whole duration of the course. I ran this
project with exchange students from China and Malaysia that studied at the
University of Nottingham. These students are in the same language class together
and they usually study another subject (mostly International Communication and
Media Studies) and take a second foreign language like German. The project idea
was for students to create a website or a virtual wall like Padlet which should
function as an online portfolio to give them the opportunity to see how much they
have achieved, but also to offer a space to reflect about their experience abroad.
Students could choose among a variety of tasks and had to upload a minimum of
five contributions, one of them being audio-visual. In the process, they were
supported by fellow students who studied German at B1/B2 level and through
peer review in class. The choice among the tasks as well as the opportunity to go
beyond and create their own contributions, encouraged them to choose tasks
according to their interests and publish material they prefer. Students were also
given the choice of whether to keep the website/virtual wall only visible to fellow
students and the teacher or to make it accessible for future exchange students in
Nottingham.
Summary
La presentazione mostra come creare un progetto, basato sul task-based learning, la
didattica che si compone di alcuni compiti, in una classe di lingua straniera tedesca
all’università di Nottingham. Il corso di livello A2 si rivolge a studenti stranieri dalla
Cina e Malesia che apprendono il tedesco insieme. L’obiettivo del progetto era creare
una pagina web o un muro virtuale come Padlet che funziona come un portfolio
online, su quale gli studenti caricano almeno cinque compiti svolti durante il corso,
uno di essi audio-visuale. L’idea è di avere uno spazio per riflettere sull’esperienza
all’estero, ma anche per vedere quanto avevano raggiunto. La possibilità di scegliere
contributi e aggiungere altri, cioè di andare oltre quanto richiesto, dà più autonomia
agli studenti. Sono loro a decidere che compiti corrispondono più ai loro interessi e
che materiale pubblicano. Inoltre, è loro la scelta se rendere visibile la pagina web
solo agli altri compagni in classe e all’insegnante o anche a studenti stranieri che
verranno a Nottingham nel futuro.
Ian Michael Robinson
Università della Calabria, Italy
Language centres: are we holding the future in our hands?
With the advent of web 2.0 and the ease of use of many hand held devices the
access to the internet has never been easier. This has been accompanied by a
growing range of EFL sites available. These sites offer English lessons,
explanations, exercises, corrections and feedback. It now becomes time once again
to question whether physical bricks and mortar language centres are necessary
any longer, or whether the language centre can now be held in the palm of our
hands.
With special regard to English, this presentation will report on surveys carried out
at a university language centre in the south of Italy where students are regularly
involved in face to face lessons but whose courses also involve guided use of
websites and independent use of websites outside of the confines of the language
centre. The survey is designed to investigate how students react to these different
EFL learning scenarios and what they feel the future holds in store for us
concerning the use of language centres.
However, Language Centres are not only sites for lessons. This research also
investigates what else goes on within a modern university language centre by
looking at the Italian university language centres and seeing what they offer. An
online survey was used to gather information from the language centres of the
Italian public universities. This should provide a snapshot of what the language
centres are and what they are doing.
Finally, by uniting these various strands of the students perspective of one
particular case, the general look at Italy and ideas from the literature (e.g. Ingram
2001) it is hoped to be able to help give a clear picture of what a language centre is
and what it contributes to academic life with the aim of contributing to the
discussion of what the future holds for these centres.
Summary
L’avvento del web 2.0 e dei nuovi dispositivi di accesso interattivo alla rete hanno
permesso una sempre crescente offerta di siti EFL che rendono disponibili corsi di
lingua inglese, corredati di spiegazioni, esercizi, correzioni e commenti. In questo
panorama il ruolo dei Centri Linguistici d’Ateneo nelle università statali italiane è
messo in discussione.
Questo lavoro intende illustrare i risultati ottenuti da una indagine che si è mossa su
due binari paralleli: da una parte l’analisi dei questionari rivolti agli studenti di una
università pubblica dell’Italia meridionale sulla percezione dei diversi modelli di
offerta formativa nel settore EFL, dall’altra l’analisi dell’indagine online indirizzata
ai Centri Linguistici degli altri atenei sulla organizzazione e sul servizio reso.
Da questo lavoro è emersa una fotografia del ruolo svolto dai Centri Linguistici
nell’offerta formativa EFL e un contributo di discussione sull’evoluzione del modello
attuale.
Jaime Selwood
Hiroshima University, Japan
Podcasting in a mobile world: The power potential and pitfalls
Podcasting is a cheap, beneficial and portable technology that offers language
learners the opportunity to download and listen to specially prepared content
whenever and wherever it is convenient. Additionally, the huge growth in
ownership of smartphones, especially amongst university students, means that
access to podcasts has created the potential for language instructors to exploit
these high ownership numbers within a structured English language course. At the
beginning of 2016, current figures show that there are between 115,000 to
130,000 English language podcasts available to download through the mobile and
fixed Internet.
This poster presentation will focus specifically on three English language-learning
podcasts that have been developed by the presenter. These podcasts were
developed in order to incorporate ‘real-life’ English vocabulary skills through a
wide-range of current-affairs topics presented in each podcast episode. These
podcasts are available weekly, and are free to download to anyone, anywhere.
The presentation will also provide detailed insight into ongoing research that has
examined the effectiveness of language-learning podcasts. The goal of this
research was to observe the practical benefits and potential drawbacks of using
podcasts and mobile technology as an integral part of the language-learning
process. Over a five year period that the research has been undertaken by the
presenter, detailed feedback indicates that 81% of students have had a favourable
disposition towards the use of podcasts as part of their language-learning process.
Finally, the presentation will include details of an ongoing synchronised learning
course that shows how university students completed to high level of success a
project to develop their own English language-learning podcasts. An easy to follow
step-by-step guide will be offered to participants at the presentation in order to
try the project for themselves with their students.
Summary
Podcasting ist eine billige, nützliche und mobile Technologie, die Sprachlernern die
Möglichkeit bietet, bestimmte vorgefertigte Inhalte immer dann und dort
herunterzuladen, wo es für sie am günstigsten ist. Der rasche Zuwachs an
Smartphone-Besitzern erlaubt immer mehr Leuten immer mehr Podcasts durch das
mobile Internet abzurufen.
Im Mittelpunkt des vorliegenden Beitrags stehen drei selbst entwickelte kostenlose
Podcasts zum Englischlernen. Diese Podcasts enthaltenein authentisches Vokabular
zu zahlreichen aktuellen Themen, die jeweils in den einzelnen Podcast-Episoden
behandelt werden.
Der Beitrag widmet sich außerdem detailliert den Inhalten eines aktuellen
Forschungsprojektes, welches die Effektivität vonEnglischlernen durch Podcasts
untersucht. In einem Untersuchungszeitraum von fünf Jahren hat sich herausgestellt,
dass 81 Prozent der Lernenden, das Lernen durch Podcasts als positiv ansehen.
Schließlich werden im Rahmen des Vortrags auch die Erfolgsergebnisse eines
synchronisierten Sprachkurses vorgestellt, im Mittelpunkt dessen die Anfertigung
eigener Podcasts durch die Lernenden stehen.
Lidy Zijlmans
Radboud in'to Languages Netherlands, Netherlands
English and Dutch as a second and third language at an academic level. The
case of German students in the Netherlands. Englisch und Niederländisch als
zweite und dritte Sprache auf akademischem Niveau
English and Dutch as a second and third language at an academic level. The case of
German students in the Netherlands. Englisch und Niederländisch als zweite und
dritte Sprache auf akademischem Niveau
Our study investigates the challenges, benefits and disadvantages of studying in a
language that is not your mother tongue. This study is conducted from the point of
view of the non-native students themselves. In a future study, this topic will be
examined from the point of view of other participants dealing with non-native
language speakers in an academic setting. Our primary concern is the role of
language. We investigate the academic achievement of non-native language
speaking students. The results will enable us to develop good support
programmes.
The project is divided into several sub-projects. In May 2014 we started the first
project: “The trilingual education survey”, which investigates German students
studying in a Dutch-English academic environment. Language data from German
students were gathered at the start and were compared to study results after the
first semester and at the end of the first year.
In search of predictors for successful L3 learning – our first research question – we
collected data on educational background and language learning history via a
questionnaire. Various language tests were administered to determine linguistic
competence in L1 and L2.
To answer the second research question (What is the role of proficiency in the
foreign languages needed [L2 English and L3 Dutch] for academic success of
German students?), the outcomes on the English test (L2) and the Dutch (L3)
entrance test were related to ECTS and grades after the first semester and after
the first year. I will present the first results and the outline for the continuation of
the research.
Summary
Unser Forschungsprojekt untersucht die Herausforderungen, Vorteile und Nachteile
des Studiums in einer Sprache, die nicht die Muttersprache ist, aus der Perspektive
der Studierenden. Unser Fokus liegt dabei auf der Rolle der Sprache. Wir
untersuchen die akademischen Leistungen nicht-muttersprachlicher Studierender.
Die Ergebnisse sollen uns dabei helfen, gute Programme zur Unterstützung zu
entwickeln.
Im Mai 2014 begannen wir mit dem ersten Unterprojekt - der „trilingualen
Bildungsumfrage“, in der deutsche Studenten befragt wurden, die in einer
niederländisch-englischen akademischen Umgebung studieren. Sprachdaten der
deutschen Studenten wurden zu Beginn und im Zusammenhang mit den
Studienergebnissen erhoben.
Auf der Suche nach vorhersagenden Faktoren für ein erfolgreiches L3 Lernen
sammelten wir mit Hilfe eines Fragebogens Daten zur Vorbildung und zu bereits
erlernten Fremdsprachen. Verschiedene Sprachtests wurden durchgeführt um die
Sprachkompetenzen in L1 und L2 aufzuzeichnen.
Um die Fragen: „Welche Rolle spielt das in den Fremdsprachen nötige Sprachniveau
für den akademischen Erfolg der Studenten?“ zu beantworten wurden die Ergebnisse
des Sprachtests mit den ECTS-Punkten und Noten verglichen. Ich werde hier die
ersten Ergebnisse und einen Entwurf zur Fortsetzung der Studie präsentieren.
Focus Groups
Anne Chateau
Université de Lorraine, France
CercleS Focus Group on Autonomy
Since CercleS was established in 1990, language centres have offered their
learners various ways of improving their language and language learning skills.
They are often innovative places where new pedagogical approaches,
environments and devices for language learning are proposed.
The objective of some of the learning possibilities offered to students in language
centres is to facilitate the development of learner autonomy. Some language
centres indeed offer tools, human and material resources that enable learners to
take more control of their learning process, and thus to support their
autonomization.
The purpose of this new focus group which was launched in September 2015 at
the University of Lorraine in Nancy, is to study the relationships between learner
autonomy and language centres. One of its aims is also try to clarify the concept of
autonomy, which, although widely used in language learning publications these
last 30 years is complex and may have evolved with the development of web 2.0
resources. The fact that many language centres now offer online language learning
activities advocates indeed for the necessity to rethink the notion of autonomy and
its links with the language centres of the future. A necessary step is thus to build
for the group a short operational definition of autonomy on which all members
agree. Since it was decided during the last meeting that the members of the group
would build this definition in a collaborative way, we hope the meeting at the
university of Calabria will give us the opportunity to progress in that direction.
All colleagues interested by the notion are welcome to the group and may come
and join the discussion in order to help us investigate about the definition and
place of autonomy in Language centres across Europe.
Summary
L’objectif du nouveau groupe sur l’autonomie, dont le démarrage a eu lieu en
septembre 2015, est de faire le point sur les liens qui existent entre le développement
de l’autonomie des apprenants et les centres de langues. Depuis la création de
CERCLES en 1990, les centres de langues ont souvent été des lieux qui proposent à
leurs apprenants de nouvelles approches pédagogiques et des environnements pour
permettre aux apprenants de prendre en charge leur apprentissage de langues. Les
développements récents en matière d’environnements numériques d’apprentissage et
de centres de langues virtuels semblent néanmoins imposer la nécessité de repenser
le concept d’autonomie en fonction de ces nouvelles modalités d’apprentissage
maintenant proposées au sein des centres de langues.
La réunion du groupe lors du congrès 2016 à l’université de Calabre sera l’occasion
d’avancer, avec tous les collègues désireux de se joindre à la discussion, sur cette
redéfinition du concept.
Mark Critchley, Marta Estella Clota, Daniela Forapani, Petra Gekeler, Cristina Pérez
Guillot, Heidi Rontu, Ulla-Kristiina Tuomi
Durham University, United Kingdom; Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain;
Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy; Universität Basel, Switzerland; Universitat
Politècnica de València, Spain; Aalto University, Finland; University of Helsinki, Finland
CercleS Focus Group on Management and Leadership: developing leadership
strategies between language centres
This paper describes the outcomes from a survey of Directors of CercleS member
Language Centres as co-ordinated by the CercleS Focus Group on Management and
Leadership. The results of the survey are presented, together with a series of
recommendations and actions arising. These may include an intranet for
Directors; a programme of coaching/mentoring; ERASMUS mobility exchange and
management workshops; peer review of proposals; and collegial support for wellbeing.
It is intended such actions will facilitate greater collaboration between CercleS
member institutions, especially in terms of developing and sharing common
institutional language strategies, and common approaches to staff development,
networking, coaching and mentoring at a management level. This will have the
benefits of raising management standards across CercleS membership, and
making more formal collaborative exchange mechanisms available through a
mutually supportive network. The proposed mechanisms are described, together
with suggestions as to how member institutions may access them.
Summary
Questo documento illustra i risultati di un sondaggio effettuato tra i Direttori dei
Centri di Lingua Membri CercleS, coordinati dal Gruppo Focus CercleS su
Management e Leadership. I risultati vengono presentati con una serie di
raccomandazioni e suggerimenti tra cui l’introduzione di una rete Intranet per i
Direttori; un programma che preveda una strategia di formazione e mentoring; corsi
di direzione nell’ambito della mobilita` degli scambi Erasmus; revisione paritaria di
proposte; infine, sostegno collegiale per il benessere.
Tali azioni intendono facilitare una maggiore collaborazione tra le Istituzioni
membro CercleS, particolarmente per quello che riguarda lo sviluppo e la
condivisione di strategie comuni di lingua a livello istituzionale e approcci comuni ai
programmi di formazione del personale, networking/contatti sociali, formazione e
mentoring a livello direzionale. Tra i benefici si identificano il miglioramento dello
standard manageriale tra tutti i membri CercleS e la disponibilita` di un meccanismo
di scambio piu` formale mediante una rete di sostegno reciproco. Tali meccanismi
vengono descritti insieme a suggerimenti di accessibilita` da parte delle istituzioni
membro.
Christoph Nickenig
Libera Università di Bolzano, Italy
AICLUcert - The Italian University Language Testing System
Various European associations of language centres in higher education have
developed their own language certifications according to their needs over the past
years.
Since 2011 the Association of Italian University Language Centres (AICLU) has
initiated an ambitious project under the name of AICLUcert. The aims of AICLUcert
are: to unite forces and bring together language centres from all over Italy in order
to share and disseminate knowledge and experience in language testing, work on
common practices and standards, develop digital tools for computer-based testing
and the design and production of standardized language tests.
A focus-group has started to work on this project under the coordination of the
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano on a common testing system for various
languages (English, Italian and German for the time being).
The presentation will give an insight into the state-of-the-art of AICLUcert in
comparison to other language testing systems developed by other associations of
Language Centres in Europe, such as Unicert or the ACLES certification. Besides
presenting the format and the specificities of AICLUcert, there will be a special
focus on organsational aspects, the importance of networking and issues such as
quality assurance, good practices, standard setting and keeping in a wider sense.
Summary
A partire dal 2011 l’Associazione Italiana Centri Linguistici Universitari (AICLU) ha
avviato un progetto ambizioso di testing sotto la sigla AICLUcert. Gli obiettivi di
questo progetto sono: unire le forze nell’ambito del testing, diffondendo le necessarie
competenze, conoscenze ed esperienze, elaborare pratiche e standard qualitativi
condivisi, sviluppare strumenti digitali per il testing computerizzato e il design di
test standardizzati per diverse lingue.
La presentazione farà il punto sull’avanzamento del progetto anche alla luce di altre
certificazioni promosse dalle associazioni nazionali (cfr. Unicert o ACLES). Oltre a
presentare il format e le specificità di AICLUcert saranno messi in evidenza anche
diversi aspetti organizzativi nonché del networking e della quality assurance.
María Ribeiro
Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Portugal
Launching the New CercleS Focus Group on CLIL in Higher Education
As an approach to internationalization, teaching a fusion of both a foreign,
additional, or vehicular language and the specialized content through the FL itself
represents a current challenge in higher education – one which CercleS has chosen
to recognize through the creation of its newest focus group, approved at the
Coordinating Committee Meeting in Nancy in 2015.
While recognizing that Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is
content-driven, this focus group will delve into engaging learners in the language
learning experience and in the acquisition of other competences. In addition to
researching the possibilities afforded by the dialogical relation of terminology to
CLIL, building upon the taxonomy of learning and promoting higher order thinking
skills, this focus group will build upon scaffolding and other strategies that can be
identified to support learning.
The focus group will also consider improving conditions for teacher training in
CLIL where human resources do not permit the simultaneous dedication of
content and language teachers in the same university classroom. ReCLes.pt (the
Network Association of Language Centers in Higher Education in Portugal), for
example, piloted 10-hour teacher training modules based on the ReCLes.pt CLIL
Training Guide – Creating a CLIL Learning Community in Higher Education, written
collaboratively by associated members, which support for the teacher trainers.
The specialist teachers working in these communities of practice and learning
about useful CLIL teaching practices with their fellow language teachers, then
followed up with CLIL course modules with the respective 600+ students of the 33
content specialists involved. The data gathered in these modules, supported
conclusions on satisfaction from both learners and specialist teachers who
developed scaffolded activities and applied terminologically-based strategies,
among other strategies, to enrich the dual learning experience.
In addition to the numerous methods that are justifiable and viable within CLIL,
the group will examine the importance of developing the CLIL classroom through
relevant approaches to create a holistic learning experience that is not only
transferable across higher education contexts but also across the variety of
multiple characteristics of all learners in higher education. Research will likely be
interdisciplinary and include aspects of active learning, learner autonomy,
multiple intelligences, sociocultural and constructivist understandings of learning
as well as connections between cognition and communication, integration, styles
and strategies for learning and language awareness, among others.
Please join us in the first meeting of this CercleS Focus Group at CercleS 2016 in
the quest to research and adapt practice with flexible CLIL methodology to the
various contexts of higher education with rigor and transparency.
Summary
O novo grupo de investigação da CercleS pretende reunir académicos interessados
na metodologia de AICL (Aprendizagem Integrada de Conteúdo e Língua - CLIL) no
ensino superior. As áreas interdisciplinares a explorar incluem o apoio construído, a
terminologia, a aprendizagem ativa, a autonomia, as inteligências múltiplas, as
abordagens socio-culturais e construtivistas bem como as ligações entre a cognição e
a comunicação, a integração, os vários estilos e estratégias perante a aprendizagem
e a conscientização da língua, entre outros. Teremos todo o gosto de integrar os
interessados nesta equipa que irá apostar numa maior transferabilidade do
AICL/CLIL para ser da máxima utilidade para o ensino superior nos contextos
plausíveis.