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Managing or Juggling

This workshop explores the challenges and opportunities in managing and juggling language teaching and research in higher education. It discusses topics such as the cultural divide, complementarity, and the marriage of convenience in language teaching and research. The workshop also examines the research interests of French and English language staff, as well as the potential areas of synergy between language teaching and research.

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Managing or Juggling

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  1. Managing or Juggling Diane Schmitt Nottingham Language Centre Nottingham Trent University

  2. English Language Teaching and Modern Languages in HE • Cultural Divide • Complementarity • Marriage of Convenience

  3. French Staff and their research interests • French language and linguistics: structure and sociology of modern French, language teaching methodology • France in the world, with particular reference to Africa and Europe; the idea of the republic in France; eighteenth century literature and philosophy, French revolution; culture and politics • History of twentieth century France, particularly cultural history of the interwar period and the Second World War • Nineteenth century literature, especially short fiction (Mérimée and Maupassant); narative analysis; fin-de-siècle culture

  4. English Language Staff and their Research Interests • Applied linguistics; second language writing; error analysis; discourse analysis • Applied linguistics, self-directed language learning; self-assessment; English Language Teaching; English for specific purposes, especially English for academic purposes • The communicative role of gesture in ELT; culture in language teaching; materials development and production; video in language teaching • Mid-twentieth century drama, especially Christopher Fry, T.S. Eliot, Arnold Wesker and John Arden; Autobiography; Charlotte Bronte

  5. A Traditional View of Difference EFL MFL  Cash Cow Academic Subject  Students with a deficit Students with value-added  Multi-lingual Groups Monolingual Groups Intensive Few contact hours Trained NS Untrained NS and NNS Expendable Staff Contracted Staff  In-sessional Support University Language Prog  External Exams Internal Assessment External Accreditation HEFCE validation Market-oriented Sector-led Research poor?? Research rich??

  6. Blair Initiative - 1999 Set a prime objective of increasing international student numbers by 50,000 in Higher Education over the base year of 1996/97 6-19 Green Paper Introduction of MFL at primary school level Language at Key Stage 4 no longer compulsory Disappointing take-up at A-level Government Imperatives

  7. Shared Challenges Student Profiles • International students are no longer an elite group • The range of student proficiency has expanded for both EFL and MFL • Are we all facing a deficit view of language or skill Staffing • In both cases staff flexibility is paramount - goodwill must be maintained • Staff development may be required • Contractual issues – equality issues, employment legislation

  8. Income Generation • Understanding the state of the current market • Developing new markets • Selling what people want to buy, rather than what we want to offer • Setting clear targets and assessing whether and why we have or haven’t met them • Understanding how your university handles commercial business

  9. Potential Areas of Synergy Methodology • Teaching lower level learners • Intensive teaching • Content-based methodologies • Fast-track acquisition

  10. Language Teacher Education • Undergraduate programmes • New MFL staff • MAs in MFL Assessment & Benchmarking • Staff development • Linking to the Common European Framework

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