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Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration

Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration. Erasmus Students as foreign language assistants (FLAs) Keith Marshall UW Bangor and CILT Cymru 6 th May 2005. Checking up on need for FLAs.

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Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration

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  1. Towards a strategy for promoting languages through cross-sector collaboration Erasmus Students as foreign language assistants (FLAs) Keith Marshall UW Bangor and CILT Cymru 6th May 2005

  2. Checking up on need for FLAs • CILT Cymru survey of British Council FLA scheme in schools in Wales (2002/3) • Responses from 42% of state schools

  3. FLAs any use? • Considered ‘vital’ ‘invaluable’ by teachers • Uses cited • Preparation of pupils for oral exams • Cultural discovery/ enhancement for pupils • Preparation of up-to-date teaching resources with teachers • Helping teachers maintain & improve their language fluency • Cross-curricular use with other departments (history/geography)

  4. FLA presence in schools • Decline of 8.6% in British Council FLA numbers across UK (1995-99) • Numbers of FLA’s steady in Wales (1999-2002) • BUT only 58% of state school in Wales had an FLA (2002-3) • Very uneven distribution • At least on in all Cardiff schools • None in Gwynedd, Anglesey

  5. Reasons for low numbers • Almost exclusively financial • Pressure on staff budgets makes posts renewed annually very vulnerable • Once removed, post very difficult to reinstate • 91% of respondents without FLA said they would like one

  6. Alternatives to annual FLA appointments • In House alternatives • Native speaker teachers • Volunteer native speakers parents • Neither adequate • UK HEIs as source of alternative FLAs • Rising numbers of students from outside UK • From non-EU states: fee-paying • From EU states: Full-degree and Erasmus students

  7. Specific UK HEIs providing alternative FLAs • Manchester • Glamorgan • Bangor • And others…?

  8. Manchester • Sharing voices • In operation since 2002 • Native language speakers of French, German, Spanish working with pupils in local schools • Outstandingly successful: winner of a European Languages Award (2005)

  9. Glamorgan • Final year module • In operation for 10 years • Designed to train native speakers employed as FLAs • Means of enhancing assistantships rather than increasing numbers • Plans for piloting ab-initio teaching of MFL by Erasmus students through Peer Tutoring in local schools

  10. Bangor • Organisation of scheme • Collaboration between UWB &CILT Cymru • Introduced 2004-5 • Voluntary/ no salary • Travel expenses paid by schools

  11. Recruitment • Invitation sent to Erasmus students in summer 2004 • Selection process • 500-word piece on why they want to do it • Interview by UWB & CILT Cymru Staff • Certificate of good conduct/clean police record obtained from civil service in native country

  12. Selection of schools • Invitation to MFL HoDs within travelling distance • Allocation of FLAs on first-come-first-served basis

  13. Participants • German: 9 • French : 1 • Hours of work per volunteer: 4 • Preparation • Introductory evening for FLAs & teachers • Training day laid on for British Council FLAs

  14. Understanding a native speaker Hearing colloquial oral abbreviations Singing German songs Talking about German history and current affairs Broadening pupils’ world view Cultural studies and comparisons Talking with ‘young hip people’ from Germany in their language Benefits for pupils

  15. Experience of teaching in a different social & cultural context Talking to teachers about their work in the UK Coping with occasional emergencies: running Year 8 class for absent teacher Insights into different mentalities of pupils in another country Helping volunteers to decide whether to enter teaching profession None want to do so in UK Benefits for volunteers

  16. Inexact match of languages of Erasmus students and those taught in schools Uneven and unpredictable supply of volunteer FLAs Not reasonable to ask volunteers to do more than 4 hrs/week Only asked to work with 6th formers Clashes between school & university timetables Obtaining police clearance from other countries Ensuring volunteers are not out of pocket Travel to schools up to 50 miles away Danger that cheap volunteers will replace British Council FLAs Attempt to extend scheme to Toulouse FLE Maitrise students needing classroom practice collapsed Problems and limitations

  17. Future plans • Voluntary scheme in process of being approved as an accredited module for 2005-6 • 5 credit value in ECTS • In addition to, not in place of, voluntary scheme • Should ease pressure on departments flooded by Erasmus • Tentative discussions with colleagues in other Welsh HEIs to spread practice

  18. En somme… • Erasmus students not a total replacement for British Council FLA scheme in UK schools HOWEVER • Demonstration of their value could encourage school management to invest in ‘full-time’ FLAs long-term • An excellent way for HEIs to build positive relationships local schools, with additional FLAs if necessary • In words of one volunteer ‘Everybody wins’

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