TEMPUS project "Reforming Foreign Language Studies in Serbia", Working visit to University of Southampton

1. LLAS: Centre for languages,
linguistics and area studies
Professor Mike Kelly
Director LLAS

2. LLAS: background and core activities
● Part of the Higher Education Academy
○ support for academics: professional development, advice,
professional recognition
○ support for insitutions: research (evidence-informed
practice), change management, PVC network
○ funded by HE funding councils for 4 UK nations
○ network of 24 Subject Centres (including LLAS): discipline-
based professional development, project funding,
networking opportunities, advice, advocacy
www.heacademy.ac.uk

3. LLAS: background and core activities
● Key areas of our work to support HE teachers
○ workshops, seminars, conferences
○ information gathering and research
○ project funding
○ resources for teaching and promoting LLAS subjects
○ networking opportunities
○ publications written for and by practitioners
○ working with and supporting professional bodies
www.llas.ac.uk

4. LLAS: background and core activities
● Other areas
○ cross-sector collaboration www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk
○ support and training for the schools sector www.llas.ac.
uk/southeast
○ promoting languages to young learners www.
whystudylanguages.ac.uk
○ community engagement http://languagebox.ac.uk/1842/
○ e-tools and online resources www.humbox.ac.uk , www.
languagebox.ac.uk , http://loc.llas.ac.uk
○ EU projects www.languagecafe.eu & www.lanqua.eu
○ resources for students www.studyinglanguages.ac.uk
www.llas.ac.uk

5. Languages: the policy context in England
● National Languages Strategy (2002)
● An option in schools at age 14 (2004)
● Primary languages (entitlement, not yet statutory)
● Strategic and vulnerable subject (since 2004)
● English baccalaureate in schools (2011)
● Introduction of new fees structure for higher
education (2012)
● Higher Education White Paper (forthcoming)

6. Languages: policy in Scotland, Wales,
Northern Ireland
● Education devolved
● Different fees arrangements at universities
● Different language contexts in schools ( esp.
Gaelic/Irish/Welsh)
● Low take-up of Modern languages at 14-16 and 16-
19
● Languages have come under threat in universities
● Significant investment in Gaelic

7. Collaborative working within
and across sectors
Liz Hudswell
Assistant Director LLAS (Operations)

8. Working together for languages
● Networking and bringing people together
● Sharing good practice and resources
● Fostering collaboration
● Working with partners
● Regional consortia
● Promotional resources for languages

9. Language Network for
Quality Assurance (LANQUA)
Alison Dickens
Assistant Director LLAS (Programmes)

10. About
● Network: 61 partners from 29 countries
● Duration: 3 years (Oct 2008 – Sept 2010)
● 5 themes: language learning, intercultural
communication, literature and culture, CLIL, Teacher
Education
● Outcome: LanQua Toolkit – Quality model for
languages, practice examples, frame of reference for
languages

11. About
www.lanqua.eu

12. Promoting languages and
supporting learners
Heather McGuinness
Programme Manager Routes into
Languages
Dr Angela Gallagher-Brett
Senior Academic Coordinator LLAS

13. Routes into Languages 2007-11
● £10 million Government funding to increase uptake
of languages from 14-18
● Regional Consortia in England and Wales
● National Network for Translation; National Network
for Interpreting
● Research Projects
○ Enterprise;
○ Community languages;
○ International events

14. Routes England and Wales
● Universities work together
● Collaborate with schools and colleges in the same
region
● Share resources, ideas, expertise
● Current university students work with teaching staff
as student ambassadors
● Business involvement and partnership

16. National Networks
● Interpreting based at Leeds University
● Translation based at Salford University
● Shortage of first-language English translators and
interpreters
● Careers events to engage with students
● Trial modules of cognate language in Masters in
Translation
● Work placements

17. 2 new websites
Why Study Languages
Aimed at 11-18 years
www.whystudylanguages.ac.uk
Studying Languages
Aimed at 18-25 years
www.studyinglanguages.ac.uk

20. Languages and
Employability
Dr John Canning
Senior Academic Coordinator LLAS

21. Employability
● Widespread anxiety about the relationship between
the subject studied at university and getting a good
job on graduation
● Mixed messages: languages as skills vs. Modern
Languages as a humanities discipline
● LLAS research on employability and
entrepreneurship (A wider perspective and more
options)
www.llas.ac.uk/publications/employability.html

22. LLAS: Website and
resources
Dr Erika Corradini
Laurence Georgin
Academic coordinators LLAS

23. Resources
● Fostering good practice within the community
○ Good Practice Guide http://www.llas.ac.
uk/resources/guidecontents.html
○ Materials bank http://www.llas.ac.
uk/resources/bankcontents.html
○ 700 reasons to study languages… http://www.llas.ac.
uk/700Reasons

24. Projects
● Collaborative projects with a community focus
○ Language Box – an online space for storing and sharing
language learning resources www.languagebox.ac.uk/
○ Language Café – community-based language groups
www.languagecafe.eu
○ Community café – co-creation of content with a group of
local teachers www.communitylanguages.wordpress.com
○ Humbox – working with 3 subject centres and 11
universities to promote open education resources www.
humbox.ac.uk/

25. Our website
● The LLAS website is an important communication
tool for us – to publicise our events, resources and
projects and also to offer materials and information
of benefit to our community
● It receives an average of 20,000 unique visitors per
month with around 48,000 page views
● Our top viewed items are our homepage but also
articles in the good practice guide, events and news
http://www.llas.ac.uk