Why I'm glad I gave languages a second chance

Looking at my track record it's fair to say that I was an unlikely candidate for a modern languages degree. I achieved a B in French GCSE, and plummeted spectacularly when I received a D at AS-level. At parents evening my tutor said that I simply wasn't cut out for studying languages at an academic level.
Skip forwards four years and you'll find me writing from my desk in the University of Rosario in Bogota, Colombia. I'm on a placement year as part of my language degree which I am studying at the University of Leeds.

Full article in the Guardian 

Languages: the State of the Nation: new publication from the British Academy

Languages: the State of the Nation

Demand and Supply of Language Skills in the UK

The British Academy has today launched Languages: the State of the Nation. The report, prepared by Teresa Tinsley, outlines the baseline data on foreign language use and deficits in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Key findings from the report include:

·         There is strong evidence that the UK is suffering from a growing deficit in foreign language skills at a time when globally demand for language skills is expanding.

·         The range and nature of languages being taught is insufficient to meet current and future demand

·         Language skills are needed at all levels in the workforce, and not simply by an internationally-mobile elite

·         A weak supply of language skills is pushing down demand and creating a vicious circle of monolingualism

·         Languages spoken by British school children, in addition to English, represent a valuable future source of supply – if these skills can be developed appropriately.

These findings present us with cause for both cautious optimism and rising concern. Our diverse demographics and world-class higher education system provide us with the tools to respond to the challenges and opportunities of the future. But, too often, education policies are operating in isolation of demand. The report concludes that without action from government, employment and education sectors, we will be unable to meet our aspirations for growth and global influence.

Click here to download the Summary and Full Reports.

Islamic Studies Network project draws to a close

Since 2009 staff at LLAS have been working on the Islamic Studies Network, a project funded by HEFCE and overseen by the Higher Education Academy. The Network was established following on from a series of consultation meetings and research commissioned by HEFCE on Islamic Studies in Higher Education, including two reports by LLAS staff and colleagues at the then-Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies. The Network brought together academics working in Islamic Studies from a wide range of disciplines, and provided practice-sharing and networking opportunities through events, project grants and publications. A full range of resources developed through the project, including teaching materials, research reports, event reports, case studies and model module outlines are available on the Network website.

One of the main aims of the Islamic Studies Network was to create a sustainable network of Islamic Studies practitioners to continue building on the work of the Network once the project funding period was over. We are therefore pleased to announce that planning is underway for the formal establishment of a British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS). The association will be a learned society and professional organisation focused on enhancing research and teaching about Islam and Muslim cultures and societies in UK higher education. It will provide a forum for academic exchange for scholars with an interest in any aspect of Islam and the Muslim world (including non-Muslim majority societies), and will act as an umbrella organisation for members working in a wide range of disciplines and geographical interest areas. To read more about the association please visit http://www.brais.ac.uk. The association is planning an inaugural conference in Edinburgh on 5-6 September 2013.

Lisa Bernasek, Academic Coordinator for the Islamic Studies Network

Modern languages lost for words over low intake

Two UK language departments may be forced to close their degree programmes because they recruited too few students for 2012-13, a lecturers' association has claimed.

James Coleman, chair of the University Council of Modern Languages, said that preliminary figures obtained from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service show that acceptances to language degrees have dropped by more than 7 per cent compared with last year.

Full article:Times Higher Education

Cheaper lessons and US accent attract English language learners to the Philippines

Much cheaper lessons and a convincing US accent are bringing an increasing number of students to learn English in the Philippines.

The Philippines is fast becoming the world's low-cost English language teacher - with rapid increases in overseas students coming to learn English or study in English-speaking universities.

There might be other countries that people think about as a classic place to learn English, such as the UK, the US or Australia.
But there is one key reason that they are switching to the Philippines. It's much cheaper. And in the competitive market for language students, it means the Philippines is attracting people from countries such as Iran, Libya, Brazil and Russia.

Full story on BBC website

The SPEAQ project – where has this first year gone?

What is SPEAQ?

SPEAQ is a project funded by the European Commission to address issues related to quality assurance in HE. It stands for ‘Sharing Practice in Enhancing and Assuring Quality’. It is managed by Alison Dickens, Laurence Georgin and John Canning at the LLAS Centre and involves 9 partners across Europe.

What is it for?

We aim to connect three key quality circles, i.e. teacher, student and quality manager in order to share and enhance quality assurance practice in HE. We want to address a real concern that quality assurance can become ritualised rather than embedded in learning and teaching practice. We are hoping to develop new ideas on how to approach quality assurance within the institution providing evidence of how bringing together stakeholders in the quality process can lead to a wider and more meaningful interpretation of quality assurance.

What have we done so far?

In the first year of the project we have collected data through interactive workshops and focus groups involving students, teachers, administrators and quality managers in all partner institutions. The workshop model has been developed by two of the partners (Universities of Jyväskylä & Deusto) and has been used by all partners. It will be also run at the European Quality Assurance Forum conference in Estonia in November 2012. Following this, a final version will be translated and uploaded to the SPEAQ website. These workshops have been very interactive and have proven to be a useful way of encouraging discussion among staff and/or students.

We have also completed an initial data collection exercise through a series of student focus groups (facilitated by the European Students Union), meetings with institutional quality managers in the partner institutions and discussions with subject teachers in a range of disciplines, using a set of questions devised by the project team. Three synthesis reports, summarising the results from all partners, have been prepared and some key emerging themes have been identified: a need for better communication around quality issues, improvements in the collection and use of feedback, more engagement of students in quality enhancement, increased opportunities for sharing good practice, professional development for teachers, applied learning (including employability), balancing teaching with research agendas, sharing and collaborating with others outside the institution. It has been encouraging to see that some of the core aims of this project are reflected in this data, these being to connect the three quality circles and to give voice to the views of all stakeholders in the quality process.

We have also been busy disseminating our findings at international conferences (Belgrade, Istanbul, Cluj-Napoca) with two more scheduled in November 2012 (Tallinn, Malta). Once the project activities have been completed and the results of the institutional projects evaluated, an academic article will be written and submitted to an international journal.

What next?

Based on our findings, each partner institution will undertake a small project which will explore ways in which a more shared vision of quality assurance can be fostered at institutional and disciplinary level. This has already started and will end in June 2013.

Where can I find out more?

Go to our project blog: http://speaqproject.wordpress.com/

Alison Dickens, SPEAQ project director & Laurence Georgin, SPEAQ project manager

Over half of young Britons wish they had worked/ studied abroad

Fifty-four per cent of 18-24 year-olds feel their career prospects would have been better if they had studied or worked abroad, a British Council survey has found. 

Daily Telegraph