UCL/SOAS Languages of the Wider World CETL Cristina Ros i Sole

1. UCL/SOASLanguages of the Wider World CETLCristina Ros i Sole Crossing Frontiers Languages and the International Dimension University of Cardiff, 6-7 July

2. A SOAS & UCL collaboration, funded by the HEFCE. • Aims : to promote, foster and support excellence in the teaching and learning of Languages of the Wider World (LWW): Middle East, Africa and Asia, Russian and other Slavonic and East European Languages, Hebrew and Yiddish, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages • One of the only two CETLs in the UK devoted to language learning and teaching.

3. Building on the expertise of the language departments of UCL and SOAS; • Raising the national and international profile of academic activities devoted to these languages. • Development & evaluation of curriculums, learning materials and language learning methodology. • Providing personal development and opportunities for language teachers

5. Reflection and Research • Materials and Curriculum development • Learner and Teacher Training • Dissemination

6. RESEARCH TOPICS

7. Some questions addressed… Do current foreign language methodologies apply to LWW? Do LWW learners use technologies in a different way? Does culture & ICC need to be taught differently? Do LWW different identities and learner profiles necessitate new pedagogies ?

8. Seminar Series on Languages of the Wider World Pedagogies: forum for presenting and discussing research into the teaching and learning of LWW. External and internal speakers invited on: • Multicompetence, • Motivation, • ICC, • Heritage Language Speakers, • Virtual Learning Environments for Language Learning, • Endangered Languages. • Workshops Research & Teacher Training • Surveys • Language teachers’ approaches to teaching LWW • Learners’ profiles, needs and motivations and use of new technologies.

9. Coordination of good practice within and across institutions (UCL and SOAS) through meetings, workshops & seminars. • Dissemination of good practice outside UCL/SOAS: presentation at conferences, organising external workshops (e.g. needs of LCTL, Heritage Language Speakers, teaching of ICC for LWW). • Collaboration with similar international organisations. DISSEMINATION

10. MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT To enhance students’ experience of learning LWW by.. • producing new textual and oral materials; • extending already created language learning models to LWW: e.g. CALL/CMC templates such as MALTED or Virtual Dutch; • using student-generated material in tandem projects with students in another country; • extending the cross-sector CALL initiatives, such a CROSSCALL • developing interactive VLEs for the writing of non-Roman scripts; • designing collaborative language-learning platforms between SOAS/UCL and other UK and overseas institutions.

11. LEARNER AND TEACHER TRAINING • The creation of a web resources and discussion for language teaching staff; • Creating a new course and qualification for teacher training for LWW for HE teachers as well as school and teachers working in the community. • Designing and staging courses in generic language learning skills for students embarking on the study of a new language; • Staging in-sessional training workshops on the preparation of textual and/or virtual language materials

12. http://www.lwwcetl.ac.uk

13. Currently funding projects in 34 different languages. See website for more details.

14. Thanks Cristina Ros (c.ros@ucl.ac.uk)