Research

Scottish Languages Review Issue 25

Issue 25 - Autumn 2012

To kick off our autumn 2012 edition, Petra McLay reports on a rewarding intercultural awareness raising project involving pupils from Scotland and Germany whilst Lesley Young enthuses about her new approach to teaching listening skills to her French Higher class. Moving into the university sector, Laurence Giraud-Johnstone found that getting her students to keep personal development plans helped them recognise and value the range of skills they were learning during their year abroad. To finish off, we have, coincidentally, two complementary articles: Both Sarah Williams and Jane Medwell, Katherine Richardson & Li Li were involved in co-teaching projects between native English and native Chinese teachers – but whereas Sarah was teaching English in China Jane and her colleagues were researching the teaching of Chinese in the UK. Both articles make for illuminating reading – and bring us back to the issue of intercultural awareness! We finish with a short contribution from Shona Hugh on the Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages from her perspective as a teacher, assessor and external verifier for the Interdisciplinary Project.

In our Selected abstracts from academic journals and recent publications section, you will find links to some downloadable abstracts from academic journals, some of which relate directly to our published articles. There are also links to relevant recent publications. Finally, remember to check out our Selected forthcoming events October 2012 – October 2013, which serves as a summary reminder of upcoming seminars and conferences. 

SLR issue 25 - download entire issue

Call for papers

Do you want to respond to a submission in this or a previous edition? Have you got something new to say about language learning/ teaching or language policy, in Scotland or in other parts of the world? Perhaps you would like to showcase an action research project and bring it to a wider audience? We accept submissions at any time but if you want your paper to be considered for the next edition, the submission deadline is 31 May 2013. The SLR is read by linguists as well as educational stakeholders across the country and beyond, so your article can really make an impact! Hannah Doughty, Editor.
 

The Experience of the Scottish Baccalaureate in Language

Shona Hugh
This article highlights the experiences of a teacher who is both assessor and external verifier for the Interdisciplinary Project of the Scottish Baccalaureate in Languages.Keywords: Scottish Baccalau...
Keywords: Scottish Baccalaureate; Interdisciplinary Project; assessment; internal verification

Working together to train tomorrow’s teachers of Chinese

Jane Medwell, Katherine Richardson and Li Li
In the context of Scotland’s strategy for language and curriculum for excellence, the rise of Mandarin Chinese as a language of study seems assured. However, the supply of teachers of Chinese who can ...
Keywords: Teacher Language; Language Teacher Education; Chinese Language Teaching; Target Language; Primary Languages; team-teaching; language teaching pedagogy

The Chaoyang English Project

Sarah Williams
This article details the experiences of an MFL teacher from London, working on a co-teaching project to ‘internationalise’ the teaching of English in Beijing.  This was as part of the Chaoyang En...
Keywords: Teaching English abroad; China, language pedagogy; team-teaching; use of target language; language teacher education

Assessing the Work Placement Abroad

Giraud-Johnstone, Laurence
This paper provides an account of the implementation of a Work Based Learning Abroad module designed to help university language learners to recognise and critically assess their personal and social d...
Keywords: British Council, language assistants, personal development plan, linguistic skills, cultural awareness, work abroad, employability, self-confidence, self-awareness

Listening Strategy Instruction in a Higher French Class

Lesley Young
Listening is recognised as the most difficult of the four skills to be mastered when acquiring a second or foreign language.  These difficulties are particularly acute for learners of English or ...
Keywords: Scotland, Higher French, listening, strategy instruction

Inter-Cultural Meetings – how intercultural learning supports the communicative competencies of language learners

Petra McLay
This article reports on findings from a study carried out in 2012 in a large comprehensive secondary school in Scotland. 54 pupils took part in the event. 30 Scottish learners and 24 pupils from Germa...
Keywords: Intercultural learning; communicative competence

Selected forthcoming events October 2012 – October 2013

Summary reminder of upcoming seminars and conferences

Selected abstracts from academic journals and recent publications

In the 'Selected abstracts from academic journals and recent publications section', you will find links to some downloadable abstracts from academic j...
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