Research

Scottish Languages Review Issue 27

Issue 27 - Spring/Summer 2014

The articles contained in this issue provide a wide spectrum of perspectives: 

Anne-Lise Bécavin demonstrates the range of projects that Foreign Language Assistants can implement, given appropriate support and flexibility, and provides some handy tips for future assistants!

Robert Neal takes up the vexing issue of teaching Mandarin tones to Anglophone learners, a topic which was also discussed in an earlier SLR edition (Tsai 2012 - Teaching and learning the tones of Mandarin Chinese)

Sibylle Ratz and Christine Penman, in writing about the module developed at their university to assess the progress and gains made by students during their residence abroad, similarly pick up on a previous SLR article (Giraud-Johnstone 2012 – Assessing the work placement abroad)

Many of our articles are effectively reports from language teachers on their action research.  However, in this edition, Anne Burns and Nur Kurtoglu-Hooton highlight the support that can be provided by university language professionals to help teachers’ efforts in implementing and evaluating such projects.

Lastly, we have a ‘call to arms’ for more strategic and sustained cross-sector collaboration between language professionals in schools and universities. Angela Gallagher-Brett, Hannah Doughty and Heather McGuinness report on the successes and challenges of the ‘Routes into Languages’ initiative in England and Wales, and consider its potential for Scotland.

You will also find abstracts and weblinks to relevant recent languages-related publications and please have a look at the free-to-download articles from other language journals. The Selected Events section serves as a handy summary guide to upcoming language seminars and conferences up to December 2014.

SLR issue 27 - download entire issue

Call for papers

Do you have something to say about language learning/teaching or language policy, in Scotland or in other parts of the world? Would you like to bring your action research project to a wider audience? Do you want to respond to an article in this or a previous edition? We accept submissions at any time but if you want your paper to be considered for the next edition, please contact the editor.

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.

Artistic expression in modern languages: skills improvement and self-actualisation

Anne-Lise, Bécavin
About a year ago, I arrived in Edinburgh to work as a French language assistant for nine months. Without any specific training but with a true interest in educational issues, I got the best practice I...
Keywords: Foreign Language Assistants; artistic expression, cross-curricular activities, collaborative learning; self-actualisation

Teaching and Learning Mandarin Tones in an English Secondary School

Robert J Neal
This study investigates the tonal production of five Anglophone young beginner learners of Mandarin Chinese and their ability to notice and self-correct their tonal errors during and after speech prod...
Keywords: Mandarin Chinese, tones, procedural knowledge, declarative knowledge

Implementing action research in the modern language classroom

Anne Burns and Nur Kurtoglu-Hooton
In this article, we report on an action research project we facilitated with three modern language teachers working in secondary schools in the West Midlands and Yorkshire. Over a period of approximat...
Keywords: action research, teachers as researchers, classroom practice, reflection on teaching and learning

Residence Abroad: A modular approach to support students and document their progress

Sibylle Ratz and Christine Penman
Internationalisation is a key thematic area which the Higher Education Academy in Scotland is seeking to develop. This study contributes to previous research on the benefits of studying abroad by demo...
Keywords: Internationalisation, Study Abroad, Year Abroad, Residence Abroad, Graduate Attributes, Student Support

Social capital and modern language initiatives in times of policy uncertainty

Angela Gallagher-Brett, Hannah Doughty and Heather McGuinness
Language professionals across the United Kingdom have long been apprehensive about low levels of participation in language learning, as well as disparities in gender and social class of language learn...
Keywords: modern languages, cross-sector collaboration, higher education, secondary education, social capital, England, Scotland, United Kingdom

SLR Issue 27 - complete issue

Download the complete Issue 27 of the Scottish Languages Review.
Keywords:

Selected Events January – December 2014

Summary reminder of upcoming seminars and conferences.

Selected abstracts and weblinks to language related publications

Abstracts from and weblinks to some of the most recent publications relating to language learning.

Downloadable Articles from Academic Journals

Free-to-download articles from other language journals.
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