Assessment
Each week you are required to complete a number of assignment tasks.
A few years ago, foreign language instruction in the United Kingdom was extensively reviewed and major changes resulted. For this assignment you will first read the key report, called the ‘Languages Review’, published in 2007 by the Department for Education and Skills, and then respond to the scenario and questions below.
You are Head of Languages at a secondary school in a medium sized town in the UK and you receive the Languages Review. On reading it you realise this will have a number of implications for the way languages are taught in your school. Your Head of School has asked you to write a report, proposing a course of action in response to the Review. You will need to address a number of questions, such as
Along with recommendations for:
Your report should be between 1000-1250 words long. You should use the terminology used in the course up to this point. You can make some assumptions in your report about the school, e.g. about the number of students, the number of languages, etc.
Due at the end of Week 4.
Option 1 Review an existing course in an institution you are familiar with, taking into account the principles and issues we have examined during the course. Your review should be 3,000-4,000 words long, excluding samples taken from the course.
Option 2 Develop a course outline for the following scenario:
You work in a department in large university in New Zealand. Many of the students in the institution come from so-called ‘non-traditional’ backgrounds. All of the students in your department share one or more of the following characteristics:
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NZ citizens or permanent residents
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English is not the home language
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First in their family to study at university
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Low grades in high school
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Mature, returning students
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In part-time employment
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Considerable family commitments
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Limited uptake of ‘support services’, especially if these are seen as time-consuming
Their needs are therefore quite different from most international students who come from EFL backgrounds. Nonetheless, their English needs are considerable as many have little or no experience with academic language use, and little or no support at home with this. There is a danger that support classes could be seen as stigmatising.
Due one week after the final lecture.
Real-Time Online Class
At the end of each week the class meets online in real time. Classes are 90 minutes long; the first hour is professor-led discussion and the last 30 minutes is student-led discussion. Participation is mandatory and counts toward your grade.
Real time online class time: Fridays from 5:00pm - 6:30pm - California time.
Please consult www.timezoneconverter.com for the correct time for your area.
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