1. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUCCESS CASE

1.1 Scope of the initiative

The Language Gateways into the Professions project is an innovative partnership project coordinated by CILT, the National Centre for Languages and funded by DIUS, the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Partners in the project include the modern languages departments and vocational (engineering or built environment) departments within the Universities of Bristol, Kingston, Loughborough and Salford working in collaboration with sector skills councils, professional bodies and employer to design and deliver contextualised language courses to students on engineering and built environment degrees.

The four partner HEIs developed courses autonomously from one another though shared and learnt from each other’s experiences over a period of one year during which the four HEIs and other partners met four times.

 

1.2 Range of languages learned

• French – 20 hour course delivered intensively over 1 week
• Specifically for undergraduate students of aerospace and aeronautical engineering
• First course aimed at French GCSE entry level students (aeronautical engineers)
• Second course for ab initio students (aerospace engineers)
• Course was optional
• French the only option
• French was chosen because of aerospace industry context

1.3 Learning outcomes

• Develop the student’s knowledge and understanding of the French language
• Be able to communicate confidently and at an appropriate level in a range of typical study, work and social contexts
• Have an awareness and understanding of aspects of the foreign culture and environment and an appreciation of relevant intercultural issues
• Be prepared for a period of work or study with a partner institution or employer in a French speaking environment.
• Course aims to develop aerospace and aeronautical context-specific language skills
• Initially this will be a non-credit bearing module, but will appear on student transcripts and will be highlighted in any references written for students

1.4 Practical realisation

• Two 20-hour courses run, the first during reading week of semester 1 and the second during reading week of semester 2
• Development of a contextualised language curriculum
• Integration of language learning with student’s mainstream academic subject
• Collaboration between language department and engineering department
• Improve graduate employability
• Nearly all students on the GCSE entry-level course were non-native English speakers even though only 50% of the aerospace and aeronautics degree students were non-native English speakers
• Only one student on the ab initio course had any experience of second language learning
• Most students could understand when reading but found listening and speaking much more difficult.
• The students, although beginners, were able to deal with texts containing complicated language but which was in the context of their degree subject.  Understanding the technical side gave the students more confidence in the language
• The second course was scheduled as it had been difficult to recruit students who were already GCSE standard and in future they would not have any pre-requisites for joining the course
• Materials have been produced that will be made available via CILT’s Virtual Language Resource Bank

 

2. BACKGROUND TO THE INITIATIVE

2.1 Context

General

In response to ‘The Gateways into the Professions’ report produced by Sir Alan Langlands (2005) a number of projects were funded by the government in order to tackle the full range of issues and barriers faced by people seeking to enter the professions through higher education.  The 4 key themes arising from the report were recruitment and retention to the professions; student finance/debt; widening participation and collaborative working.

In addition to the Langlands report, the Gateways projects were developed with reference to the Leitch Review of Skills in England (2006) by encouraging collaborative working and strengthening partnerships between key stakeholders including Government, HEIs, Sector Skills Councils and Professional Bodies.

With reference to languages, the Langlands report noted that, ‘lack of protection of the title linguist is the biggest single barrier to entry into the professions which can include translators, interpreters, bilingual practitioners of other professions and trainers and teachers of modern foreign languages.’

The report also noted that, ‘there is competition from graduates from EU and non-EU countries who can offer not only their own language and English but also mainstream skills such as law and accountancy’ and that, ‘closure of language departments in universities and other HEIs due to lack of finance will mean even fewer linguists in the future.’

 

Routes into Languages

This is a three-year programme funded by HEFCE and the DCSF with the aim of widening participation and increasing the take up of languages in HEIs. Bristol University is a partner in the Routes South West Regional Consortium.

 

Languages Diploma

The government is planning an overhaul of the 14-19 curriculum via Diplomas including the specialised Language Diploma and the vocational Engineering and Construction Skills Diplomas, which allow for optional language study.

 

Specific - Kingston

• Kingston language centre offers IWLPs only and keen to develop new courses and encourage take-up of languages
• Kingston language teaching in decline and department under threat

2.2 Strategic goals of the initiative

Overall aims

This project aimed to:

• Develop and highlight good practice in the design and delivery of profession-specific language and intercultural skills curriculum models;
• Raise awareness among potential entrants within Engineering and the Built Environment professions of the value of language and intercultural skills in their future careers; and
• Encourage and engender collaboration between HEIs and sector skills councils, professional bodies and employer in the design and delivery of contextualised language courses

Specific aims – Kingston

Kingston University aimed to:

• Develop and deliver an accredited language course to students of Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering
• Inform and motivate the next generation of Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineers about the importance of developing language and intercultural skills for their future careers
• Equip students with the relevant linguistic skills set to get ahead in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering
• Maintaining language competences acquired at secondary school (semester 1 course)
• Introducing language learning possibilities which students may not have enjoyed during their secondary education (semester 2 course)
• Creation of an integrated approach to language learning within a given institution
• Promotion of graduates’ employability
• Promotion of professional mobility
• Promotion of internationalisation
• Motivating students (or other actors) to undertake further/new language learning
• Awareness of importance of intercultural skills and working to professional development and employability
• Development of students’ autonomy with a view to lifelong language learning

3. SUCCESS INDICATORS

General

• ECUK and ConstructionSkills (relevant sector skills councils) provided most of the content in the form of case studies for the factsheets produced to promote and encourage students on vocational degrees to take up languages – have already been used by the partners HEIs and disseminated widely.
• Factsheets are being used by Routes into Languages partners as well as widening participation and careers teachers in schools and HEIs
• All four partner HEIs have succeeded in developing curricula and materials and attracting students onto the diversely delivered pilot courses.

Kingston

• Five students enrolled on the GCSE entry-level course (but found it difficult) and six students were enrolled on the ab initio course.
• The students who attended were extremely motivated and did well – they prepared presentations which were recorded and are very good. They also undertook summary writing assessments from news & employment websites on aviation and they have done really well.
• Students given and entry and exit questionnaire to fill in and the motivation for the course was the hope to study or work in a Francophone environment, working abroad
• They were encouraged by the course and all wanted to carry on – have applied for IWLPs
• Greater uptake of optional courses or other language learning possibilities

4. SUCCESS FACTORS

• Highly committed and dedicated language and vocational tutors
• An international environment within the institution
• The linking of language learning to students’ employability
• Collaboration with students’ mainstream faculty staff;
• The pedagogical skills and motivation of the language teaching staff
• Formative evaluation and support provided by CILT has been developed and delivered as a formative process to support the teams and enable the sharing of best practice at key stages in the project
• Funding from DIUS created a space and opportunity to develop materials and curriculum and teaching of the course

5. LESSONS TO BE LEARNED

5.1 Lessons to be learned at institutional level

• More students enrolled for and finished the ab initio course than the GCSE entry-level course that proved too difficult
• Course would be more appropriate at a pre-work placement stage and would be excellent for Kingston – but course and timetabling problems make this difficult
• Engineering students have a heavy timetable and so the course was run during reading week, but students increasingly have exams/tests and have to work hard during reading week
• They were encouraged by the course and all wanted to carry on – have applied for IWLPs but the timetable is unlikely to accommodate them. Progression is an issue
• In the exit questionnaire students suggested Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin as other potential languages for this format
• Lack of accreditation probably influencing the take up of this course – accreditation is key for students
• Students on second course had almost no previous second language experience,  just one who had a GCSE in German – so existing lack of second language ability not necessarily a barrier
• The need to initiate and facilitate dialogue between departments  around the benefits of language learning and language provision
• Students are highly motivated to learn languages within a context that they have already mastered
• There is a need to identify tools and techniques that come as part of the language employability portfolio e.g. intercultural working skills
• Courses should be optional but accredited
• There is a need for the provision of ab initio language within the syllabus in HEIs
• Potential for delivery of key skills through language learning

5.2 Broader implications

• Professionally accredited degrees such as Engineering now include  ‘common learning outcomes’ such as ‘personal skills,’ and ‘professional knowledge’ within which there is much potential for the inclusion of language and intercultural learning – this would resolve the problem of both accreditation of the language course as well as the credits and time available for taking such a course
• Richard Sherman of ECUK has expressed an interest in exploring this matter further
• Employer engagement is a phrase often heard and but which belies the complexity of such endeavours. There needs to be recognition on the part of the government (which is encouraging such activity) that this is a complex issue, particularly for HEIs
• Should the importance of employer engagement be acknowledged by HEIs, then a policy should be developed that enables such engagement and doesn’t just leave it down to individual academics and teachers or even departments to pursue
• Issues include time available for engagement, sustainability of the engagement, identification of employer needs and how these fit in with HEI activities, important difference between ‘employer engagement’ and ‘employer driven,’
• The need for language teachers and HEIs on a national and international level to identify and present the broad portfolio of skills – including employability and personal development – that language learning offers
• The need to emphasise intercultural working and develop and teach courses specifically taking this into account
• Need for benchmarking of language courses in HEIs to CEF across the UK
• There is a need for a refined debate on how languages fit into the syllabus, particularly the inclusion of ab initio courses within higher level study
• Because of what is happening in schools, at least in the interim there is likely to be a drop in skill and competence level of students moving into HEIs so the case needs to be strengthened for ab initio tuition in HEIs