Self-access language learning in museums: a materials development project

This paper reports on a project carried out at The University of Nottingham to create and evaluate English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) materials with the aim of exploiting the self-access language learning possibilities that museums offer. A series of thematic resources were produced and trialed with ESOL learners in the Lincolnshire area. Feedback from the learners indicated that museums could have an important role to play in providing flexible language learning opportunities for ESOL students. The authors conclude by suggesting that other public facilities such as libraries, art galleries, botanical gardens and even football stadia could be exploited for this purpose

Self-access language learning in museums: a materials development project

This paper reports on a project carried out at The University of Nottingham to create and evaluate English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) materials with the aim of exploiting the self-access language learning possibilities that museums offer. A series of thematic resources were produced and trialed with ESOL learners in the Lincolnshire area. Feedback from the learners indicated that museums could have an important role to play in providing flexible language learning opportunities for ESOL students. The authors conclude by suggesting that other public facilities such as libraries, art galleries, botanical gardens and even football stadia could be exploited for this purpose

Formative (self-)assessment as autonomous language learning

While learner autonomy is often lauded as an important goal in language education, applied linguists have debated if it is a construct that has been given proper attention in terms of definition and assessment. In order to address this debate the researcher implemented a two-phase study within the context of higher education. Theories of learner autonomy, sustainable assessment and transformative learning guided the study design. In the research design, the nexus between language learner autonomy and assessment as learning was first explored in phase one of the study. Here survey methodology was used on a global scale: Findings from 45 respondents in 13 countries indicate that indeed language learner autonomy is being widely assessed, and, further that a variety of tools, evidence and people are implemented in this task. In phase two of the study, the most important stakeholders of learner autonomy - language learners - participated in Q-methodological study of their perceptions of the non-linguistic outcomes of learning in an autonomous environment: A total of 30 participants from Hong Kong, Japan and the UK completed a Q sort and interview. The findings of the Q study showed that there were six different ways of being autonomous, and these were interpreted as 'modes of autonomy'. These modes of autonomy were lastly used to devise a tool for the formative self-assessment of learner autonomy

Formative (self-)assessment as autonomous language learning

While learner autonomy is often lauded as an important goal in language education, applied linguists have debated if it is a construct that has been given proper attention in terms of definition and assessment. In order to address this debate the researcher implemented a two-phase study within the context of higher education. Theories of learner autonomy, sustainable assessment and transformative learning guided the study design. In the research design, the nexus between language learner autonomy and assessment as learning was first explored in phase one of the study. Here survey methodology was used on a global scale: Findings from 45 respondents in 13 countries indicate that indeed language learner autonomy is being widely assessed, and, further that a variety of tools, evidence and people are implemented in this task. In phase two of the study, the most important stakeholders of learner autonomy - language learners - participated in Q-methodological study of their perceptions of the non-linguistic outcomes of learning in an autonomous environment: A total of 30 participants from Hong Kong, Japan and the UK completed a Q sort and interview. The findings of the Q study showed that there were six different ways of being autonomous, and these were interpreted as 'modes of autonomy'. These modes of autonomy were lastly used to devise a tool for the formative self-assessment of learner autonomy

Formative (self-)assessment as autonomous language learning

While learner autonomy is often lauded as an important goal in language education, applied linguists have debated if it is a construct that has been given proper attention in terms of definition and assessment. In order to address this debate the researcher implemented a two-phase study within the context of higher education. Theories of learner autonomy, sustainable assessment and transformative learning guided the study design. In the research design, the nexus between language learner autonomy and assessment as learning was first explored in phase one of the study. Here survey methodology was used on a global scale: Findings from 45 respondents in 13 countries indicate that indeed language learner autonomy is being widely assessed, and, further that a variety of tools, evidence and people are implemented in this task. In phase two of the study, the most important stakeholders of learner autonomy - language learners - participated in Q-methodological study of their perceptions of the non-linguistic outcomes of learning in an autonomous environment: A total of 30 participants from Hong Kong, Japan and the UK completed a Q sort and interview. The findings of the Q study showed that there were six different ways of being autonomous, and these were interpreted as 'modes of autonomy'. These modes of autonomy were lastly used to devise a tool for the formative self-assessment of learner autonomy.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Some self-access principles

In this article, I will describe how the Self-Access Learning Centre (SALC) at Kanda University of International Studies (KUIS) was established, and discuss some of the personal philosophies of self-access centres (SACs) and self-access learning that I have developed over the eight years of being associated with this centre

The Social and the individual in applied linguistics research

16 page(s

The Applied linguistics individual : gaining perspective

9 page(s

The contested curriculum:academic learning and employability in higher education

This article explores the discourse of employability in higher education by investigating the understanding of different stakeholder groups (students, staff, employers) of the University of Nottingham (UK and China), and their fit to each other and to the educational literature. It finds that, while theories of life-long or life-wide learning position employability as an outcome of a holistic curriculum embracing both discipline and employability, stakeholders perceive learning for employability as a threat to disciplinary learning. The results suggest that to progress significant curriculum development in support of employability, a greater consensus of stakeholder views is needed with a deeper sympathy towards the integration of academic learning and employability. The article concludes with an assessment of the re-envisioning needed by Nottingham and other universities as they prepare students for an "employability" fit for purpose in a twenty-first century characterized by change and challenge