Papers and articles introduction
What is in this section?
This section of the site contains articles from our peer reviewed Good Practice Guide as well as non peer reviewed articles, conference papers and case studies.
Articles commissioned for the Good Practice Guide.
Articles which are not peer-reviewed, but have been accepted by the Subject Centre for publication.
What is the Good Practice Guide?
The Good Practice Guide has been a key part of the LLAS website since 2001. It contains a collection of commissioned articles written by recognised authorities in their field. If you would like to contribute an article to the Good Practice Guide, please read our submission guidelines.
How to navigate through our papers and articles
The menu to the left provides several options for browsing through the articles (by Title, by Author etc)
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Recent articles
Guide to languages, linguistics and area studies in the National Student Survey 2009
- 5 March 2010
Why study Phonetics?
Janice Johnson and Maria Kozikowska - 14 December 2009
This paper was written by two students about the exciting and informative experience of studying phonetics at university.
Studying Typology
Sam Hopwood - 14 December 2009
This paper was written by a student about their experiences of studying 'typology' within their linguistics degree at university.
Integrating key work skills into an undergraduate language module: marketing and media in France
Laetitia Vedrenne and Sally Wagstaffe - 16 November 2009
‘Marketing and the Media in France’ is a final-year undergraduate module which integrates the development of key or transferable skills with the acquisition of subject-specific knowledge (of marketing and the advertising media in France) and the development of all four language skills. This case study provides an outline of the module, its aims and assessment methods, introduces some of the resources used to support the module and reviews student responses regarding the challenges and benefits of integrating key skills into a final-year module as they prepare to make the transition into the world of work.
Employability and Enquiry-Based Learning in Languages
Julie Lawton and Catherine Franc - 18 June 2009
The UK seems to be experiencing a dilemma regarding languages and employment, with a reduction in the number of students taking languages at specialist level and yet an increase in demand for competent linguists in all fields of work worldwide. This paper will address some of the issues facing both recruiters to language programmes in HE and language graduates embarking on the job market. Since, currently, British language graduates are something of a minority, we will consider the “added value” qualities they can offer to employers, and what employers are seeking in job candidates that linguists might uniquely fulfil.
In French Studies at the University of Manchester, we have been engaged in several innovative projects exploring the use of Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL) within our grammar and oral programmes and also in a project designed to maximize students’ linguistic experience of their residence abroad (not discussed in this paper). We believe that EBL methods enable students to achieve both an expert “product” and a transferable “process” as the outcome of their studies, thus providing them with valuable employment skills: successful group-working strategies, confidence in giving presentations, practice in time-management, administrative and organizational skills, the ability to research independently through a variety of resources, and a flexible, open-minded attitude to new situations and tasks.
Why teach French sociolinguistics?
David Nott - 18 June 2009
What is the place of linguistics and sociolinguistics in the undergraduate French programme? For 20 years, I taught a second-year undergraduate module (10 weeks, 2 hours/ week) on ‘The making of the modern French language’, chosen by about 20 students each year. The course was modified to take account of research, seminar discussions, students’ work, and feedback questionnaires. This description of the course is intended as an encouragement to colleagues teaching French to undergraduates to consider offering a course on similar (or different!) lines, or to consider including in an existing course some of the topics and/or approaches outlined here.
