Location, location, location: New Language Development Centre
Date 5.11.2021
The academic skills of international students will benefit from more support from the new Language Development Centre, developed by the Educational Linguistics team.
Educational Linguistics focuses on students’ (academic) language and literacy in a range of educational settings and programmes.
The subject area mostly caters to international students, with lecturers who have worked in a variety of contexts overseas or, in the UK, with students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Until recently, Educational Linguistics were situated in the Faculty of Health, Education and Society, but earlier this year the subject area moved to the University’s Library Learning Services.
As part of their new location, the team has created a new Language Development Centre offering international students more opportunities to develop all aspects of their academic English.
The Language Development Centre’s dedicated space means students can access 1-2-1 support and guidance to develop their language skills in a variety of contexts. This includes essay writing, paraphrasing, delivering effective presentations, as well as opportunities for teacher training, modern foreign language study, and language exchange.
Bob Fisher, Subject Leader for Educational Linguistics – pictured with Associate Lecturer Viki Gibson and TESOL* MA student Vanessa Vu – said: “We wanted to continue providing the excellent level of support to help students develop their English skills and I’m delighted to officially ‘unveil’ the Centre.
“At UON we pride ourselves on how super supportive we are to our students and Educational Linguistics is part of this, part of our welcome to international students and to help them ‘settle in’ more easily. Given that we are supporting increasing numbers of international students, it’s wonderful we now have the scope to widen this help even further.”
For more information about Educational Linguistics, contact Bob: Bob.Fisher@northampton.ac.uk