Workpackages 1 2 3 4

Workpackage 4: Research on the most appropriate methods to develop a stronger interaction between language teachers and academic staff.

Our aims and objectives are to discover the current involvement of subject teachers in UCARS with language work among students; to find ways of benefiting from the technical knowledge of subject teachers and the language expertise of other staff, in preparing materials and in the delivery of their courses (e.g. team teaching, filming lectures, adapting case studies in the area of agricultural studies, abstracts and papers for conferences); to involve all parties in evaluating language materials and in preparing other information inputs both oral and electronic; to prepare a report on best practice in these areas and to encourage closer co-operation and projects between academics and institutions. These activities will have a direct impact on the attraction of student exchanges in areas of Europe where they are not always taken up or perceived as difficult.

In Year 1 we sent out a questionnaire to both, scientists of agriculture and related sciences and language teachers, which have been analysed in Project Year 2 and 3. On this basis, a small number of case studies of the current interaction between subject teachers and language teachers in UCARS have been developed and piloted in Year 2 and 3. The results of the survey, the evaluation the case studies and the piloting of team-teaching courses in an ODL setting (Open & Distance Learning) have led to the development of best-practice guidelines for closer co-operation between both groups of teachers, which will be evaluated and disseminated for discussion during the current Dissemination Year.

Report Year 2

Report Year 3

Contact person: Etain Casey, King's College London, University of London, UK

Questionnaire on language co operation at UCARS
Fragebogen zur Kooperation im Bereich Sprachunterricht an agrar- und naturwissenschaftlichen Hochschulen