National

Routes into Languages is delighted to announce that Anne Marie Graham, Director of Arqueros Consulting, is the lead investigator for a research project about Interpreting and Translation for the Public Service (PSIT) under the auspices of Routes into Languages. This project aims to provide an overview of PSIT provision in the UK and to build a platform for future collaboration between academics, practitioners and stakeholders in the sector. Anne Marie will be presenting interim research findings at the LLAS Higher Education Conference in Edinburgh in July.

Background

The LLAS Centre for Languages Linguistics and Area Studies invites bids to carry out a research project to address provision of education in Translation and Interpreting for the Public Services (PSIT) in higher education (HE) in England. This project will be conducted under the auspices of Routes into Languages (www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk). Routes is a national programme currently funded by HEFCE, which aims to widen participation in language learning and to increase the numbers of first language English students taking translating and interpreting courses in English universities.   

Research project Introduction

As part of Routes into Languages continuation work, a research project will be funded to investigate issues in the following areas:

• Teaching provision in Interpreting and Translation for the Public Services in higher education in England
• The role of HE in supporting the profession and the sector more broadly

This theme has been chosen to support the PSIT sector through raising professional standards and through building a community of practitioners and stakeholders in the sector.

The six-month project aims to provide information on the current context in which PSIT is taught by identifying the barriers and issues around provision of PSIT courses and/or units. This research will eventually shed light on a number of practical steps that may be taken to support PSIT in higher education and other sectors, such as further education. It is anticipated that the project will have a community-building aspect to it. A report outlining a set of recommendations and suggestions for the HE sector will be published at the end of the project and will be disseminated through LLAS events and publishing tools.

Bidders will be able to bid for up to £20,000 to carry out the research outlined below. Work should start no later than 30 January 2012 and will have to be completed by 31 July 2012.

Deadline for submission of proposals: 13 January 2012.

The successful applicant will be notified in the week beginning 23 January 2012.

For project description and further information please click here (.pdf)

For project description and further information please click here (.docx)

HEFCE has announced an additional £1.2 million to support the Routes into Languages initiative.

Routes into Languages aims to increase take up of modern foreign language courses in higher education in England, and encourage more young people of all backgrounds to study languages at university.

The Routes programme comprises nine regional consortia of universities throughout England, plus national networks for translation and interpreting and research projects.

Click here to read the full HEFCE press release

Please click here to view the final report from SQW, our external evaluators.

The report highlights the diverse range of activities undertaken by the nine Routes into Languages regional consortia and by the National Networks for Translating and Interpreting. It also demonstrates the impact of the Routes into Languages Programme on increasing student motivation in school and on helping to enhance the profile of languages. The report concludes by proposing that the Routes programme represents a highly successful model of collaboration.
 

Top spellers in the England final of the foreign language spelling bee 6 July were:

• Alice Pawluk for French, from Cardinal Wiseman school in West London
• Emily Pote for German, from Wilmslow High School in Cheshire
• Isabel Moss for Spanish, from Landau Forte College in Derby.

Well done to them and to all the 90 other finalists. The standard was high and the tension mounted as pupils competed at Homerton College, University of Cambridge.

Winning trophies were presented by our partner organisations and sponsor the European Commission, with additional support from the French, German and Spanish Embassies.

The event was assisted by a team of Language Leaders from Year 8 at Comberton Village College. Creator of the Bee, Jane Driver, language project teacher at Comberton commented on the high standard and maturity of all pupils. Rachel Hawkes, Language College Director from Comberton announced the winners. Sarah Schechter, project manager for Routes into Languages East region, Heather McGuinness, Programme Manager and Professor Michael Kelly, Director gave additional speeches and support to this first ever national final.

The second national final will be for Wales on Wednesday 13 July 2011 in Cardiff.

Congratulations.

Photos from the event

Director, Michael Kelly, is very happy to report that HEFCE has confirmed that it wishes to support the Routes into Languages programme for a bridging period from 1 April 2011 to 31 July 2012. The bridging period will enable the most effective Routes activities to be continued. It will also provide an opportunity for longer term plans to be developed in the light of anticipated changes in the HE environment from August 2012.
 

MYLO is an exciting free online resource full of interactive challenges, games and material aimed at pupils in UK secondary schools. It’s ideal for use with KS3 pupils learning French, German, Spanish and Mandarin. Teenagers can take one of MYLO’s fun interactive challenges to use their language skills in exciting ‘real-life’ situations.
Find out more here.
 

CILT is running a 7-day free trial to give teachers and schools the chance to find out more about CILT Plus, a unique new online community for language teachers and professionals. Benefits of CILT Plus membership include a treasure chest of resources, online training modules, a tailored Ask CILT service, and discounts on CILT events and books.  Find out more information here.
 

Year 7 pupils in England learning French, German or Spanish are invited to compete for the national Routes into Languages Spelling Bee title, which is launched this week.

Please find below documents relating to the spelling bee:

The National Final teacher pack and word lists with translations of HYPHEN (French, German, Spanish) and APOSTROPHE (French) as pupils will need to say these words when they are spelling.

Guidelines

Frequently asked questions to follow