UCL LANGUAGE CENTRE
Thursday   16   September   2010
14:00
Foster
‐
15:30
Court
114
Staff   present:
David   Albury
Marie ‐ Laure   Aris
Anja   Boeing
Sara   Bragadina
Siqin   Brown
Roberto   D’Onofrio
Madeleine   du   Vivier
Juan   Fernandez
Diego   Flores ‐ Jaime
Maria ‐ Teresa   Forteza ‐ Rey
Laurie   Gabay
Philippe   Galinier
Petra   Garcia ‐ Rodriguez
Fernando   Gracia ‐ Garcia
Claudia   Geithner
Luay   Hasan
Dr   So   Hiranuma
Dr   Christine   Hoffmann
Lamia   Jamal ‐ Aldin
Li ‐ yun   Liao
Mireille   Michel
Marc ‐ Georges   Nowicki
Catherine   Plant
Carmen   Requena
Jenny   Rodgers
Karine   Roumetz
Fabio   Sastre ‐ Alonso
Pierre   Scordia
Chizuko   Seki ‐ Zdralka
James   Sinclair ‐ Knopp
Cristina   Testi
Anne ‐ Sophie   Vandamme
Selina   Zheng.
Apologies:    Yoko   Aldous,   Rachel   Clark,   Fabrice   Lamotte,   Cathy   Morand   and   Adam   Salisbury
1.
Welcome   and   apologies
1.1
Welcome   back   to   Claudia   Geithner   to   the   German   team   who   has   returned   from   maternity   leave;
2.
Language   Centre   Developments
2.1
Fernando   Gracia ‐ Garcia   will   no   longer   coordinate   the   Spanish   course   units,   and   has   now   taken   the   position   of   UPCH   Coordinator.
We   will   shortly   advertise   for   his   replacement;
2.2
From   2012   all   incoming   UCL   students   must   have   a   foreign   language   GCSE;   we   expect   the   majority   will   come   with   European   languages,   which   they   will   continue   to   study:
We   propose   a   strategic   approach   to   strengthen   the   non ‐ European   languages   (Arabic,   Japanese   and
Mandarin)   and   a   restructuring   of   how   we   manage   them   and   suggest   a   joint   coordination   of   all   three:   one   Coordinator.
These   second ‐ script   languages   encounter   issues   that   others   do   not,   e.g.
students   can   speak   the   language   but   not   read   and   write   or   vice   versa.
We   need   to   harmonise   our   approach   to   this,   e.g.
offer   extra   workshops   for   all;
2.3
We   have   learnt   that   there   could   be   some   restrictions   on   SOAS   students   taking   Course   Units   with   us   this   year;   we   should   encourage   any   students   that   we   do   see   to   not   give   up   and   to   try   and   seek   permission   from   their   Department.
We   do   not   know   the   reason   but   perhaps   it   is   a   financial   one;
Course   Units   Teaching   Committee   Meeting   2010 ‐ 09 ‐ 16  ‐  Minutes

2.4
Ian   Newby   is   now   working   as   part   of   the   Language   Centre,   and   Sibylle   Nalezinski   as   part   of   the   ICT   team.
We   will   now   receive   some   contribution   from   the   Faculty   regarding   technology   and   maintenance;   we   will   now   also   reserve   the   Language   space   on   certain   days   and   times   which   will   be   available   for   us   all   to   use;   we’ll   divide   booking   lists   between   CU   and   EAP;
2.5
Regarding   rooms,   Ayanna   Prevatt ‐ Goldstein   will   go   on   maternity   leave   from   12   November   (end   of   reading   week).
Our   receptionist   Lone   Carstensen   will   deal   with   room   booking   requests   on   a   part ‐ time   basis   (mainly   between   10:30 ‐ 12:00   each   day),   around   reception   hours.
However   please   remember   she   will   not   have   the   same   access   to   the   room   booking   systems   as   Ayanna   has.
Ayanna   will   process   as   much   as   possible   of   the   large   jobs   in   advance,   before   she   leaves.
This   includes:
Course   Units   term   two   rooms:   in   order   for   Ayanna   to   do   this   we   need   to   know   any   changes   that   will   be   required   to   classes,   by   the   end   of   October.
We   must   be   more   rigorous   and   less   flexible,   and   also   stricter   with   confirming   levels   and   students   changing   level.
Students   should   know   their   timetables   for   term   two   once   term   one   has   started.
The   office   will   distribute   details   of   how   to   log   onto   the   online   timetable   and   will   give   tutors   details   of   any   potential   clashes   that   their   students   appear   to   have   in   term   two,   to   check   with   the   group;
Oral   exam   rooms:   the   office   will   give   student   numbers   for   each   syllabus   to   Coordinators   once   term   has   started,   in   order   for   them   to   schedule   Oral   exam   slots   ‐  we   will   need   details   of   these   by   the   end   of
October.
2.6
As   the   CELTA   (Certificate   in   English   Language   Teaching   to   Adults)   course   offered   in   the   summer   was   a   success,   from   this   year   we   will   now   offer   a   CELTA   bolt ‐ on   to   the   current   TEFL   course   unit.
This   means   those   who   reach   a   minimum   level   by   January   have   the   option   to   apply   to   take   the   CELTA   exam.
There   will   be   a   fee   for   them   to   do   this.
This   would   be   accredited   by   Cambridge   ESOL,   unlike   the   TEFL   Course
Unit.
It   will   be   an   attractive   option   to   students;
2.7
EAP:   the   foundation   courses   (UPSCE/UPCH)   are   filled   to   capacity   for   the   coming   year;   the   courses   in   Kazakhstan   begin   on   27   September,   which   are   going   to   be   taught   by   40   tutors   from   Australia,   Canada,
New   Zealand,   the   UK   and   USA.
Generally   things   are   very   positive.
3.
Course   Units   2010 ‐ 2011
3.1
Action   regarding   student   feedback   from   2009 ‐ 2010:   Coordinators   reported   that   there   were   no   significant   comments   requiring   action,   aside   from   the   following:
Spanish:   where   several   tutors   teach   the   same   course   code   (e.g.LCSP6001
and   LCSP6012)   students   would   like   more   harmonisation   of   teaching   and   syllabus   across   all   classes;
Arabic:   students   requested   more   listening   resources   in   the   Self ‐ Access   Centre.
3.2
Student   Handbook:   tutors   to   check   and   inform   the   office   if   something   is   missing   or   incorrect.
The   main   changes   this   year   are   the   penalties   and   submission   for   Projects   (which   is   now   on   a   Wednesday   instead   of   Friday)   and   we   have   not   listed   contact   details   for   all   tutors,   instead   these   are   on   the   website   with   direct   links   to   email   addresses.
The   website   format   has   slightly   changed;   UCL   have   changed   the   main   website   and   we   are   following   the   same   format;
3.3
Registration :   we   will   cover   this   in   detail   in   the   meeting   tomorrow   however   registration   will   take   place   from   Wednesday   22   September   to   Wednesday   06   October.
We   will   also   offer   late   assessments   on
Thursday   07   ad   Friday   08   and   the   office   will   offer   reduced   hours   for   registration   on   these   two   days.
3.4
Timetabling:    confirmation   of   timetabling   sessions   will   be   given   at   the   next   meeting;
3.5
Online   Timetable:   students   will   be   able   to   check   their   Course   Units   class   details   on   their   UCL   Online
Timetable   from   Saturday   09   October;
Course   Units   Teaching   Committee   Meeting   2010 ‐ 09 ‐ 16  ‐  Minutes

3.6
Reading   and   Writing   examinations:   The   Visiting   Examiners   gave   us   good   feedback   on   the   exam   papers   from   2009 ‐ 2010,   and   said   that   most   were   received   on   time.
This   year   drafts   for   levels   A   to   D   should   be   completed   by   reading   week,   with   Business   and   Current   Affairs   a   few   weeks   after   this.
3.7
Deferred   and   Referred   Assessment:   We   have   now   received   all   marks   for   the   Deferred   and
Referred   assessments.
4.
SSCs   2010 ‐ 2011
4.1
After   requests   from   students   and   the   Medical   School   we   will   update   the   SSC   syllabi   to   include   more   medical   content,   e.g.
linguistic   features.
Teams   should   look   at   these   and   send   amendments   to   the   office   before   the   start   of   term.
Students   could   also   write   their   Projects   on   their   area   of   specialism,   if   applicable.
5.
Any   other   business
5.1
Task   Chains:   this   is   on   the   agenda   for   tomorrow’s   meeting,   however   we   can   confirm   that   we   will   process   payments   for   this   as   soon   as   possible,   but   need   to   see   exactly   what   has   been   done   first   before   we   are   able   to   do   this;
5.2
Antonella   Veccia   from   the   Italian   team   has   handed   in   her   resignation.
Paul   Hogan   will   be   able   to   access   any   of   her   Moodle   work   as   necessary.
Meeting   closed   at   15:30
Course   Unit   Administrator
+44   (0)20   7679   5481
22   September   2010
Course   Units   Teaching   Committee   Meeting   2010 ‐ 09 ‐ 16  ‐  Minutes