UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD
Departmental Language
Coordinator Guide
How to get English Language Support for your
Department (and your responsibilities!)
2012-13
English Language Teaching Centre, Student Services Department
This guide explains how to set up and coordinate English language support in your department.
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
CONTENTS
Page
1. Introduction
3
2. The Departmental Language Coordinator
3
3. Requesting Tailored Support in Departments
4
4. Nature of tailored support
5
5. Role of the Departmental Language Coordinator (DLC)
5
6. ELTC teachers
5
7. Identifying students needing support
6
8. English Language Support Information
7
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Responsibilities of the Departmental Language
Support Coordinator
8-9
Technical English Assessment (TEA)
10-11
2
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
1. Introduction
The English Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) is part of the Student Services Department and has
been providing ‘tailored’ English Language Support to academic departments for a number of years.
The ELTC provides such support to specific departments in the form of the Departmental Language
Support Programme (DLS), e.g. Language Support for Mechanical Engineering. In many departments,
language support classes are optional but some departments make them compulsory. Often
linguistically weak students are recommended to take the classes. As these are support courses,
they are not credit-bearing.
In 2007-08, the ELTC changed the way it provided language support, expanding the provision of
support to a wider range of academic departments. Following this expansion, during a review of
ELTC support services in 2008-09, a survey of 18 UK HE institutions revealed that UoS had the largest
language support programme in terms of student numbers and number of courses, in particular the
number of tailored courses in departments. Other UK institutions are currently expanding this type
of support but UoS still seems to provide the widest range of support.
Although most of the support is aimed at international students whose first language is not English,
some departments request support for Home students, who need help adjusting to the academic
style of communication. (The ELTC also provides individual support for students with dyslexia; this
type of support is funded by the student’s LEA, and students should initially contact the Disability
and Dyslexia Unit for assistance.)
For language support in departments to be successful, effective collaboration between the receiving
department and the ELTC is essential. This guide outlines how language support can be set up and
maintained. It also outlines the roles and responsibilities of the Departmental Language Coordinator.
2. The Departmental Language Coordinator
Each department should nominate a ‘language coordinator’, i.e. an academic member of staff who
could organise the language support sessions. In many departments, the HoD nominates a staff
member to this role. In some cases, enthusiastic individuals put themselves forward. Several factors
have now come together to emphasise the increased importance of the language coordinator role.
Firstly, in recent years, the number of international students whose main language is not English has
increased in the UK, and at UoS. In a competitive market, UoS needs to ensure that such
international students are well supported.
Secondly, the number of departments receiving support has increased from 18 departments in 200708, the first year of the ‘new’ system, to 33 departments in 2012-13. Also, the number of groups in
some department has increased so the language coordinator has more work to do, possibly
organising support for students who do not come under her/his direct tutorship.
Thirdly, the UoS is committed to improving its learning and teaching activities. All students (i.e.
Home & International) should be able to fulfil their potential and in order to do this, language and
cultural barriers need to be overcome, allowing students to access their subject knowledge fully,
thereby enhancing the quality of the student learning experience and enabling them to produce
work of a higher quality. Moreover, the UoS is actively seeking to promote internationalisation in all
3
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
its activities, including learning & teaching, and the language coordinator can contribute to this
aspect.
Fourthly, in an increasingly commercial HE context, ‘value for money’ is assuming a greater
significance. A comprehensive language support programme is an attractive feature.
Finally, the ELTC is developing a transition programme for international students who have been
studying at the ELTC on preparatory Academic English courses prior to joining their academic
department. Collaboration on student transition between the ELTC and academic departments will
enable the ELTC to prepare students more effectively for entry into their chosen departments,
thereby reducing settling-in problems when the students eventually start their programmes of
academic study.
3. Requesting Tailored Support in Departments
As a support service, DLS is provided free of charge. The ELTC has a ‘pot’ of hours which is shared out
among departments. In Spring, departments are invited to request hours of support for the
following academic year. As the support sessions must fit into a department’s timetable, it is
important that the language support sessions slots are included early on in the timetabling process.
Each department can request a maximum of 50 hours for the academic year 2012-2013. If a
department would like more than 50 hours of support, they will be charged the internal hourly rate
(currently £39.73/hour).
The ELTC runs many programmes and ELTC staff typically teach on 2 or more of such programmes.
With an already complex timetable, we appreciate being informed as early as possible about DLS
timetable details so that we can ensure that we have staff to teach the DLS.
New requests
In order to request support, departments must name a member of staff to liaise with ELTC on the
format and number of hours support requested. On receipt of contact details, ELTC will initiate
discussion with the named person.
Existing relationships
Where a department already receives tailored language support, their current language tutor will
contact them directly to discuss language support requirements for future support.
Support sessions can vary in time and length. Sessions will be offered between 0900 - 1800,
Monday-Friday, and sessions can be for up to 2 hours. Please note that it is particularly difficult for
ELTC to provide support sessions on Wednesday or Friday afternoons, and weekday evenings, as we
run other language support sessions at these times. It is helpful if departmental support sessions are
timetabled to follow a course lecture/seminar as this encourages attendance at the session. Support
sessions can be requested for any course/group/year of students.
Online Request system. Requests for support are processed on line. The Departmental Language
Coordinator should send their CiCS username to the ELTC in order to be given access to the request
system. Once access has been given, they can input and edit their request.
4
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
4. Nature of tailored support
The ELTC will work with the departmental contact to decide on the most appropriate form of
support. Examples include: weekly or fortnightly classes/workshops; individual or group tutorials;
tailored WebCT materials; support during orientation; pre-examination support.
Note: General Language Support
Students will still be able to apply for other ELTC language support services but if places are
oversubscribed, preference will be given to students in departments not receiving tailored support.
This information will be given to students by ELTC when generic support is requested.
5. Role of the Departmental Language Coordinator (DLC)
The role of the coordinator is to collaborate with the ELTC to:
1.
2.
3.
4.
identify students requiring language support;
organise the timetable and rooms;
collaborate with the ELTC to decide the content and format of the support;
provide the ELTC with information about the students’ course(s), assignment requirements,
deadlines etc. so that the ELTC tutor can design materials related to the students’ academic
subject.
The experience of the ELTC, certain academic departments within UoS, and other HEIs, is that close
collaboration between the language support staff and the academic staff in departments is crucial to
the success (in terms of student uptake, regular attendance and improved language skills) of the
support programme. Another important factor in the success of the programme is effective
communication between the language coordinator and colleagues and students.
In Spring 2009, a meeting between the ELTC staff and existing DLCs highlighted the fact that the role
of the language coordinator has been growing and is increasingly time consuming. As noted in the
Introduction, this is often due to the fact that language support provision is being extended to
different cohorts/groups of students within a department, and also because there is an increasing
number of international students (whose first language is not English) studying in departments. This
means that the language coordinator has to communicate with more people and generally do more
organising.
At the meeting it was decided that a list of responsibilities be drawn up so that HoDs understand
what the role of Departmental Language Coordinator entails so they can adjust workloads
accordingly. Also, this would help managers in departments understand that DLS is important and
communicate this to their staff and students. The detailed list of specific responsibilities in provided
in Appendix 2.
6. ELTC teachers
ELTC teachers are usually flexible, willing to communicate with academic staff, and enjoy creating
language learning materials.
Many ELTC teachers have an academic background in languages and, while they are qualified
teachers, they may not be specialists in your academic discipline. They therefore rely on academic
staff to provide them with certain resources and tips to enable them to prepare courses that are
5
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
appropriate to the students’ academic subjects and assignments. For example, academic staff can
provide a model of a genre that the teacher may not be familiar with (e.g. lab report), and other
advice.
Like other ELTC courses, DLS student feedback will be collected formally online, using SurveyMonkey;
however, after a course has finished, the ELTC teacher will ask the language coordinator for informal
feedback, e.g. whether s/he and colleagues have noticed a difference in the communication skills.
The ELTC teacher will also provide a short report on the course and, where necessary, make
recommendations for future support. The report will be sent to DLC and to the ELTC academic
directors.
7. Identifying students needing support
The University’s minimum English language entry requirement is IELTS 6.0 (with 5.0 in each language
skill component) or GCSE English Grade C.
For some visiting students (e.g. students on the Erasmus programme), there is no such requirement.
The IELTS guidelines state that students with an average score of 6.0 or 6.5 on an academic course
will need language support (IELTS Handbook, 2007:5).
A student with an average IELTS score of 6.0 or 6.5 will probably find many areas of his/her course
(e.g. following lectures, writing reports, reading academic texts, giving presentations, participating in
seminars, working in a group etc) challenging.
UKBA have changed the language requirements for students requiring a visa to study on HE courses.
The new English language requirement is level B2 on the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages. This requirement actually maps to IELTS as 6.0 with a minimum of 5.5 in
each language skill component, i.e. above the current UoS language requirement. However, UKBA’s
new language requirement is unlikely to make a significant difference to the number of students
needing support as it still falls short of IELTS’ own recommendations.
While it seems discriminatory to identify students with weak English language skills, especially in
terms of language/skills deficits, the ELTC is here to support those that really need help. If the help is
targeted, it is likely to be more effective. The students who need help are often grateful that the
University and/or their academic department provide such support.
To find out whether a student studying Arts, Humanities or Social Sciences is likely to need support,
a department should check the students’ IELTS/USEPT (or other English qualification) results to see
whether the student is particularly weak in one area of language. The IELTS information for
institutions states that a level of 7.0 is ‘probably acceptable’ for academic courses and for anything
less, further English study is required.
(http://www.ielts.org/pdf/Guide_for_Institutions_and_Organisations2011.pdf . p.13. Accessed 12
August 2012).
Some departments also give the students a short formative written assignment which can be used to
identify students with weak language of study skills (e.g. paraphrasing, summarising and referencing).
Students are not awarded marks for such a formative task. If such a task is given to students early on
6
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
in their course, the results can be shared with the ELTC tutor, who can tailor their course content to
meet the students’ needs. Although this would not assess listening and speaking skills, it would
identify students needing support with reading and writing; as students are mainly assessed through
written reports/assignments, these skills are given priority at the identification stage. If an academic
tutor is concerned about a student’s speaking or listening skills, s/he can recommend the student for
support.
To find out whether a student studying science and technology subjects is likely to need support, the
ELTC has developed a Technical English Assessment exercise (TEA). A detailed description of the TEA
is in the Appendix 3. Around Easter, the ELTC invites departments to book their students into TEA,
which is held in Intro Week.
Following the diagnostic exercises and TEA, ELTC tutors identify those students likely to need
support and the ELTC returns their recommendations to the DLCs. It is important that DLCs inform
the students, and relevant colleagues, of the recommendations.
8. English Language Support Information
The ELTC provides information about its language support services on its website
(www.sheffield.ac.uk/eltc/services ); by poster sent to Departments to display in appropriate places;
and through various events held in Intro Week.
There is a specific DLS webpage with timetable details at:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/eltc/services/deptclasses. DLCs should check the details and inform the
ELTC of any changes or errors.
During Intro Week, the ELTC arranges an interactive session (‘Intro to ELTC’) for students to find out
about different types of language support available. These sessions have replaced an ‘ELTC Intro talk’,
as students were being bombarded with too much information. The interactive task takes about 20
minutes and ELTC tutors are on hand to answer questions. Departments are invited to book their
students into sessions during Intro Week. Sessions are normally held in pool computer suite on the
main campus and places are limited.
The ELTC contact for Language Support is Alice Lawrence (a.lawrence@sheffield.ac.uk; x 21797)
7
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
Appendix 1
Responsibilities of the Departmental Language Support Coordinator
1.



Organising Support
Collaborate with the ELTC to decide the content and format of the support;
Submit an annual request for tailored support;
Link DLS course outline to assessments (‘timely’).
2. Identifying students needing support
 Get personal/module tutors to identify struggling students and pass this information on to
the language coordinator.
 Organise a language diagnostic exercise if appropriate.
3. Materials
Send the following materials to ELTC tutors:
 Topics
 Coursework deadlines
 Module information/descriptions
 Course/programme handbooks
 Sample work
 Sample/past questions or assignment titles
 Key texts/bibliographies
 Give ELTC teacher access to some departmental(?core) MOLE modules
4.





Timetabling & Attendance
Fit language support into departmental timetable(s);
Book appropriate rooms;
Advertise DLS/ELS via lectures. Use ‘student voice’ or other students who have benefitted
from this previously;
Remind students to attend – don’t rely on them looking at their timetable;
Ensure that your students are clear about whether classes are optional or compulsory, or
intended for all students or reserved for particular students.
5. Communication
 Communicate regularly with colleagues about language support /’needy’ students;
 Encourage staff to recommend students take up the support sessions on offer;
 Communicate regularly with students about language support available;
 If your students have taken a diagnostic exercise (eg TEA), inform them of the ELTC
recommendation ;
 Communicate regularly with ELTC tutor (or manager) about any issues (e.g. attendance,
new assignments, timetable changes etc) that could affect the ‘tailored’ language
support programme;
 Communicate with CILASS student ambassador about language support issues and/or
identify a 2nd year international student as a ‘language support ambassador’ to be a
point of contact within the department;
 Encourage international student mentoring;
 Ensure smooth handover: if the DLC changes, the outgoing coordinator should ensure
that the incoming coordinator knows what support is in place, any issues, and any plans
for the future.
8
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
Other points


Organise ‘taster’ sessions in the department for students studying English at the ELTC (i.e.
pre-sessional English preparatory courses) before they start their academic studies in the
academic department.
Because of new visa requirements & offers, new routes into departments, and new
relationships with international governments, the Departmental Language Coordinator
would also be able to collaborate with the ELTC, if necessary, on matters relating to these
areas.
9
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide
Appendix 2
TECHNICAL ENGLISH ASSESSMENT
What is TEA?
TEA (Technical English Assessment) is a diagnostic instrument intended to direct students studying
science or technology subjects to appropriate support.
Who are the candidates?
The candidates are from a variety of technical/engineering departments, at both UG and PG levels.
Most are overseas students but a significant number of home students are also taking TEA.
What are students required to do?
TEA consists of a technical writing, listening and reading/summary writing papers. These have been
developed following consultation with departments about areas they feel present difficulties for
students.
How is the assessment marked?
The three papers are marked separately using specific criteria/mark schemes. The writing tasks are
given a global score. Recommendations for support are made based on the performance in
individual papers and overall.
Is the writing double-marked?
The writing papers are only marked once. The sheer volume of scripts we have to assess means it
would be impossible for rating to be completed twice within a reasonable timescale. There will,
however, be some random sampling in an attempt to ensure reasonable degrees of reliability.
Why is summary writing being included?
Summary writing has been highlighted by departments as a common area of weakness. By including
it in TEA, students who are likely to struggle with it can be identified and offered support.
Why is reading being assessed through a writing activity?
The summary writing task assesses both reading and writing skills. In order to write an effective
summary, it is first necessary to understand the source text. If students perform poorly on this task,
it will be recommended that they sign up for the ELS Academic Reading and Writing classes.
Why do students need to have their language assessed again when many of them have only just
taken IELTS/USEPT?
The scores required by departments are minimum levels of proficiency needed to follow particular
courses of study. It is likely that even students who have exceeded these requirements will need
some form of language support during their studies.
What form will the support take?
The various forms of recommended support are as follows:10
Departmental Language Coordinator Guide





Departmental Language Support Classes
English Language Support (Listening and Speaking or Reading and Writing)
WAS (Occasional attendance - 1st essay and then if required by student)
WAS (regular attendance)
None (educated native-speaker competence)
Has TEA been trialled?
TEA was first trialled in spring 2008 and administered for the first time in Intro Week 2008. In the
light of comments made by both candidates and assessors, a number of minor modifications have
been made. The effectiveness of the different papers will continue to be evaluated and improved.
The future of TEA
Every year the number of students taking the TEA increases. The logistics (rooms, invigilating,
marking etc) have become unmanageable. The ELTC is developing an online TEA so that students will
be able to do it any time during Intro Week, once they have registered. It is hoped that the online
TEA will be available in September 2013.
11