Developing your students’ academic language skills (ALS):
examples of embedding ALS in mainstream teaching
What are academic language skills?
Why embed academic language skills in your teaching?
Examples:
• Writing: essays, reports, exams
• Reading: critical reading, skim, scan
• Listening: active listening for gist, for detail
• Speaking: oral presentations, seminar discussions
Research shows that it is more effective for lecturers to teach skills as
part of their subject teaching than for students to access skills support
separately or as something only linked to their course.
So the examples below show a few ideas of how LSBU lecturers have
embedded academic language skills development in their core subject
teaching.
See ACADEMIC ASSISTANT open access web site in learning and
language skills for more: www.blc.lsbu.ac.uk/aa
Example 2: Cherry James in Law (AHS)
Example 1: John Seeley in Applied Science (ESBE)
1st
1st year Legal Skills unit, LLB:
year Skills for Sports Science:
Students bring along newspaper articles and have to explain the legal angle
of the story in class.
We work on larger and smaller scale issues in written communication
through study of previous students’ writing. Students’ ability to spot errors is
tested via a MC test and an extended writing assignment. There is a concise
help-sheet with my material, ACADEMIC ASSISTANT and OWLs.
Skill: oral skills – discussion & argument
Contact: jamesc@lsbu.ac.uk
Skill: error correction/revising and editing written work
Example 4: Gail Langley: English Language Section of MSFS (BCIM)
Contact: seeleyj@lsbu.ac.uk
Business Communication Skills, MBA:
Students write notes on strengths and weaknesses of peers’ practice
presentations and pass to their colleagues on completion of presentation.
Example 3: Charles Graham in Mktg & Strategy (BCIM)
Skill: developing awareness of presentation skills
Contact: langleg@lsbu.ac.uk
Ist year Marketing skills unit, BA Marketing:
Teaching report writing skills in a 2 hour lecture in week 12 of semester 1
Skill: report writing for assessed coursework
Example 5: Antoine Rogers in Social Policy (AHS)
Contact: grahamci@lsbu.ac.uk
For BSc Social & Policy Studies students (6 pathways)
Writing workshops are offered in semester 2 weeks 3-10 to students
who have failed essays in semester 1. Students are helped to redraft
a failed essay into a passing essay.
Skill: redrafting a whole essay
Contact: rogersa2@lsbu.ac.uk
CONCLUSION
What do YOU do to support your students’ academic language skills? Write your comments here/add your name and I’ll contact you.
Aim: to bring together the many examples of good practice in this area already in operation!
YOUR EXAMPLE AND CONTACT DETAILS:
REFERENCES
A few sample web sites for students to use:
ACADEMIC ASSISTANT: www.blc.lsbu.ac.uk/aa
PURDUE UNIVERSITY OWL (Online Writing Centre): //owl/english.purdue.edu
TORONTO UNIVERSITY OWL (Online Writing Centre)://utl1.utoronto.ca
UNIVERSITY ENGLISH: www.uefap.co.uk
A few sample books on academic language skills:
BAILEY S. 2006 (2nd ed) “Academic Writing - a handbook for international students” London: Routledge
CRASWELL G. 2005 “Writing for academic success - a postgraduate guide” London: Sage
English for Academic Study series from Garnet: Writing, Reading, Speaking
Poster presented by Gail Langley
Reader in Educational D, Head of English Language Section,
in Education (AHS) and MSFS (BCIM)
langleg@lsbu.ac.uk X7719