Community Language Learning: From Three

Different Perspectives

Emine Çakir Sürmeli and Julien Boast

School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental & African Studies…

has more than 4600 students from 130+ countries

has more than 350 degree combinations available in social sciences, arts, humanities and languages, all with a distinctive regional focus

offers an unparalleled range of African and Asian languages

has the largest concentration of specialist staff (300+ academics) concerned with the study of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, at any university in Europe

Organisational Perspective

Planning

Widening Participation

Capital L

Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East

Aims

To develop Turkish written skills

“typically community language learners have a degree of oral fluency when they first begin formal study of the language, but lack literacy skills”

– Professor Itesh Sachdev, “Community Languages in Higher Education”

Aims (continued)

To raise the profile of community languages

“among linguistic communities themselves, so that learners place greater value on their existing expertise and on the socio-cognitive benefits to be gained from maintaining and developing their languages, become more aware of the potential uses to which their languages could be put and more committed to enhancing their language skills”

– Professor Itesh Sachdev, “Community Languages in Higher Education”

Aims (continued)

To explore political, cultural and historical topics related to Turkish

To raise aspiration

Proposed Programme

Key points Active physical movement every day

Ensure lecturers are adequately briefed, and insist on group work with Student Ambassadors

‘Double up’ on Ambassadors, and ensure each group has a Turkish speaking Ambassador

Liaise closer with schools in terms of numbers attending

Teaching and learning perspective

Planning the teaching

Preparation: 4 days - 7 hours

13-15 year old students

L/S R/W

1st day

Activities

Writing notes on the fridge Listening to a song/ gap filling Reading a paragraph & writing cool life mottos Picture story & writing a paragraph Reading texts and discussion

Assignment

Ali’s Day

Ali Ayşe’yi seviyor

Student Perspective

EvaluationsDid either / both parents / guardians attend Higher Education?

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Yes, mother /guardian only

Yes, father / guardianonly

Yes - both parents /guardians

No Don't know

What you gained from attending

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

Stronglyagree

Agree Disagree Stronglydisagree

Not sure

I enjoyed finding out aboutTurkish

I enjoyed learning a non-Europeanlanguage

Today has made me want to go touniversity

Do you think you will go to university or other HE in future?

0

5

10

15

20

25

Yes No Don't know

Comments “My Turkish has

improved dramatically” “I really liked it because

I learned new stuff” “I really found my

Ambassador helpful” “It cannot be improved

because it was great”

[from students]

“It is difficult to get pupils motivated, so this was done well”

“Just having a focus for Turkish pupils / young people [is a benefit]”

“[Pupils gained] An added knowledge of their culture and language, increased awareness of the ability to study Turkish language and also a general added confidence in their written Turkish”

[from schoolteachers]

And finally…

SOAS üniversite’de geçirdiğimiz süre çok değerliydi bizim için. Yeni arkadaşlarla tanısdık Türkiyenin her yerinden ve hepsi birbirinden güzel kişiliklere sahipti. Orda geçirdiğimiz sürede bize üniversiteli gibi davrandılar ve bu çok hosumuza gitti çünkü üniversiteli olmakla ilgili çok sey öğrendik. Ayrıca, gördüğümüz dersler, Türkce dili, Türkiye tarihi, Türkiye politikasi ve Türk müzikleriydi. Her dersten ayrı birşey öğrendik ve eğlendik, geleceğimiz için çok güzel bir deneyim oldu.

“The time that we spent in SOAS University was very special for us. We made new friends from all parts of Turkey and they all had very nice personalities. During the time we spent in university we were treated like university students which we appreciated because we learnt a lot about what life is like in university. In addition, the lessons we had were Turkish language, Turkish history, Turkish politics and Turkish music. We enjoyed it and learnt a lot in every lesson we had. It was a good experience for our future.”