Journal: Language Learning in Higher Education

Abbreviation

Publisher

De Gruyter

Journal Volumes

ISSN

2191-6128
2191-611X

Description

Filters

2020 - 20232
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Publications 1 - 2 of 2
  • Lehre am Sprachenzentrum der UZH und der ETH Zürich: Positionspapier
    Item type: Journal Article
    Schaffner, Sabina (2023)
    Language Learning in Higher Education
    This activity report This Activity Report is a follow up of reflections and ideas based on a paper by Sabina Schaffner. 2022. Lehre am Sprachenzentrum der UZH und ETH Zurich: Positionspapier. In Anna Maria De Bartolo & Jean M. Jimenez (eds.), Approccio Umanistico e Creativo nella Didattica Universitaria: Riflessioni e Best Practice. Studi in onore di Carmen Argondizzo. Quaderni del Dipartimento di Linguistica Università della Calabria 30, 491-508. Armadillo Editore. is based on teachers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting reflection on teaching that the Language Center of University of Zurich (UZH) and ETH Zurich initiated. Framed in the context of Higher Education, the report takes into account both the discussion on the future of teaching at UZH, which was launched by the Vice President of Education and Student Affairs for Teaching and Learning, as well as the Language Center's teaching strategy. In addition, course evaluations at the Language Center in the 2020 Spring and Autumn Semesters, research on digital (language) teaching, recommendations on university didactics, and results of additional international surveys on language teaching in Higher Education during the pandemic are examined. The aim of the report is to strategically define the future of language teaching at the Language Center of UZH and ETH Zurich and to identify the fields of action associated therewith. With this detailed report of the activities that we implemented at the UZH Language Center throughout the years, we would like to make a contribution to the (inter)national positioning of university language centers. At a panel organized at the Language Center's Twentieth Anniversary Conference on 10 June 2022, stakeholders shared their thoughts on the services the Center currently provides and ideas for further developing these services. The stakeholders' feedback features prominently in this activity report, thereby adding to the impact that the report can have on potential readers.
  • The language centre as a laboratory for innovation
    Item type: Journal Article
    Schaffner, Sabina (2020)
    Language Learning in Higher Education
    This paper discusses the potential of language centres in higher education as laboratories for innovation. Despite their hybrid character as central service providers that are also defined by their teaching, their positioning at the academic periphery, and the lack of a mandate to do academic research, language centres still have an obligation to conduct research as a means of promoting innovation. The design-based research (DBR) approach in learning and teaching, in which teaching stakeholders examine learning processes in real situation, offers a suitable opportunity for language centres to overcome the restrictions placed upon them. DBR can be done using existing resources and the innovation potential of a language centre's teaching staff. The leadership and management of the language centre must be made responsible for providing and/or enabling the necessary structural, material, and cultural conditions for such research. This paper discusses the DBR approach at language centres in higher education and its impact on leadership. It then gives two examples of the successful implementation of DBR at the Language Center of UZH and ETH Zurich.
Publications 1 - 2 of 2