Links to your survey questions at foot of article.
Are you interested in finding out more about how students are doing in their Spanish (and other Modern/Foreign Languages) A-Level/IB/ Pre-U/Scottish Highers? Would you also like to know more about how M/FL students are coping with the transition from A-level/IB/Pre-U/Scottish Highers to University? Finally, would you like to find out more about whether – and, if so, how – Brexit and the Coronavirus are impacting students taking foreign languages in the UK?
If so, you’ve come to the right place! These are precisely the questions that this one-year project, ‘Developing a Partnership between Universities and Schools in Order to Enhance the Student Experience of the Spanish A-level’, has set out to answer.
This project is funded by UCL’s HEIF Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund. Working with other universities in the UK, secondary schools, Sixth Form Colleges and the Instituto Cervantes in London, it seeks to develop new insights on how to enhance the linguistic, cultural, literary and filmic components of the A-level syllabus. This project grew from the partnerships formed in the creation of the Bulletin of Advanced Spanish, which was founded in 2017 to act as a bridge between University Spanish Studies and Sixth Form Spanish Studies.
The project is focusing on Spanish as the most popular language at A-level in the UK (7,932 entrants in the summer of 2019). However, for the purposes of the survey, the intention is to gather data on the student and teacher perspective on all Modern/Foreign Languages with a view to identifying future trends. It will do so by developing four core activities as follows:
- It will design, deliver and conduct Opinio surveys of students currently taking M/FL A-level, Scottish Higher, Cervantes Institute and University courses in Spanish, as well as Opinio surveys of the instructors teaching these subjects;
- It will design and deliver workshops designed to exchange best practice on how to train the younger generation and give them the skills and tools they need to succeed in the modern world, including skills in communication (both written and oral); translation; and the ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of target language culture, literature and film;
- It will create a national online platform that will act as a hub combining an archive of useful teaching materials (i.e. texts) as well as an online repository of podcasts on relevant topics; and
- It will produce a concise report summarising the results of the knowledge exchange and highlight the examples of good practice which will enhance the student experience.
Led by Professor Stephen M. Hart, of University College London, this project draws on the expertise of members of the Bulletin of Advanced Spanish editorial team (see link in menu bar) as well as Ignacio Peyró (Director, Cervantes Institute, London) and Dr Owen Williams (Postdoctoral Researcher). The project launched in March 2021 and will run until 14 March 2022.
We want to see if there are ways in which we can make the transition from A-level Spanish/M/FL to first-year Spanish/M/FL at University smoother and more productive. So, if you are (a) currently taking a modern/foreign language at A-level; (b) currently teaching a modern/foreign language at A-level or equivalent; (c) currently studying a modern/foreign language at university; or (d) currently teaching a modern/foreign language at university, please click on the links below to fill in your anonymous survey and submit it by 1 July 2021. The survey is short: just 17 multiple choice questions (with optional comments).
To recap: this survey is open to all A-level and equivalent students and university students taking Modern/Foreign Languages, in order to provide context on the transition from A-level and equivalent to university study for students taking Modern/Foreign Languages, including Spanish. Our intention is to report back the results to the community of Modern/Foreign Languages students and teachers, as well as other key stakeholders. Thank you for your support!
The Links for the Short Anonymous Opinio Survey of Modern/Foreign Languages
If you are currently studying a modern/foreign language at A-level or equivalent, please fill in the short anonymous survey here
https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=73536
and submit by 1 July 2021
If you are currently teaching a modern/foreign language at A-level or equivalent, please fill in the short anonymous survey here
https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=73555
and submit by 1 July 2021
If you are currently studying a modern/foreign language at university, please fill in the short anonymous survey here
https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=73556
and submit by 1 July 2021
If you currently teaching a modern/foreign language at university, please fill in the short anonymous survey here
https://opinio.ucl.ac.uk/s?s=73557
and submit by 1 July 2021
THANK YOU!
…from the team behind the ‘Developing a Partnership between Universities and Schools in Order to Enhance the Student Experience of the Spanish A-level: HEIF Pilot Project Run Between Universities and Secondary Schools in the UK and the Cervantes Institute, London (2021-2022)’.
Bulletin of Advanced Spanish 