Community Language Learning: From Three Different Perspectives

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Community Language Learning From Three Different
Perspectives

• Emine Çakir Sürmeli and Julien Boast
• School of Oriental and African Studies

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• 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

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Organisational Perspective
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Planning

• Widening Participation
• Capital L
• Department of the Languages and Cultures of the
  Near and Middle East

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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

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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

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Aims (continued)

• To explore political, cultural and historical
  topics related to Turkish
• To raise aspiration

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Proposed Programme
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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

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Teaching and learning perspective
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Planning the teaching

• Preparation 4 days - 7 hours
• 13-15 year old students
• L/S ? R/W ?
• 1st day

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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

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Alis Day
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Ali Ayseyi seviyor
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Student Perspective
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EvaluationsDid either / both parents / guardians
attend Higher Education?
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What you gained from attending
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Do you think you will go to university or other
HE in future?
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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

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And finally

• SOAS üniversitede geçirdigimiz süre çok
  degerliydi bizim için. Yeni arkadaslarla
  tanisdik Türkiyenin her yerinden ve hepsi
  birbirinden güzel kisiliklere sahipti. Orda
  geçirdigimiz sürede bize üniversiteli gibi
  davrandilar ve bu çok hosumuza gitti çünkü
  üniversiteli olmakla ilgili çok sey ögrendik.
  Ayrica, gördügümüz dersler, Türkce dili, Türkiye
  tarihi, Türkiye politikasi ve Türk müzikleriydi.
  Her dersten ayri birsey ögrendik ve eglendik,
  gelecegimiz için çok güzel bir deneyim oldu.

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• 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.