Major structural changes in recent years such as the Council of Europe with the CEFR, the European Union with the Bologna Process (harmonisation of higher education) and standardised testing have led to more in-depth reflection on language learning, its relationship to the knowledge society and to life-long learning. Language teaching initially addressed language specialist students (future translators, interpreters and especially teachers). Today, language teaching increasingly concerns a sector, which in France is called LANSAD (languages for specialists of other disciplines). This sector is undergoing a significant rise in demand for English, which is proposed in most university programmes. For some of these programmes, all instruction is already in English. Other languages are also on offer depending on institutional needs. In France, LANSAD teaching is often provided through short training sessions of a few dozen hours, over the course of a few semesters, at best. Generally, there is a need for more stable organisation of programmes, activities and evaluation. High demand for language instruction coupled with a lack of permanent teaching staff and continuity have marked the evolution of this sector. At the same time, these issues have led to renewed pedagogical practices, varied forms of research, new learning environments incorporating IT.
While institutional recognition is not guaranteed, responding to these structural changes, the significant number of students and the variety of disciplines, requires in-depth reflection. The objective of this conference is to come together as fellow researchers and teachers working in various contexts around the world, in order to share our research results in the flowing major areas:
Axis 1: The learners
Who are the students learning languages at university, and in particular in the LANSAD sector? What are their expectations, and to what extent are their needs different from those of students specialising in languages? What are the major academic areas of the LANSAD students and do they have an influence on language learning? How can plurilingualism and the multiplicity of cultural origins - which increasingly characterize students today - be taken into consideration?
Axis 2: Mobility
What language mobility itineraries (real or virtual) can be traced for students and teachers? This question needs to be linked to the plurilingual and pluricultural context in which language teaching and learning take place but also to the economic policies that increasingly underlie educational policies.
Axis 3: Learning environments
What training programmes and relevant learning environments are set up? How should language and discipline content be integrated? How should corpora be integrated in specialised language teaching? How should IT potential be defined, measured and validated (platforms, podcasts, forums, chats, blogs, wikis, computer assisted language learning). What models can be put forward?
Axis 4: The University teachers
What are the university language teacher profiles that would best correspond to the respective needs of language specialists or of LANSAD students? What kind of professional training would be appropriate? What specific skills should be developed? To what extent and in what way should collaborative work between language teachers and teachers of other disciplines be organised? How should teaching and learning models be integrated?
Axis 5 : Evaluation and certification
How is university language learning evaluation carried out? How can students, content, languages, and learning environments be evaluated? What modifications would be brought about by self-evaluation and follow up (individualised/collective, distance/in-class)? Can research in language learning and teaching in these areas maintain an autonomous space for questioning?
Cedric Brudermann & Martine Derivry - 17/01/11