A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

21
Key aspects of
teaching and
learning in
languages
Carol Gray and John Klapper
INTRODUCTION
The first sections of this chapter consider the following issues which are central to the
effective learning and teaching of modern languages in higher education (HE):
• the changing face of language study in HE
• the implications for HE language learning of changes at secondary level
• insights from second language acquisition research
• communicative approaches to language teaching
• autonomous learning and learner differences
• communication and information technology (C&IT)
• translation.
A subsequent case study of a first-year post-A Level language course illustrates these
issues in practice and provides a pointer to how they may be integrated into a coherent
whole. The focus throughout is on language learning rather than the non-language
elements of degree courses since the latter are covered elsewhere in this volume, in
particular in Chapter 20.
LANGUAGES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Developments in the teaching of foreign languages over the past 40 years have resulted
partly from new methodological perceptions but also from the changing role of the higher
education institution (HEI) as language provider. HE language courses were once
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