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

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Teaching in the disciplines
allowing greater reflection and autonomy. Thus, the system was designed to offer
flexibility, independence and feedback. It was also intended to support a wide
range of learning styles and encourage student interaction outside the classroom.
The project started with just a few courses and soon expanded to embrace other
language programmes. It has focused on developing two areas within WebCT:
language practice self-check exercises (Hot Potatoes) and interactive discussion
tasks. Materials have been written by a team of tutors within the department,
working collaboratively. The materials are peer reviewed during all stages of
production, and specialist technical and pedagogical support is provided by the
e-learning team. Tutors have received training in e-moderation and other specific
issues, although virtual peer observation has also proved to be a highly effective
training tool.
Courses
The multimedia exercises focus on grammar, vocabulary and receptive skills.
Feedback is built into each exercise with back-up explanations and transcripts.
The main courses are offered in ‘blended’ mode and tasks are assessed for
participation and content; some are also offered as extra support but are not
assessed. The integration of online work with face-to-face sessions has changed
classroom work which is now largely devoted to oral skills and the presentation
of new structures and vocabulary. Exercises and materials covered in class feed
into the online interactive tasks, with students collaborating on their productive
skills and using the target language creatively. These are communicative language
tasks adapted to an asynchronous, written medium.
Feedback
Evaluation shows consistently that students rate online work positively due to
its flexibility, ease of revision, collaborative learning dimension and enhanced
tutor feedback. Negative aspects include the loss of face-to-face time and
difficulties with group activities. Tutors have also observed a higher standard of
linguistic output and greater participation on the part of quieter learners. Student
interaction can be monitored more closely than in the classroom, making feedback
more targeted, and there has been a shift towards greater learner independence,
as students plan their learning, and reflect on and monitor their own language
and that of their peers.
(Department of Languages and Translation Studies (LTS), University of Surrey)
TRANSLATION
In many universities, L1L2 translation and L2L1 translation (i.e. into and out of the
foreign language) are still very common teaching and testing techniques. It is difficult to