Category: Uncategorized

by Martha Partridge

Introduction 

Corpus Linguistics (CL) appears to intrigue people. Associations of forensic analysis and archaeological investigation seem to abound: examining collocates; digging for words; mining language. CL studies often refer to indecipherable statistical measures and linguistic abbreviations, too: n-grams, LogLikelihood, T-score, chi-squared test, lempos, KWIC – the list goes on. CL could therefore seem a little intimidating, and perhaps curious teacher-researchers are deterred from trying some corpus-based experiments themselves. Approached systematically and with curiosity however, CL offers an accessible and adaptable method of language study.  (more…)

Hello everyone, 

We’re pleased to announce the relaunch of the CALD Teaching and Learning Network blog to coincide with the CALD Individual and Centre Development Week (23-27 May 2022).

The new URL for the blog is https://caldteachingandlearningnetwork.wordpress.com/. [Update: it is now https://teachingandlearningnetwork.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/]

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by Deb Catavello and Grant Hartley

When we set out to research teachers’ feedback practices, we had a very vague idea of how to go about it. What we knew was what we did not want to do: we didn’t want to end up making qualitative judgements on what individual teachers do when giving feedback. Instead, we wanted to 1. find out what influences our (like the participants in our study, we’re first and foremost teachers) practices and 2. avoid oversimplifying things. (more…)

by Maxine Gillway
Director, Centre for Academic Language and Development,
University of Bristol

As a Centre we review our policy and practice on teaching observations annually, when we attempt to standardise the behaviour of those who will be going into classrooms as ‘formal’ observers, and their interpretations of our observation criteria. Everyone who teaches in the Centre is observed annually – including me as the Director – as we see it as an important part of our ongoing development as teachers. We have also invited professional services colleagues into our classrooms so that they are more aware of what is going on in our Centre. (more…)

by Claire Brett

‘The color, the grace and levitation, the structural pattern in motion, the quick interplay of live beings, suspended like fitful lightning in a cloud, these things are the play, not words on paper, nor thoughts and ideas of an author…’

Tennesse Williams

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by Ryan Simpson

In this reflection from the ten-week pre-sessional 2018, I discuss creating a worksheet for a Listening Circles lesson and also show how, by introducing such an innovation for our class, this can yield robust C1 evidence for our TEAP portfolio. (more…)

by Nick Roll

As part of my own research investigating student and teacher attitudes towards the use of L1 in multilingual EAP classes, I recently interviewed Maxine Gillway, the current Director of The Centre for English Language and Foundation Studies (CELFS) at the University of Bristol. (more…)

by Stuart Marshall

There’s a suddenness to the arrival of review week on the PS10: one minute you’re shifting uncomfortably in your seat during induction week and the next you’re puzzling over the blank space where a scheme of work would normally be. There is of course a Week 5 folder on the W Drive full of shared materials, which teachers are free to add to and draw from as they please. While this bank varies in appropriacy (e.g. in terms of student level), it certainly has something to offer anyone with a lesson or two to fill, though not the full week.

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