Empowering language students to facilitate their own learning and develop skills through engagement with local schools.
This post was written by Nashy Boneli from Hispanic Studies in the School of Languages and
Cultures at the University of Sheffield.
This post was originally written in July 2019 and published on the old Elevate blog.
To give some context, the Level 1B course is designed for students with no prior experience of the Spanish language. In the first year of their studies, they are expected to reach the equivalent of an AS level in Spanish in order to substantially narrow the gap between them and their post A-level peers. The process described below helps to develop students’ presentation skills which assessed in the second and fourth year of their studies.
As part of the written language component of the Level 1 Spanish Beginner course in Hispanic Studies, students are asked to create a presentation about key grammatical aspects. Students are asked to present to their peers, in the first instance. This provides them with the opportunity for feedback and reflection and facilitates the learning process. Following this, students visit local Secondary Schools, where they present to GCSE and A-Level students, who are preparing for their own Spanish language exams.
The idea of this school based project arose as a response to the commitment and dedication of Level 1B students who were keen to meet the course requirement and who wanted to be fully prepared to face the next years of study.
The project takes the form of a student-led mid-semester grammar revision activity and represents the first formative assessment in the second semester. This activity requires the students to collaborate on a specific grammatical structure, in pairs or in groups of three, and to prepare a 30-minute presentation with appropriate materials of their choosing.
The students are involved with the schools from the beginning and meet with teachers prior to commencing the project to ensure that they understand the benefits of their participation within the context of the school. Students are closely supported throughout the design, development and delivery of their presentations, and receive formative feedback on their presentations from their peers and from me. The presentations produced by the students are subsequently available on Blackboard for further reference to all Level 1B students.
This activity enables the students to consolidate and build upon their understanding of the language they are studying and also serves as a preparation for the formal language assessment at the end of the second semester.
Beyond serving as a language revision exercise, this project also gives students the opportunity to develop their skills in line with the Sheffield Graduate Attributes. Students demonstrate creativity and innovation in designing the presentation, assess appropriate resources to facilitate the presentation of their topic, evaluate different presentation methods, work within constraints (time, school year, specific requirements of individual schools and teachers) and work collaboratively.
Teachers feel the presentations are stimulating, encouraging and beneficial for their students as the grammar is explained from a different perspective by someone closer to the students’ own educational experience. The teachers and students in the schools visited have access to the material presented after the visit so that it may serve as a future resource.
This project brings a real-world element to the course through a stimulating and engaging experience which enables students to connect with the community in a meaningful activity. It is also an excellent example of employability skills and has proved helpful for those applying for teaching assistantships during their year abroad. For many students this project is their first experience of applying their knowledge outside the classroom and is something they have loved doing!