Polyglossia’s eighth issue has now been completed, and should be winging its way to the MML Faculty within a short period. Featuring discussions on Russian media ethics, accounts of falling of bicycles in France, and plenty more original content from Cambridge students, there’s plenty to look forward to. Keep an eye out!
The BBC’s just published a very interesting article in which Anthony Seldon, a senior figure in the independent sector, comments on the UK’s lack of engagement with languages. It’s well worth a read.
Cambridge University announces that it will teach only sciences from 2021 onwards. Read the full story here.
UPDATE: This was, of course, a joke. Albeit one that’s pretty close to the bone!
As part of its New Europe project, the Guardian newspaper is displaying a really interesting article on perceptions of Spain and of Spaniards, which can be found here. The Spanish version is also available on the El País website.
The University Council for Modern Languages is worried that the prospect of £9000 fees during the Year Abroad will lead to university applicants turning their backs on languages if the government does not guarantee a fee waver soon.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12893629
Committee elections for the academic year 2011-12 open at 18:00 on Friday 18th March and close at midnight at the end of Sunday 20th March. You can access the voting here: https://www.vote.cusu.cam.ac.uk/polyglossia/10-11/committee/. Only members may vote. If you think you should be on the electoral roll but aren’t, email gw249.
The candidates are, in alphabetical order:
Vice-President:
Sarah Coskeran (view manifesto)
Social Secretary:
Camilla Crosby (view manifesto)
Editor of Polyglossia:
Louisa Long (view manifesto)
Hana Murrell (view manifesto)
The voting also contains a referendum on the new constitution, which you can download from here. It has the approval of the current committee, but we need you the members to accept it too!
The British Academy has called on UK universities to up their game as regards language teaching.
In Language Matters More and More, the Academy recommends that UK Vice-Chancellors:
• ADOPT a wider definition of ‘internationalisation’, rather than focus simply on recruitment of overseas students
• ENSURE that universities place this broader understanding of internationalisation and language learning at the heart of their missions
• RESPOND to the growing internationalisation of the graduate jobs market
• PROVIDE language training to meet the needs of their researchers
• ENCOURAGE and enable their students to take time out of their studies to work or study abroad
• MAKE PROVISION for their students to study a language while studying for a non-language degree
• WORK COLLABORATIVELY to sustain languages at a time of considerable fiscal restraints.
Professor Andrew Hussey, of the University of London Institute in Paris, argues that the study of French is about so much more than “pretentious” literature and cinema, and must remain an academic discipline that is accessible to all.
Read more here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/06/french-studies-francophiles-universities
José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, will be giving the Alcuin Lecture at 5pm on February 18th at the Department of Chemistry.
Attendance is by ticket only. Applications for tickets should be sent to alcuinlecture@admin.cam.ac.uk by 9th February. Applicants must state their full name and title as well as College and/or Department or Faculty affiliation.
Barroso is a Portuguese career politician and some-time academic who once famously compared the European Union to an ‘empire’. His take on the issues facing Europe today is bound to be an interesting and well-informed one.
Education Secretary Michael Gove says ‘the door is open’ for Modern Languages to become compulsory at GCSE once again.
Do you think that everyone should have to learn a language?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12243936