Briefing for Study Day 7 March

Click on the heading to download the briefing paper for the second-year Study Day on Saturday (first years on 28 March). We're looking forward to seeing you; it promises to be every bit as interesting as the first one, although rather different in style.

Useful resource for ESOL teachers

If you have not come across this on-line journal, I can commend it; as well as being well-rooted in experience, the papers tend to be reflective while retaining a serious academic perspective. A useful model for some of your own work. Incidentally, the current issue is focused on India; it is also interesting to read the distinctive voice of some contributors and to reflect on their different starting points.

Oh! And Happy New Year! I'm sure you're desperate to get back to work and the course after all the irritating distraction of the past couple of weeks...

Automatic bibliographies!

It had to happen! You can now get automatic bibliographies generated for you on-line, from information as minimal as a book's ISBN number. Try it!

Two words of caution, though;

1. It does not set up the in-text flags for you, such as Jarvis (2006), and
2. Its default format is MLA (Modern Languages Association) while like most social "science" disciplines, we use APA (American Psychological Association); in order to get that, you have to take out a subscription, but that is only $7.99 (just over £5.00) for a year.

Pass the word!

Study Days are under way

We didn't really need the evidence of the evaluation questionnaires to testify to the reaction to the first of this year's study days; Sue Cowley's presentation in particular went down a bomb. She's coming back for the first year's (or "first years'" if the reference is to students rather than structure...) day on Saturday 29 November, so be prepared!

Study Days are here again!

The first Study Day for Year 2 folks is next Saturday; the link is to the briefing paper. You can download that and the programme for printing, but there is no real need to, since they will both be in your delegate packs. This information is also on BREO.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

It can work out!

We are half-way through the first term, which some people find a daunting stage of the course, where its demands begin to bite. But it is also graduation ceremony time! This year, there were so many people graduating from the programme that the university had to lay on a special ceremony, just for PCE graduates. The photo is testimony that some people actually managed it--we couldn't cover all the centres because there were too many. Sorry about the pink bags, courtesy of the alumni office...

You will be here ere too long!

Coffield diagnoses the ills of the sector

This blog is becoming the Frank Coffield fan club! I can't link to the article because it is not on-line, but if you are a member of the University and Colleges Union (UCU), you will have received a copy of the October magazine; do read "When the solution is the problem..." (pp.9-10) and copy it for your fellow course members.