Dr. Emma Riordan

This project addresses the goals of the national languages" strategy, Languages Connect, published in December 2017 by the Department of Education and Skills, which aims to improve the quality of language education provision and dramatically increase the number of students learning a foreign language in Higher Education Institutions by 2026. This will require the recruitment of many new language teaching staff and the upskilling of existing ones in a context of no universally recognised qualification for Higher Education language teachers. Through consultation with stakeholders, this inter-institutional (University College Cork, Dublin City University, Maynooth University, Waterford Institute of Technology) team of Applied Linguists and language teaching experts are investigating the range of language teacher competences needed in Higher Education. The purpose of the project is to develop an empirically informed spiky profile tool which: allows HE language teachers to self-asses their competences; directs teachers toward resources and initiatives which can support the development of specific competences; develops a digital badge system to allow teachers" professional training to be recognised; provides a framework for the professionalisation of the field of language teaching in Higher Education. This profile will be integrated with the National Forum"s framework for staff who teach in Higher Education and the criteria for the Disciplinary Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Assessment (DELTA) awards. https://www.teachingandlearning.ie/project/a-profile-of-skills-for-teachers-of-language-in-higher-education/ https://hub.teachingandlearning.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Report-Final-The-HELECs-Framework.pdf

This project addressed the growing challenge of managing digital learning resources for language students and the need to support more effective, accessible, and sustainable independent learning. Language learning is inherently multi"modal, requiring students to engage with written, audio"visual, and interactive materials. While classroom interaction remains essential for developing communicative competence and language"learner identity, students must also undertake substantial autonomous study to reach the proficiency levels expected in degree"level language programmes. The online environment offers significant opportunities to support this independent learning, yet the volume and variety of digital materials can overwhelm both students and teachers. Issues such as limited digital literacy, reliance on mobile devices, and inconsistent course layouts further reduce engagement and hinder students" ability to navigate resources effectively. During the pandemic, high"quality digital resources were rapidly developed to sustain engagement with the curriculum beyond the classroom. However, recent experience showed that students were not accessing these materials as frequently or effectively as intended. Feedback revealed that many struggled to manage the volume of content, while others expressed a desire for clearer guidance and more structured support. Students studying multiple languages faced an additional challenge: independently designed module layouts created inconsistency across courses, increasing cognitive load and reducing accessibility. Although diversity in pedagogical approaches is a strength across languages, some level of harmonisation in how digital resources are organised and presented would significantly enhance usability and student learning. In response, this project undertook a structured review and redesign of the digital learning environment for core first", second" and final"year language modules. Working collaboratively with students and instructional design specialists, the project team analysed existing course structures and developed a more coherent, intuitive architecture for each module. The aim was to ensure consistent navigation, clear resource pathways, and improved access to the full range of materials that support learner autonomy. This redesign enhanced the learning experience for all students while particularly benefiting those who were struggling with digital overload or managing multiple language courses simultaneously. A second aim of the project was to share this work more broadly with colleagues teaching other languages. The project gathered feedback from students on the redesigned modules and documented the process of evaluating and restructuring digital course spaces. These findings were disseminated across relevant teaching teams to identify common design principles that could be adapted across languages while respecting the distinctive pedagogical needs of each. By providing a practical template informed by student experience, the project contributed to a more cohesive and accessible digital learning environment for language students in general. Overall, the project strengthened the quality and accessibility of digital provision in language education, improved student engagement with independent learning, and supported the development of a more streamlined and sustainable approach to managing multi"modal resources. It has laid the groundwork for continued collaboration and consistency across language programmes, ultimately enhancing the student experience and supporting the development of greater learner autonomy. https://ojs.aishe.org/index.php/aishe-j/article/view/789

Reflecting the fact that we live in a highly connected world where intercultural contact in multicultural and multilingual environments cannot be ignored, international learning and teaching has become an increasingly important aspect of higher education. It provides benefits to both the university and individuals. It can lead to greater co-operation in the exchange of knowledge, a sense of global justice, empathy towards other cultures, a sense of citizenship that goes beyond national borders, and the expression of plurilingual identities. This in turn can result in the development of an outward-looking, plurilingual global identity whereby students can critically engage in and across a diversity of languages and cultures. UCC actively supports the integration of international, intercultural and plurilingual dimensions into the delivery of the educational experience. This is seen in many ways, for example in the Praxis Project (SDG4 Quality Education); and in the promotion of international mobility through the Erasmus+ programme and the UNIC Alliance. However, research has consistently shown that simply participating in international mobility is not always enough to guarantee that such developments will occur. Students require pre-departure preparation, support during their stay, and post-mobility opportunities to continue to engage in intercultural, multilingual and globalised learning. With this in mind, the project takes a participatory research approach to explore the training and support needs of UCC students who experience international mobility during their degree programme. A participatory approach ensures that the proposers of the project and the students who participate collaborate as equal partners in the identification of training and support needs and the compilation of guidelines. We will collaborate with UCC undergraduate students from the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures. The study focuses primarily on facilitators and barriers to the emergence of plurilingual global identities. We understand a plurilingual global identity as having the ability to adapt to and communicate across a range of social, cultural and linguistic borders in a just and equitable manner (SDG4). The project has two main aims: 1. To understand the students" perspectives on how their plurilingual global identities develop and what we can do to support this process pre, during and post their stay 2. To develop guidelines for training and support which could be expanded university wide To achieve these aims, in consultation with the students, we propose taking two separate but complementary data collection approaches.

Dar le García (2009) agus Baker (2017), tagraíonn trasteangú d"úsáid dhá theanga nó níos mó chun brí nó meabhair a léiriú, eispéireas a mhúnlú, agus teacht ar thuiscint agus ar eolas. Léirítear leis an gcoincheap go bhfeidhmíonn stór teanga iomlán an duine mar aon chóras comhtháite amháin (García, 2009; García & Li Wei, 2014). Áitíonn García (2009) nach rud nádúrtha é do dhaoine dátheangacha a gcuid teangacha a scaradh óna chéile, agus ba í a luaigh an trasteangú mar ghnáthchleachtas sóisialta i measc daoine dátheangacha den chéad uair. Tá forbairt ollmhór tagtha le dhá scór bliain anuas ar an tuiscint atá againn ar an gcaoi a dtéann daoine dátheangacha i mbun foghlama, próiseála agus cumarsáide sna teangacha atá acu. Léiríonn fianaise ó réimsí amhail an tsíceolaíocht chognaíoch, an néaraitheangeolaíocht, agus an tsochtheangeolaíocht go bhfuil baint chasta dhinimiciúil idir na teangacha agus i measc na dteangacha atá ag daoine dátheangacha agus ilteangacha. Ach níl trasteangú ag teacht le prionsabail an tumoideachais lán-Ghaeilge. Tá ceisteanna ann, mar sin féin, maidir le teangacha uile na ndaltaí a úsáid mar acmhainn d"fhoghlaim nuatheangacha sa tumoideachas. Tabharfaidh an tionscadal taighde seo faoin gceist taighde seo a leanas: " Cathain agus conas is féidir an úsáid is éifeachtaí a bhaint as teangacha eile in oideolaíocht na nuatheangacha san oideachas lán-Ghaeilge chun inniulacht chumarsáideach agus cruinneas gramadaí sa nuatheanga mar aon le hinniúlachtaí ilteangacha/breisteangacha a fhorbairt? Baileofar sonraí ó cheistneoir fairsing ar líne, breathnóireacht ranga, agallaimh aisghairme spreagtha le múinteoirí faoi oiliúint agus le múinteoirí nuatheangacha ag an mbun agus ag an iarbhunleibhéal sa chomhthéacs tumoideachais. Mar thoradh ar an taighde seo, cuirfear treoir mar aon le creat tacaíochta/sraith straitéisí taighde-bhunaithe, cleachtas-dhírithe ar fáil do mhúinteoirí nuatheangacha ar mhaithe le naisc thras-teanga a fhorbairt agus an trasteangú in úsáid mar chur chuige oideolaíochta chomh maith le spásanna cosanta agus tacaíocht a chur ar fáil go fóill do nuatheangacha sa seomra ranga agus sa chlár agus leibhéil arda forbartha sna nuatheangacha a chinntiú.