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Completed projects

Towards a History of Modern Foreign Language Teaching and Learning (MFLTL) (2012-14)

Investigating the predictive validity of TOEFL iBT® scores and their use in informing policy in a UK university setting (2013-2016)

This project, funded by ETS TOEFL iBT® Council of Research, investigated postgraduate students’ and their tutors’ perceptions of students’ linguistic preparedness for academic studies and their subsequent academic progress. The study, conducted by Claudia Harsch (Applied Linguistics), Ema Ushioda (Applied Linguistics) and Christophe Ladroue (Computer Science), aimed to investigate what links, if any, there are between students’ initial TOEFL iBT English language entry scores, their attendance of pre-sessional, in-sessional or other linguistic support programmes, and their academic assignment grades during their academic courses of study at Warwick.


Financial Expert Discourse (FED). The production, circulation and transformation of heterogeneous knowledge in financial economics between market, state and academia (2011-14)

This project, funded by Volkswagenstiftung, was undertaken by Jens Maesse. Contemporary knowledge societies in the age of globalisation and informationalisation depend increasingly on expert systems. Experts produce knowledge, legitimate opinions and help other actors to take a discursive position between the political, the academic and the economic world. This project aimed to analyse the financial markets from the perspective of the sociology of science. By combining discourse analytical, documentary and ethnographic methods, it examined the ways of production and logics of communication of financial economics between science, state and economy.


Investigating NEST schemes around the world: supporting NEST/NNEST collaborative practices (2013-14)

This joint project between Aston University and University of Warwick, funded by the British Council under the English Language Learning and Teaching Research Partnership Award (ELTRPA) scheme, was led by Fiona Copland of Aston University and included Sue Garton (Aston) and Steve Mann (CAL). It investigated NEST schemes in various contexts, collecting detailed information through document analysis, interviews with NESTs and NNESTs, and classroom observations. This information was used to prepare an audit document which gives details about the schemes, and will be of value to both policymakers and teachers. Importantly, classroom and interview data were used in the preparation of training resources to support both teachers and teacher trainers.


Video for ALL (EU project) (2013-15)

This project was EU funded under Lifelong Learning: Comenius (KA2) Languages Multitlateral Projects. The Warwick team, led by Steve Mann and including Russell Stannard and Claudia Harsch (CAL) and Teresa MacKinnon (Language Centre) was one of seven partners from the UK, Spain, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Italy and Germany. The project aimed to bring together all current methodologies, ideas and innovative practices used to teach and learn languages by integrating digital video, building a comprehensive repository of every type of video and associated language practice through templates that describes each practice with examples of usage. Outputs include 'How to' videos and an in-service teacher training course on the use of video as a basic tool for language teaching.


Teachers researching with children in large classes in India (2013-14)

Funded by a Warwick International Partnerships Award with the support also of The British Council India and OUP India, this project involves a collaboration between Richard Smith and Annamaria Pinter of CAL with Professor Rama Mathew, Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Delhi. A group of primary teachers in Delhi are being supported in teacher-research with children as co-researchers, with a view to exploring feasibility for roll-out on a wider scale from 2014 onwards.


ELT History projects (Hornby Trust, British Council)

The Directory of UK ELT Research (British Council)

The Sino-UK eLearning Programme (eChina-UK)