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Nought to Spanish in six months - motor sports students get on track for languages
Video clips
View some of the good practice described below in the case study. You will see good practice in motivating non-specialist language learners on a vocational course with the imaginative use of varied and interesting activities and resources.
Context
North Warwickshire and Hinckley College is one of the largest providers of education and training in the Midlands with many students engaged in learning programmes linked to business, industry and employment. The college enjoys healthy participation in languages within a variety of curriculum areas including Business Studies and Travel and Tourism. The college also has a thriving motor sports curriculum and it is a challenge to capture the imagination of these wrench-wielding teenagers who love to get greasy under the bonnet and speed around the race track!
How the programme is organised
The students have two hours of Spanish per week throughout the academic year and they all work towards NOCN accreditation. It is easy to imagine that this kind of student is not used to sitting still in a classroom so the teachers have to be imaginative and innovative to get their attention. The prospect of an exchange visit to a Spanish college with an active interest in motor sports helps with motivation.
Resources
Once hooked, the students' attention has been maintained by learning materials which are themed and relevant to each student’s interest such as business, travel and motor vehicles. The teaching methods include games, step-by-step booklets and online resources via the college’s MOODLE site, all produced by Vicky Crump and Belen Lamperez of the languages department.
The resources on MOODLE can be accessed by tutors and students at any time and can be used either for classroom teaching or self-study. These resources cover general topics which can be used in any language class such as booking a hotel room or shopping. View the college’s MOODLE video clips here.
To view resources created specifically for Motor Sports students, choose the following links:
- Motor vehicle greetings and nationalities
- Motor vehicle directions
- Motor vehicle finding things in the workshop
- Motor vehicle health and safety
- Motor vehicle first aid
- Motor vehicle injuries and illnesses
- Motor vehicle producing a car brochure
- Motor vehicle tools
- Motor vehicle eating out 1
- Motor vehicle eating out 2
Interactive learning technology via PCs and a Smart board ensure that methods and materials appeal to a range of learning styles and above all further language learning.
Results/effects
Embedding the language learning within the curriculum means that there are between 85 and 90 new language learners from different curriculum areas who are achieving qualifications. The success of the courses has enabled the languages department to increase an offer which is ideal for students from any curriculum area. All of the above points have led to building up a thriving foreign language programme which plays an important role in the development of more rounded people emerging from FE. Having knowledge of a foreign language is widely accepted as being a key social skill for future employees within a European marketplace and this is a key aim for the tutors’ delivery.
Author: Belen Lamperez and Victoria Crump
