Ana Sevilla-Merino, Teaching Fellow, Foreign Languages Centre, was awarded with £3000 by LITEbox - Santander Technology Fund for a duration of September 2018- April 2020, to launch a Spanish Radio Station Programme to enhance language skills, communication and interculturality exchange between Spanish speakers and learners of Spanish. Here is thier journey so far.
Spanish Radio Station~ Radio Chévere
This project aims to create a language learning opportunity through the use of broadcasting media. It aims to increase students’ engagement with language learning and culture. The idea is to run a one-hour weekly radio programme in Spanish. A project from the students by the students, working collaboratively in Spanish as the medium language. Students will produce materials in the target language integrating the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking), and apply them to the managing and running of the radio programme. This will provide them with an opportunity to stretch and develop their language skills as they will be required to consider timetables, resources and content. This will also offer an excellent opportunity for students to develop transferable skills, over and above the basics of the language they are learning in support of their future employability. The above skills will also be developed through the peer-to-peer teaching scheme. The content is be based on Hispanic issues and issues interesting to the Hispanic students at University.
When learning a language one of students’ priorities is to be able to communicate in the new language. Through students’ exploration, this project will capture the benefits that broadcasting media can offer to language learning and may prove to be applicable to other subject areas. This will also include the extent to which this type of technology and approach can be integrated sufficiently into the curriculum to support assessment. The content is based on Hispanic issues. The development is based on the interculturality exchange between Spanish speakers and learners of Spanish.
Radio Chévere explores the use of innovative technology in languages through encouraging students to produce quality materials in the target language integrating the four/five skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking, and translating), and apply them to the managing and running of the radio programme. Radio Chévere is a ‘virtual’ professional environment that develops individual learning and teaching experiences, as well as transferable skills which will be applied in the students’ future careers, and supports their future employability.
The outcomes of this project will be:
- to inform future developments on the utilisation of broadcasting media to support and enhance learning, mainly podcasts.
- to increase engagement of students studying Spanish in a new and exciting mode of learning, and exploring new avenues for the usefulness of FL.
- to increase profile of language learning across the University.
- to foster collaboration between language teachers.
- to capture and disseminate learning and new ideas from other institutions.
- to influence the future development of the SU radio station to increase take-up by a more diverse audience.
Team members:
Ana Sevilla-Merino, Project Lead
Kelly Elice, Adminsitrative Support
Students of FL and POLIS. Specific roles in the Radio Station/ Peer-to-peer training
Spanish Speakers at University of Bath for content input
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