What’s lost when a uni language centre closes
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
1w ago
Canada has seen a spate of university language centre closures and cuts in the past year or so. The University of Winnipeg recently decided to close their English Language Centre. Saint Mary’s University in Halifax closed last May, Simon Fraser in Vancouver closed their English Language and Culture Program last summer. Wilfrid Laurier University discontinued ..read more
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OpenAI’s Speak: “Immersion” as cop out?
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
1w ago
Before Christmas, TechCrunch reported that OpenAI (the creators of ChatGPT) had raised $78M for an AI-powered language learning app called “Speak“. The app’s been around for eight years and has an undisclosed number of users learning English. Now, it aims to expand to other target languages, starting with French and Spanish. The app’s founders describe ..read more
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What will 2025 hold for language education?
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
1M ago
I know predictions and forecasts have the potential to age poorly–there are just so many unforeseeable factors that can emerge and throw the most well-thought-out forecasts off the rails. For example, how many of us would have predicted the absolutely sector-transforming series of policy changes that IRCC came out with in 2024? But I still ..read more
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Superstar and Rain Classroom: Fun with two new-to-me LMSs
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
3M ago
I’ve always thought that technology has a really important role to play in the teaching of English for Academic Purposes. So in my time here at the Shandong University of Finance and Economics (SDUFE), I’ve been learning and experimenting with two Chinese platforms: Superstar (ChaoXing) and Rain Classroom (Yuketang). It’s been challenging but fun! Superstar ..read more
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Experimenting with the AI Assessment Scale
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
4M ago
It had been a few years since I had taught EAP to undergrads when I arrived here at the Shandong University of Finance and Economics last Spring. I was astounded with the degree to which GenAI tools were being used in my classes. Not just for writing essays or emails, as I would have expected ..read more
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We don’t have a fraud problem, we have a language assessment literacy problem
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
4M ago
I wrote a post recently on the Canadian government’s recent decision to impose a language testing requirements to apply for a post-graduate work permit. In the week following IRCC’s announcement, LinkedIn was abuzz with commentary from the international education crowd about the measures. In the discussions on the issue on LinkedIn and elsewhere, there were ..read more
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It’s not fraud, it’s lack of language assessment literacy
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
4M ago
I wrote a post recently on the Canadian government’s recent decision to impose a language testing requirements to apply for a post-graduate work permit. In the week following IRCC’s announcement, LinkedIn was abuzz with commentary from the international education crowd about the measures. In the discussions on the issue on LinkedIn and elsewhere, there were ..read more
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Linguistic Risk-Taking with Mandarin
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
5M ago
I’ve written previously about studying Mandarin Chinese as a complete beginner. I’d recommend the experience to any language teacher, but especially those who teach their L1, and/or whose previous language learning experiences have been of languages that are linguistically similar to their L1 (like mine were with French and Spanish). Studying a language with a ..read more
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New PGWP Language Requirement Sends the Wrong Message to International Students
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
5M ago
IRCC announced its latest changes to the International Student Program on September 18, which included changes to the study permit intake cap, as well as the post-graduate work permit (PGWP) and Canada’s other work permit programs. What jumped out to me is the new language requirement for PGWP applicants: As part of changes to the ..read more
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“Language-as-Resource” in the Wild
Jennifer MacDonald
by Jennifer MacDonald
7M ago
I’m a (double) alumna of the UCL Institute of Education, and so receive regular alumni association newsletters full of interesting initiatives out of the Institute. I was fascinated to learn about the UK’s National Consortium for Languages Education, a a government-funded consortium led by IOE together with the Goethe-Institut and the British Council. The NCLE ..read more
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