1. SPELLBOUND Skills Packages for English Language Learners The English Language Unit

2. Background English language impacts on the student’s whole learning experience and students who struggle with their English language development inevitably struggle with both their studies and their transition into university life. This can affect the retention and progression, as well as the recruitment of future international students.

3. The typical international student Enter Keele with an IELTS score of 6.0 Cram schools often mean that a ‘true’ score is closer to 5.0 Learning main subject content + developing English language skills = a sometimes insurmountable challenge Stress, loss of face May turn to alternative methods to ensure success May return to (e.g.) China during the long breaks

4. Possible solutions Increase the amount of time available for English classes = less time for main subjects Increase pre-arrival contact with the ELU Increase online resources Increase contact with ELU during breaks Increase in-class interactivity Increase subject-specific resources

5. Deliverables The ELU Welcome Web Innovative use of the Interactive Whiteboard Use of online resources via the KLE Interactive resources using Studymate and Respondus Individualised corpora for PGR students E-tutorials using MSN/Skype for off-site students

6. The ELU Welcome Web

8. Pre-Arrival activities

9. Interactive use of the IWB – manipulating text

10. IWB = interactive analysis of texts

11. IWB use of teamwork

12. Online Resources – The ELU Noticeboard

13. Using the Academic Word List

14. Making learning enjoyable

15. Use of text-speech software

16. Subject specific vocabulary development

17. Use of individual corpora of PGR students – frequency lists

18. Concordancing – investigating the use of vocabulary in context

19. E-tutorials using msn and skype

20. Analysing the effectiveness Student Feedback: “really useful – I feel more confident” “I use the e-tutorials a lot – they help me with my research when I’m in Sri Lanka” “The whiteboard in my English class is nice. I feel interested to look at it.” “I think the vocabulary development on KLE is useful. It helps me a lot with my writing.” “The language I use for my research is very specific and I cannot find it in a dictionary. The corpora that the ELU made for me is perfect because I can see which language is necessary and how it is used.”

21. Future Developments Additional KLE-based resources. Additional subject-specific vocabulary development. Design and implementation of individual corpora focussing on different styles of research writing.