Language learning experiences of postgraduate research students in the UK

TY - JOUR

T1 - Language learning experiences of postgraduate research students in the UK

AU - Álvarez, Inma

AU - Montoro, Carlos

AU - de Medeiros, Ana

AU - Kelly, Debra

AU - Hazard, Alice

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) in the UK under [grant number AH/N004655/1]. It is a collaboration of two strands of the Language Acts and Worldmaking project, Diasporic Identities and the Politics of Language Teaching and Language Transitions. For more information, visit https://languageacts.org/. We are extremely grateful to all the postgraduate respondents for their time. We also thank Professor Jane Seale for her very useful critical comments while we take full responsibility for the content of this article. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2020/9/2

Y1 - 2020/9/2

N2 - This article reports on the findings of a pioneering study of formal, non-formal and informal language learning experiences of postgraduate research students in the UK. The research involved a large-scale survey followed by semi-structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis shows that the language needs and interests of postgraduate students are barely met due to limited institutional provision of formal language learning opportunities. The study confirms some known facts, such as the composition of the student body (e.g. mostly young, fully-funded full-time students with a significant proportion of international students), and reveals other possibly less-known realities, from a remarkable interest in language learning among research students to the reasons for their interest and the potential impact greater access to language learning could have on their research and beyond. Half of the respondents reported having funded provision of language tuition but one third were not even aware of the existence of a Language Centre at their institution. Student suggestions for alternative language provision are included as these can inform policy and decision-making at postgraduate level in the UK and serve as a basis for further research in this area.

AB - This article reports on the findings of a pioneering study of formal, non-formal and informal language learning experiences of postgraduate research students in the UK. The research involved a large-scale survey followed by semi-structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis shows that the language needs and interests of postgraduate students are barely met due to limited institutional provision of formal language learning opportunities. The study confirms some known facts, such as the composition of the student body (e.g. mostly young, fully-funded full-time students with a significant proportion of international students), and reveals other possibly less-known realities, from a remarkable interest in language learning among research students to the reasons for their interest and the potential impact greater access to language learning could have on their research and beyond. Half of the respondents reported having funded provision of language tuition but one third were not even aware of the existence of a Language Centre at their institution. Student suggestions for alternative language provision are included as these can inform policy and decision-making at postgraduate level in the UK and serve as a basis for further research in this area.

KW - formal learning

KW - informal learning

KW - language learning

KW - non-formal learning

KW - Postgraduate research

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091621601&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/09571736.2020.1724186

DO - 10.1080/09571736.2020.1724186

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85091621601

SN - 0957-1736

VL - 48

SP - 672

EP - 684

JO - Language Learning Journal

JF - Language Learning Journal

IS - 5

ER -