Learning Languages at Sheffield Hallam University
Part-time, Short course
UCAS code • not applicable
Location • City Campus
Subject area • Languages
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Read profiles about our teaching team.
Language courses are available from beginner to advanced level to anyone who wishes to develop and improve their competence in a foreign language. You can study • French • German • Spanish • Italian • Portuguese • Japanese • Chinese.
We offer two-hour weekly classes in our language laboratories and multimedia self-access centre. Our language modules are taught by enthusiastic, experienced teachers and classes are supported by our language assistants.
The main aim of the language courses is to equip learners with practical, communicative skills in a foreign language so they can use the language effectively for work and leisure.
Employers value the ability to communicate with overseas partners and customers in their own language. These skills are becoming increasingly important in a global economy.
All of our students can study a language as part of the University Language Scheme. Although the University Language Scheme is not a qualification in its own right, you can study a language module as an option in many of our undergraduate degrees. Or you can study a language part-time to meet your personal or business needs.
We offer six stages from beginner to advanced. When you enrol on a language module we put you in a stage suited to your ability.
You can also study languages with business options as an integrated degree. The courses include a study placement in a foreign university and a year’s work placement in Europe.
For more information see our website at www.shu.ac.uk/language
In the recent National Student Survey, our languages staff were voted the best in the UK for enthusiasm and teaching ability. We were also first for giving you access to the facilities you need to study.
Find out more about Learning Languages at Sheffield Hallam University
Variable attendance
Email ULS@shu.ac.uk for information on how to apply.
2013/14 academic year
Typically £595 for a 20 credit module or £300 for a 10 credit module.
Fees reduced by 30% for home/EU students if taken as an additional module.
The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/funding
100 per cent coursework with regular assignments throughout the course. They are based on realistic and practical tasks designed to test speaking, listening, reading and writing. Speaking tasks include role play and presentations. Written tasks include formal and informal letter writing, translations and summaries of texts.
Students working in one of our digital language labs
Maria Scheule
Lecturer
I was born in Germany and moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland to study English literature and language. After completing my studies, I moved to England where I decided I wanted to teach. I went on to study my PGCE at Sheffield and later completed my teacher training in French and German.
I began teaching at Sheffield Hallam 12 years ago. My main area is teaching international business and German, although I have also been involved in events management degrees over the past two years. I am responsible for student work placements in Germany and I am also involved in widening participation.
I am the representative for Sheffield Hallam University in the Yorkshire and Humber consortium for routes into languages, a national project which encourages pupils to study languages in secondary school.
Dr Anja Louis
Senior lecturer in Spanish
Since completing my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Hispanic Studies at Birkbeck College (University of London), I have worked in both the private and public sectors throughout Europe. My professional experience includes managerial positions in the international book business, lectureships at higher education institutions both in the UK and Spain, and running an international coaching business. During my rich and varied working life I have led cross-cultural teams, managed international projects, worked on the design of computer programmes and delivered weekly literary talks on a Hispanic radio programme.
In the classroom I frequently introduce my own professional experience to provide students with real-life scenarios. My teaching style is centred on participatory forms of learning and I actively encourage self-directed inquiry or research. I am caring, creative and gregarious; I strive to motivate students to find their own voice and achieve their own forms of success. I feel honoured to have been nominated for the Inspirational Teacher’s Award 2012 by my students.
Teaching interests
• inquiry-based learning
• the interface of teaching and coaching
• film as a learning tool
• cross-cultural awareness and transnational identity
After having published widely in the interdisciplinary area of law and Spanish popular culture, my current research interests have moved into fields of an intercultural nature:
• intercultural communication
• transnational cinema
• cross-cultural coaching and training
Rachel Bower
Senior lecturer in French and business English
Having specialised in French, German, international marketing and international contract law at university, my first career was in international sales and marketing, where I utilised my language skills on a daily basis to secure sales, develop the company brand, and organise the company's presence at overseas exhibitions.
I then launched my own languages consultancy business offering bespoke language support to international companies and SMEs. Having made the transition into education, I have worked in a range of contexts, my most recent role being national lead for the Labour government's National Teaching and Learning Change Programme, which aimed to improve teaching and learning in a range of curriculum areas across the post 16 sector. Our regional and national events enabled language teachers to share best practice, and to develop new skills, including coaching skills to enable their colleagues to continue to improve language teaching and learning in their institution.
I bring a dynamic and enthusiastic teaching style to classroom activities and was awarded the Sheffield Business School Teaching Excellence award in 2011. I have carried out research projects in listening strategies in the target language, autonomous learning and in employability skills for linguists, for which I was made a Fellow of the Centre for Excellence in Professional Placement Learning at the University of Plymouth.
Above all, I am passionate about language learning and the unique skills which a languages graduate brings to the workplace.
Teaching interests
• listening in the target language
• experiential learning in real-life scenarios of languages in the workplace
• developing speaking confidence in the target language
• job application and interview skills in the target language
Teaching
• French and business English at undergraduate level
Research interests
• listening in the target language
• languages and entrepreneurship
• employability skills in the languages graduate
Dr Ania de Berg
Lecturer in German
I came to Sheffield Hallam in 2013 after having worked at universities in Germany, Poland and the UK, including the University of Sheffield, University of York and Leeds Metropolitan University.
I hold an MA and PhD in German and I have taught both the German language and more specialised content courses. I love teaching, and my aim is to communicate my own enthusiasm to my students and help them become confident communicators across cultures as well as accomplished linguists.
My publications include a monograph on German-language travel literature and a co-edited volume on remembrance in Austrian literature and film. In recent years, I have become particularly interested in issues of intercultural communication.
Teaching
• German at undergraduate level
• German business, society and culture
Teaching interests
• use of interactive tools in the classroom
• original sources (press,TV, film and literature) as didactic materials
• teaching `outside the classroom' – projects, workshops and other activities that foster independent thinking and communicative skills
Research interests
• intercultural communication
• travel literature
• modern German and Austrian culture
Dr Armelle Blin-Rolland
Lecturer in French
I was born in Brest (Brittany). After gaining my first degree in German studies at the University of Western Brittany, I moved to Bangor, North Wales and completed an MA in European studies and a PhD in French studies, while teaching French as a graduate teaching assistant.
After obtaining my PhD I worked as a teaching fellow at the University of Bath for one year, teaching French and French in the international business context, before taking up a position as lecturer in French at Sheffield Hallam University.
Teaching
• French language at undergraduate level
• business, society and culture
Research interests
• adaptation from/into literature, film, TV and comics
• French-language popular culture (bande dessinée in particular)
• theories of voice in literature and film
• the fantastic in French-language film and comics
Christine Lyne
Languages subject group leader
`I have worked in the languages subject group at Sheffield Hallam University for over 20 years, teaching Spanish, business English and academic study skills for international students.
`After graduating with a BA (Honours) in Applied Language Studies I worked in Latin America for three years and travelled extensively throughout the region. Since returning to the UK, I have taught in several further education and higher education institutions and pursued my research interests in a variety of fields. These include, developing interactive materials for virtual learning environments, encouraging learner autonomy, using e-portfolios to assess independent learning and developing translation and interpreting skills in a vocational context.
`As well as having the opportunity of teaching languages at all levels, something which I enjoy immensely, I am also involved in developing international links with Spanish speaking universities and Spanish placement companies. Ensuring students have a positive and rewarding experience during their time abroad is one of the key aspects of my work.
`I am very proud to lead a team of committed, inspirational tutors who provide outstanding teaching and support to language students at Sheffield Hallam. '
Profiles
Maria Scheule
Lecturer
Dr Anja Louis
Senior lecturer in Spanish
Rachel Bower
Senior lecturer in French and business English
Dr Ania de Berg
Lecturer in German
Dr Armelle Blin-Rolland
Lecturer in French
Christine Lyne
Languages subject group leader
