Teachers have one of the most honourable and important jobs in the world – shaping the future of people from all backgrounds and at all stages of life. Universities simply couldn’t educate the almost one and a half million students they do each year without them.
The 'Australian Awards for University Teaching' recognise the most outstanding teachers and programs across the sector, and UTS is honoured that its very own Academic Language and Learning (ALL) team received the ‘Student Experience that supports diversity and inclusive practices’ award for their Embedding English Language (EEL) framework.
UTS recognises that students will develop their academic language skills during their studies and that these skills are integral to the development of disciplinary knowledge. Academic language skills are necessary for students to successfully engage in their studies, develop course-specific graduate outcomes and, as graduates, successfully participate in their professional environments.
The Academic Language and Learning Group (ALL) work collaboratively with discipline academics to embed academic language and learning in subjects and courses, enhancing the development of students’ academic language, discipline-specific discourse and professional communication.
The Embedding English Language program is unique amongst language support programs in Australian universities in its reach, scope, and impact on students. The program screens all commencing students for their academic language level, provides targeted, subject-specific language development for international and domestic students who require additional support, and embeds milestone assessments in the curriculum to assess students’ language use in context and give students feedback.
The program has had a positive impact on students, curriculum design and assessment in faculties at the University of Technology Sydney, and it has enhanced faculty teaching practices. The innovative and research-informed design of the program provides a model of good practice in the Australian higher education context and has been presented and published widely. It is recognised, both nationally and internationally, as a leader in its field in the provision of disciplinary language support for international and domestic students. Furthermore, the program enables students to track their language development throughout their degree programs.
The EEL program has gone from strength to strength, with UTS now being recognised as a leader in the field of university-wide language support and development. This has been recognised with a UTS teaching & learning award in 2021, and an Australian Award for University Teaching in 2022.
Some of the successful outcomes of the EEL program are:
- Improvements in academic language
- Increasing language confidence
- Development of social connections– these give students a sense of belonging and increase their motivation to be engaged about language and learning
Find out more about English Language Support at UTS.
Find the full list of awards by downloading the Australian Awards for University Teaching 2022 (PDF) from the Universities Australia website.