Page 42 - ELG1903 Mar-Apr Issue 464

INTERVIEW .

ELTC

Scaling up
Scaling up

with
with SheffieldSheffield

Richard Simpson shares with Melanie
Butler the secrets of running a
mega-language centre powered Richard Simpson, Director of ELTC,
University of Sheffi eld.
by academic attitudes

What was the situation like when you first arrived at the English and literacies, it is the subject of my doctorate, my EdD which I am
Language Teaching Centre (ELTC) at Sheffield 24 years ago? doing by distance in my spare time. The question is, in a very
Richard: I was teacher number five. Including the director and large centre like ours should we take a more purist approach,
administrator there were seven of us, plus some hourly-paid teachers. looking at the discourse pattern in specific subject areas or a more
generalist one?
And now? Broadly speaking, in the pre-sessional we teach more general
Richard: Including teachers who choose to teach part-time we have academic language, getting them across the threshold. But
the equivalent of 100 full-time permanent teaching staff year-round. for in-sessional courses we move from the general to specific.
In the summer the number doubles. Where we can get the buy-in from the academics, we run
courses embedded into the degree programme, attended by
And the number of students? home students, too. Co-taught with content lecturers. That’s
Richard: In 2018 we hit 2,599 at peak. the gold standard.
That’s the size of a small chain of language schools. You are also very passionate about the use of technology in
What is that like? language teaching and learning. Tell us about the
Richard: Nerve racking, a logistical challenge. The very next range of technology you have incorporated at
We have the advantage over some summer school ELTC.
operators of running a year round operation in year the internet was Richard: I do love the technology. I did a Masters
the same location. We have staff planning it in CALL for TEFL in 1993 - we thought we
all year and we can call on the resources of the invented. And the were at the cutting edge. The very next year the
university: accommodation, libraries, catering. world exploded. internet was invented. And the world exploded.
But scaling up means avoiding chaos: timetabling,
inducting staff, even finding enough classroom can be We have incorporated technology throughout
difficult. ELTC, in our teaching, our training, the building itself.
We have teachers working online with at-risk academics in refugee
And that’s not to mention hiring 100 diploma qualified summer camps through the charity CARA, and even offer an online course
teachers. How do you handle that? teaching teachers how to use technology in their teaching! Do
Richard: It’s about the complete deal, proper wages, a week’s paid University language centres now straddle the divide between the
induction, lots of support. The first thing I did when I took over the profession and the industry?
centre was to move hourly-paid staff onto contracts. Richard: In the North of England, there has always been
good cooperation between the various sectors. We all had to sell
Unusually, at Sheffield all the English teaching at the private sector the North as a destination and the English UK regional groups
pathway college is done by ELTC. What is your relationship with were developed following our lead. I also feel that university centres
your partners? should be accredited both by BALEAP, the EAP focused scheme,
Richard: We have a symbiotic relationship with our pathways and by the British Council. I am a board member of English UK,
partners. We take their students if their language levels are too low. the industry association, and am trying to encourage Universities
They take our teachers who are highly experienced, fully qualified and to get involved.
on university contracts. We work well together.
So what advice would you give your younger self, arriving in a little
Logistics aside, what are the pedagogic challenges you face in a language unit?
University language centre? Richard: If I could send him a message in a time capsule it would be
Richard: I am interested in the whole area of academic language that same message: get involved.

42 March/April 2019