LAL News

The winners of this year’s WELS Student, Tutor and Teaching Excellence Awards were announced at the virtual WELS Teaching Excellence Day. In total, 33 awards were made across the three categories.

A free online Ukrainian culture and language course has been launched, aimed at those working with Ukrainians in the UK. Alongside the new course, the OU has also translated into Ukrainian its package of free online resources for Ukrainian refugees. The course and the translated resources form the next stage in the package of support the OU is providing for Ukraine.

Now in its third year, researchers at the Faculty of WELS walked away as winners and runner ups at The Open University’s annual Research Excellence Awards. The awards celebrate and recognise the outstanding achievement of the university’s research environment and WELS were no exception.

When An Nguyen began her PhD with the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at The Open University, she envisioned global field work to complete her research on English Medium Instruction. But then the Covid-19 pandemic happened and she found herself grounded. She tells us about the creative ways she’s navigated the issue, and the very personal experience behind her subject choice. 

Research by WELS academics has resulted in 14 nominations at this year’s Open University Research Excellence Awards, including a project heralded as ‘groundbreaking’ by Dame Elizabeth Fradd DBE.

Monday 20 June is International Father’s Mental Health Day, and its timing – directly following Father’s Day – is no coincidence. Dr Martin Robb, a Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Senior Lecturer specialising in Fatherhood and Masculinity, explains why this event is equally as important, if perhaps not more so. 

The WELS School of Languages and Applied Linguistics (LAL) has contributed to an OU support package for Ukrainian refugees, which aims to help those affected by the war settle into their new homes in the UK and Ireland.

In 2021, the Faculty of WELS introduced the WELS Tutor Awards for the first time, providing students with the opportunity to recognise the dedication and skill of their tutors. Following the awards, analysis was carried out on the nominations to better understand what students valued from their tutors.

An OU study to professionally develop maths teachers in low- and middle-income countries is one of the projects within Edtech Hub’s first research portfolio, and will investigate the impact of technology on teaching in Bangladesh. 

For many OU students the thought of a TMA, or Tutor Marked Assignment, fills them with dread. To help you overcome those fears, and kick start your assignment writing, we spoke to several WELS Tutors to get their top tips for writing essay-style TMAs.