SSEES language teachers receive funding for Access project: Proficiency in East European Languages

Language teachers at SSEES, led by Ramona Gonczol and Yordanka Velkova have been awarded UCL Access funding to pursue outreach with heritage speakers of East European Languages. 

The project works with secondary schools with a high number of Romanian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian heritage speaker students, to provide outreach in the form of bespoke language proficiency tests designed by  language teachers at SSEES (School of Slavonic and East European Studies), complemented by organised visits to UCL SSEES and workshops.The long term aim is to introduce GCSE exams in some of our most spoken languages.

In doing so, it aim engage students from East European backgrounds with their heritage language skills and think about how they can use these skills towards future academic and career outcomes. The project was established by Ramona Gonczol and Dr Yordanka Velkova, and is coordinated by Associate Professor Ramona Gonczol, Dr Yordanka Velkova, Dr Olga Volosova and Wolfson scholar Shaun Foley. They have already produced language proficiency tests and marking criteria comparable to GCSE examinations for Year 11 students at a high school in Wales and now plan to expand the programme to East London targeted schools. 

Students will benefit from a series of online sessions, which aims to prepare them for the test and developing their confidence as independent users of their heritage language, as well as sessions for parents. In particular, the career benefits of possessing competency in more than one language will be highlighted. This will follow up with a visit to the school(s) from UCL staff, as well as organising visits from the schools to UCL, giving students direct experience of the university environment and continuing to develop their awareness of the importance of their heritage language skills in academic study. 

Project lead Ramona comments 'We believe this project has a huge potential for expansion and our aim is to establish this project for the long term, with yearly tests and a continuous expansion to other schools, and other languages taught in SSEES, across the country. Our aim is to eventually increase provision to other languages from the SSEES region, such as Albanian, Lithuanian and Hungarian, all increasingly widely spoken in the UK.'

Photo shows Ramona Gonczol and Dr Yordanka Velkova, who were awarded runners up in the category of Schools and Community Award at the 2022 UCL Widening Participation Community of Practice Awards on 8 December 2022.