XClose

UCL Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE)

Home
Menu

New academic communication support service launches for current UCL students

25 November 2019

The UCL Academic Communication Centre offers expanded provision to enhance students’ academic writing and speaking.

Students in a workshop discussing

The UCL Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE) has launched a new service to help more UCL students develop their academic communication skills.

The UCL Academic Communication Centre (ACC) offers support to enhance undergraduate and postgraduate students' discipline-specific writing and speaking skills. The ACC will work closely with UCL academic departments and faculties to develop tailored workshops, classes and tutorials for native and non-native English speakers. The centre brings together much of UCL’s current provision for academic communication, including the Writing Lab.

The CLIE Director, Dr Christine Hoffmann, is pleased to announce her new senior leadership team:

  • Ayanna Prevatt-Goldstein, Head of the Academic Communication Centre
  • Daphne Thomas, Head of ACC (Teaching & Learning)
  • Dr Ariane Smart, who will lead on Research and Development.

The ACC team has, in close collaboration with academic staff from faculties, developed an initial series of tailored workshops using subject-related materials to help students understand what is expected of them in their assignments, as well as build their confidence to write and speak in academic contexts. 

The ACC website will provide information on other student-facing academic communication skills services and resources across UCL, such as the Student Union’s Language + Writing Support Programme and UCL Library’s skills training. Plans to create more online resources and support for staff are also in development.

Ayanna Prevatt-Goldstein said: “This is an extraordinary and exciting project in its ambition, scale and its collaborative nature. We are very much looking forward to drawing on the existing expertise at CLIE as well as across UCL to develop a model of support which brings together best practice and serves UCL students.”

Professor Norbert Pachler, IOE Pro-Director for Teaching, Quality & Learning Innovation and Pro-Vice-Provost (Digital Education) in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Education & Student Affairs) said: “The ACC will assist UCL students to actively experience research-based education. Working with faculties and subject specialists, we aspire to become sector leading in developing discipline-focused academic communication support for all UCL students.”

If you have any questions about the ACC, please contact Ayanna Prevatt-Goldstein (ayanna.prevatt-goldstein@ucl.ac.uk)