School of Languages at XJTLU Conference 2024

Our presentation focuses on students in a transnational partnership university (Southwest Jiatong University – Leeds Joint School). These students exist in a liminal space between the two universities which form this partnership. They are physically situated on the Southwest Jiaotong University campus in Chengdu, and while they have the option to study for one or two years in Leeds, only a minority come to study in Leeds. As a result, sense of belonging is a concern.

In addition to this, students are undertaking their studies through English-Medium Instruction (EMI). English for Engineering (XJFY0100) is a Year 1 EAP module which aims to support students through EMI content learning throughout their first year. A common concern that students have is associated with vocabulary—both general and technical. This is an area that is being explored by our team in other ways (for example, through a Maths corpus for Scientific Problem Solving, another Year 1 module).

Our team aims to tackle these two issues through one medium: ThingLink. This presentation will explore an Interactive Engineering Map of Leeds and the surrounding areas. While this project is still in the early stages of development, we hope that it will help students feel a greater sense of belonging to the University of Leeds by allowing them to see—in a virtual space—the university and familiarize themselves with the geography of Yorkshire and its engineering landmarks. In addition, we will add technical vocabulary to each engineering example to develop vocabulary acquisition. These examples will also serve as learning resources for classes within Year 1 modules, such as a bridge-design activity.

It is hoped that in the future this can be used by students in Chengdu to show the engineering landmarks in China to students in Leeds in order to create reciprocal interaction between students.