MISSION OF THE LANGUAGE CENTRE
The Language Centre is an expert unit in language teaching and research. Its mission is to provide the language and communication studies included in the degrees of all University of Helsinki faculties, to support the internationalisation of students and staff, and to offer diverse language and communication services.
OBJECTIVES AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS
The year 2017 was the first year of the new Strategic Plan of the University of Helsinki 2017−2020 and the Language Centre’s new implementation plan.
The key objectives of the Language Centre’s implementation plan include a focus on student-centred approaches, the promotion of digital skills among the staff, the diversification of learning environments, the development of curriculum design in line with the University’s new degree programmes, and the reinforcement of international activities and broad cooperation between several parties.
These objectives were promoted in 2017, for example, as follows:
- Expansion of teaching offered by the Language Centre: Speech communication included in the Language Centre’s teaching programme
- Redesign of pedagogical and assessment solutions: Towards continuous assessment in elementary Spanish courses
- Making students heard: International students included in the Language Centre’s development work
- New partnerships: The Language Centre and the Confucius Institute – partners in teaching Chinese
- Celebrations of the past and the future: Looking ahead at the anniversary seminar