University Conference | 23 and 24th February 2021

Destination Italy - Increasing University recruitment through internationalisation and employability pathways

Programme

23rd February 2021

9:00 – 10:00 Welcome and Plenary
Internationalisation in Italian Universities: opportunities, challenges and a case study

In this opening session, Professor Emeritus Fabio Rugge will comment on the increasing trend of internationalisation in Universities in Italy and the opportunities and challenges this trend creates.

Case study: Driving internationalisation on a University and Department level

Case study: Driving internationalisation on a University and Department level

Francesca Torlone, Luca Verzichelli, University of Siena

Internationalisation of higher education is meant in terms of strategies and activities that are carried out to integrate an international and intercultural dimension into:

1) Didactics and degree programmes (Bachelor, Master, PhD);

2) Policies and Global labour market;

3) Research programmes and activities.

These features are now at the core of the project of USIena, a traditional mid-sized European University dating back to 1240. USIena counts today over 18.000 students, enrolled in a broad range of degree courses. 20 BA and MA degrees are fully offered in English, in a wide disciplinary range. Others are partially offered in English. It is about one third of the overall teaching offer. The largest part of the 23 PhD Programs offered in Siena (most of them run in collaboration with other Tuscan universities and international partnership) are also taught in English.

A few figures illustrate the international linkages between UNISI and the global dimension:

• more than 400 active Erasmus partnerships;

• more than 500 Erasmus mobility scholarships for outgoing students and trainees per year;

• more than 800 Incoming students and staff per year;

• more than 250 partnerships with Universities in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Canada, Russia, Japan, Middle East, USA, and Vietnam.

But the real challenge of internationalisation has just begun as USIena plans to increase its links with high-level HEIs from Europe, North America and Asia. Cooperation activities in Africa and Latin America have started.

The new set of tools of internationalisation @ home includes

• an online system of international enrolment,

• new services for international students and

• a new plan of web-based strategic communication called International Faculty, designed to increase the quality and the number of visiting researchers and adjunct professors.

After a short presentation of these comprehensive figures, the presentation will focus on the case study of the Department Education, human sciences and intercultural communication (DSFUCI), one of the most internationalized and proactive of the 15 departments of USIena. DISFUCI has been working at all levels of internationalisation: Didactics and degree programmes for Students and Professionals

· For Students

§ Leading Teco research activity (on behalf of ANVUR) we worked at developing and implementing study programmes for the first Bologna cycle in the field of education (Bachelor degree programme in Sciences of education and training, CdL-L19). In two years we have been working with 27 degree courses all over Italy and define core contents based on the 5 Dublin Decriptors as to fix disciplinary and transversal learning outcomes students are expected to achieve at the end of their university study 2

§ Common core contents of a degree course make related programmes comparable, compatible and transparent supporting common recognition of ECTS, ease international mobility among students (in/out), enhance employability

§ Students mobility and exchanges are being designed and implemented in a virtual modality (Winter Schools with UE and extra-UE universities: AUI-Morocco, Canada, Estonia, Florida, Messico, New York, Perù, Ungheria)

· For Professionals

§ International VET activities for professionals working in prison, public security, health settings, SMEs, businesses and social services

· For University Staff (in/out, visiting professors/researchers in a virtual modality)

· As to the degree programmes. Evolving degree programmes for each of the three Bologna cycles towards teaching and learning with an international and intercultural dimension. We are one of the few Sciences of education degree programmes in Italy having Radicalisation prevention issues dealt with in some courses and university activities (international laboratories, seminars, restricted working groups).

That makes degree courses in line with actual and future labour market challenges and help graduates accessing the EU and global labour market

Policies and Global labour market

· Core contents and common ways of recognition of disciplinary and transversal learning outcomes support professional international mobility and prepare graduates for globalization of working practices and cross-cultural environments once students look for a traineeship or a job around Europe

· Core knowledge, skills and competences might help in tracking higher education and VET graduate across the European Union in order to monitor and tackle continued skills mismatch in Member States as recommended by the EGTI initiative. The University of Siena took part in a restricted seminar on that

Research programmes, activities, cooperation

· Internationalised research programmes on specific issues relevant in a global perspective, ie HE tracking for students employability, radicalization, micro-radicalisation, multi-ethnical communities development (ie Foreward project)

· Research activities are being implemented via a strong and regular international cooperation with EU and international research institutions (ie Regale project)

Challenges for the future are in terms of:

· Reinforcing Teco approach among degree programmes within the University of Siena that may increase quality and attractiveness of HE teaching offerings due to the learning outcomes approach adopted

· Monitoring the quality of HE offers in order to support an adequate skills supply for our students in relation to the international labour market’ demands

· Following up the EGTI initiative to track our students employability indicators

· Strengthening and enlarging international cooperation to improve and innovate international didactics and research also in their quality as well as continuously transform internationalization itself

Speakers

Fabio Rugge is professor emeritus of History of Political Institutions at Pavia University.His research and teaching concern public administration, government, law, and politics in a historical and comparative perspective. In these fields, he has published extensively in Italian, French, German, English, Arabic. He received fellowships from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung in Berlin, the Nuffield College in Oxford, the Woodrow Wilson Centre for International Scholars in Washington DC.He has been a member of several national and international boards (Istituto per la scienza dell’amministrazione pubblica, International Council of Social Sciences, the International Institute for Administrative Sciences…) and scientific committees (Public Administration Review, Storia Amministrazione costituzione, Jahrbuch fuer Europaeische Verwaltungsgeschichte….). He has been and presently is involved in the governance of educational, artistic, health care institutions (Almo Collegio Borromeo, LaVerdi Orchestra sinfonica, Istituto universitario di studi superiori, Istituto Neurologico Nazionale C. Mondino, Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica…). He founded and chaired the Fondazione Romagnosi – Scuola di Governo locale.He has been the chair of the Political Science Faculty, the Rector of the University of Pavia, and the delegate for international relations of the Conferenza dei Rettori delle Università italiane (CRUI).

Francesca Torlone is the Delegate for International Affairs at the Department of Sciences of education, human sciences and intercultural communication at the University of Siena in Arezzo where she teaches Adult Education, General Pedagogy, Prison Pedagogy. Her research interests refer to adult learning within organisations, institutional learning, workplace learning potential. She is involved in international research groups and member of the European Research Network on Vocational Education and Training.

Luca Verzichelli is the Rector's delegate for International Affairs at the University of Siena, where he teaches Global comparative politics. The impact of European higher education systems on the consolidation of a supranational identity is one of his research interests. He is currently co-chairing a Cost Action on Professionalization and Internationalization of European Political Science and is member of the Executive Board of the Coimbra Group of European Universities.

10:00 – 10.45 Webinar 1
Best practice guidance and a case study in international student recruitment

With tomorrow’s university applicants actively re-rationalising UK- based study in light of Brexit and the global pandemic, the appeal of quality English-medium undergraduate programmes closer to home, has never been greater.

What has not changed however, is the appeal of International A level, International GCSE (and their UK equivalents) in schools around the world, for their ‘gold-standard’ pathways into global higher education.

This session will introduce you to Edexcel’s International A Level and GCSE qualifications and the required tools to supercharge your recruitment approach in an increasingly uncertain world.

Join us to find out how to build inclusive and visible admission policies that provide International and UK curriculum students and their counsellors the required assurances to choose your institution.

Speakers

Rob Jamieson is Regional Development Manager for Pearson Edexcel qualifications in Italy and France, and Global Business Development Lead for Pearson International Schools. He holds a degree in modern languages and linguistics from the University of Manchester, and a postgraduate diploma in publishing.

Basirat Agboola drives relationships with universities, diploma evaluators and other government and global education partners to enhance the progression of Pearson Edexcel students from over 80 countries into higher education around the world. Before joining Pearson, Basirat developed and enhanced international partnerships and scholarship activity within transnational education (TNE), student and staff exchange, research and work abroad and international student recruitment programmes at the University of Greenwich and King's College London. Basirat holds an MA in Education and International Development from University College London (UCL) and is a Regional Assessor for the Chevening UK Master’s Scholarship scheme. She is an active Inclusion, Access and Success committee member of the International Association for College Admission Counseling (International ACAC). We will also look at a case study from TC Global Delhi on effective International Student Recruitment and how partnering with an agency can improve the International Student Recruitment process.

In 2019, Jaspreet Pandhal left London to join TC Global in India as a Consultant in International Relations. She has worked in the field of international education and government relations with a number of international organisations over an eight-year period. Jas has a Master’s Degree in International Politics and Human Rights from City University and a Bachelor of Science (Dual-Honors) in International Relations and Psychology from Keele University.

11.15 – 12-00 Webinar 2
How artificial intelligence-scored assessment supports successful international and local student recruitment

Language Assessment is at a crossroads. Not, as some people would imagine, with the implementation of new technology. Much of that technology, including Artificial Intelligence, has already been with us for over 10 years. The crossroads is with blending learning outcomes and study options. Giving students the opportunities and pathways into higher levels of learning and job opportunities.

The validity of assessment scoring is crucial to supporting successful international and local student recruitment. In this seminar we will look at how particular tests are constructed so they take advantage of Educational Technology and cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence applications. We will look at how integrated skills assessments, combined with machine scoring, increase the accuracy of tests supporting the key decisions which are made for successful international and local student recruitment.

We will question current models of assessment and ask if there are better ways in which we can assess young people, to give them a truer picture of their language ability, so that they are able to fulfil their dreams either in the international language space or in locally based institutions.

Speakers

David Booth is Director Test Development in the Pearson English Content division. He is responsible for the development of test specification and test materials for Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, Level, Benchmark, Pearson English International Certificate and Pearson English International Certificate Young Learners. David is responsible for ensuring that all test development processes are executed to the highest standard, to ensure that test material is of the highest quality and fit for purpose. He works closely with other staff at Pearson to develop assessment and learning solutions to meet specific institutional requirements. David’s main expertise is in the development and revision of tests and he has given presentations at major conferences including EALTA, IATEFL and AILA on this theme. He has also contributed articles on specific test development projects in published research notes. David’s other interests include corpus linguistics and the application of corpora to assessment quality, including the quality of test items. Before joining Pearson, David worked for 10 years at Cambridge ESOL, a part of Cambridge Assessment. His work included revising and developing tests, developing test materials for specific examinations. David has extensive academic management, teaching and teacher-training experience working for the British Council in South Korea, Hong King and Malaysia. David has a Master’s Degree in Education from the Institute of Education, London University.

14:00 – 15.00 Plenary Session
Italian University Language Centres (AICLU): Current actions and European perspectives in an International dimension

This presentation will offer an overview of the actions implemented by AICLU, the Italian Association of University Language Centres. In particular, it will highlight its mission and objectives and the many achievements reached throughout the years. Integration of cultures, multilingualism, internationalization are some of the key concepts put forward by the Association and the University Language Centres (ULCs) which belong to it.

The presentation will also briefly focus on the contribution that ULCs offer in the fields of didactic for language learning, ICT, research on linguistic and pedagogical issues, autonomous learning, project planning, assessment of language competences. But above all, one of the most important objectives that AICLU wants to perceive is the continuing cooperation among members.This is easily created through a network of common actions, also shared with CercleS -the European Confederation of Language Learning in Higher Education-, aimed at transferring knowledge of languages and awareness of cultures to the new generations. The presentation will be delivered partly in English and Italian.

Speakers

Carmen Argondizzo is Professor of English Linguistics at the Università della Calabria (UniCal, Italy) where she teaches students majoring in Business Administration, Cooperation and Development, Pedagogical Studies. She is President of the Language Centre at the University of Calabria where she coordinated award-winning European projects aimed at enhancing students’ autonomous learning in the academic and professional sectors. She devotes a considerable amount of her professional life to AICLU, Associazione Italiana Centri Linguistici Universitari, within which she has been covering several roles: Secretary General (2010-2013), President (2013-2016, 2019-today). AICLU aims to promote not only research in language learning and teaching carried out in university Language Centres but also to represent such research outcomes within both national and international contexts. She is Vice-President of CercleS and Co-Editor-in Chief of Language Learning in Higher Education (De Gruyter). Her research interests focus on discourse analysis in the field of Language for Academic Purposes and the related pedagogical implications, considered from a humanistic approach perspective.

Alessandra Fazio is associate professor in English Studies at the Università di Roma Foro Italico and Director of the Language Centre. Her research interests lie in terminology, applied and cognitive linguistics. She is mainly involved in the analysis of the specific language of sport and sport sciences. She has been recently involved in innovative ICT integrated language methodologies, new CLIL and TBLT approaches. She has collaborated with the Institute for Studies on Scientific Research and Documentation (CNR) and has taken part in the Scientific Committee of the Italian Association of Terminology (Ass.I.Term.). She is elective member Vice-President of the AICLU Board (Italian Association of Language Centers) and member of CERCLES (European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education).

Enrica Rossi is an English language lecturer in the School of Foreign Languages and Literature at the Università di Urbino, where she also directs the University Language Centre (CLA). Her research interests in the field of language learning are: ELF, intercultural communication and issues concerning language policies and programme choices at university language centres. Since 2016 she has been on the Board of Directors of AICLU (Italian Association of University Language Centres) and she is currently covering the role of National Secretariat. She is the scientific and academic coordinator of the National Languages Championship, an event officially recognized by the Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) in the annual programme for the promotion of academic excellence in schools.

Cesare Zanca is the President of the Language Centre at the University of Siena. He is a researcher and associate professor of English and Linguistics at The University of Siena where he teaches courses in Linguistics and Translation Studies. His research interests include Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies, the Web as a Corpus, Translation Studies, E-learning and Language Assessment, Technology and Corpora for Language Learning and Teaching, Language Teaching in Higher Education. He is member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Association of Language Centres (AICLU) and he has been involved in national and international research projects in fields relating to corpus linguistics, translation studies, teacher training and assessing, e-learning, online learning, language evaluation, and assessment and virtual curricula. He took part to the SiBol/Port Corpus Linguistics Project and has published in the field of how Diversity is represented in language. Among his latest publications are studies on the use of internet and corpora for language teaching and autonomous acquisition and studies on the representation of diversity issues in the British press in connection with the escalation of populist movements in Europe.

Silvia Bruti, PhD in English from the University of Pisa, is Full Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of Pisa and Director of the University Language Centre. She also directs the Master in Specialised Translation from English into Italian organised jointly by the Universities of Pisa and Genova and run by ICoN (Italian Culture on the Net). She has conducted research in the fields of text linguistics, (historical) pragmatics and applied linguistics, with a special focus on corpus linguistics, translation (especially audiovisual) and the teaching of English. She has published widely in these areas and has participated in numerous national and international conferences. She has edited (also in collaboration) several collections, on reformulation and paraphrase (2004), lexicography and translation (2009), the recent developments of audiovisual translation in Europe (2012), subtitling (2015), the use of corpus linguistics in translation (2013), identity and translation (2014) and stylistics and idiolect (2016). She has participated in several national (funded by MURST, then PRIN projects) and international (e.g., COMOLTE Consortium for Modern Language Teacher Education, and “Tapping the Power of Foreign Language Films” at the University of East Anglia) funded projects on topics such as corpora, mediation, language teaching, learning and evaluation, knowledge dissemination and multimodal resources. Her research has recently focused on cross-cultural pragmatics (English vs. Italian) and on the translation of audiovisual texts, with particular attention to the translation of compliments, conversational routines and vocatives in interlingual subtitles and dubbing. Her works in these areas include a monograph on the translation of politeness (2013) and a co-authored volume on interlingual subtitling (2017).

Stefania Cavagnoli is associate professor of glottodidactics and director of the language centre (CLA) at Tor Vergata University in Rome, where she also teaches applied linguistics. Her research mainly deals with specialist communication and how to teach it, in particular with gender language, and multilingual education. She intensely collaborates with schools and educational institutions, as well as with various professional orders for language training. She is vice-coordinator of the 'Grammar and Sexism' research centre of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. She has published extensively on her research, also at international level, and often with scholars of other disciplines.

Thomas Christiansen, Università del Salento, graduated in Modern Languages and European Studies at UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, GB) and in English Language Teaching at Aston University (Birmingham, GB). He has a Ph.D. from Salford University (Manchester, GB) following his research in textual linguistics. He has published books and several articles on a variety of linguistic and language teaching.

15.00 – 15.45 Webinar 3
Case studies and best practice guidance in international and local student recruitment for EMI* courses*

English Medium InstructionIn this session Christopher Morley will look at best practice guidance in international and local student recruitment for EMI courses and we will look at a case study from Bocconi University Milan with Mario Tabarini.

Speakers

Mario Tabarini joined Bocconi in 1999. For several years he managed the study abroad programs and developed a first-class network of partner schools, including all the top players worldwide in the field of social sciences. In 2019 he has been appointed to lead the Guidance and Recruitment Team, which has the goal of recruiting students in Italy and abroad for undergraduate and graduate programs. During all these years he has traveled the world extensively representing Italy and Bocconi in over 200 events, conferences and business trips around the globe. Mario holds a Master in Economics of Tourism from Bocconi University and a Degree in Political Sciences from the University of Milan.

16.15 – 17:00 Webinar 4
Why research and validity matter to Pearson Test of English

In this session we will take you through how we use research to design our tests and ensure that they will be fair to all students. We will also describe how we maintain Assessment Validity, sharing the criteria we monitor and some of our recent research findings.

Speakers

Rose Clesham is the Director of Academic Standards and Measurement, working in Global Assessment at Pearson. Her career started in teaching, and teacher education, before moving on to Governmental positions, responsible for running national assessment programmes in the UK. Her roles in Pearson have included leading Assessment Design and Research teams, carrying out national and international alignment and benchmarking studies and presenting at major international conferences. Rose has also worked extensively on OECD PISA assessments, co-writing the 2015 Scientific Literacy Framework. Issues surrounding the content, standards, reliability and validity of assessments are central to her work, in particular to meet the needs of evolving international educational landscapes and requirements. Her research interests include the emerging development of e-assessment and Artificial Intelligence in particular, and ongoing educational strategies and policy. She holds a Master’s Degree in Formative and Summative Assessment from Cambridge University and a Doctorate in Educational Assessment. She is a Fellow of the Association for Education Assessment – Europe (AEA-E) and is also a Fellow at the University of London (UCK). Rose lectures on educational standards, validity and reliability issues both nationally and internationally.

Programme

24th February 2021

9.00 – 10.00 Plenary Session
Future skills: what will make our students employable in 2030?

A key role for educators is to prepare students for the workplace, but at a time of great change in job markets, how do we know where to focus our efforts? Much has been written about the impact of technology and automation on society and work. Some jobs, it is suggested, will all but disappear and today’s students will be applying for roles which currently don’t exist. In the past year, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the global scenario, leading to an actual disemployability; a structural difficulty in employment integration and reintegration. How then do we prepare our learners for such future uncertainties? What are the skills of the future that will ensure a place in tomorrow’s job market?

This presentation looks at research into the skills needed for jobs in 2030 and beyond – both globally and specifically in Italy. The research provides useful information to policy makers and to those who are in charge of the planning of tertiary education and regional training courses as well as for the development of actions and policies to reduce the skill mismatch between job supply and demand.

Speakers

Mike Mayor is Director of English Learning Research and Design at Pearson. In this role, Mike heads up research into best practice teaching and learning to inform courseware and assessments. This work includes the development of the Global Scale of English and its related learning objectives. On leaving university, Mike worked as a teacher of English in France before entering the world of publishing as a lexicographer. Mike joined Pearson in 2003 and headed up the Longman dictionaries list until his move to the Global Scale of English in 2013. Mike has a BA (Hons) in French Language and Literature, an MPhil in English and Applied Linguistics from Cambridge University and a Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.

Monica Pedralli is Manager for Special Projects Development in Pearson Italia. She is leading the product development of the Pearson for Work project, aimed to give the best services and learning to develop the employability opportunities for young people. Monica is also member of the international Pearson team in charge of Pearson Career Solution, the assessment & learning platform for corp.

10.00 – 10.45 Webinar 1
Global Scale of English: The importance of standards in language teaching and assessment

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) has become a standard framework of reference for English language teaching and assessment around the world. As pressure increases on educational institutions and ministries of education to prepare global citizens of the future, few would dispute the benefits that standards in teaching and assessment can bring. Equally, however, there needs to be evidence that such standards meet the specific needs of teachers and learners in different contexts.This presentation looks at the development of the Global Scale of English (GSE), a proficiency framework that builds on and extends the CEFR to account for the needs of more learners, including those studying English with an eye to future employment. The presenter will look at the research carried out with teachers from over 50 countries around the world into defining a teaching and assessment framework that addresses some of the limitations of the CEFR. The focus will be on English for Professional purposes and the free online resources that are available to support curriculum and course design as well as lesson planning.

Speakers

11.15 – 12-00 Webinar 2
English assessment for employability

Competence in a second or other language is a vital element in many people’s career paths and success in the workplace. Some jobs, for example international sales or roles in language education require a very high level of proficiency in a second language. But, nowadays, there is a drip down of those requirements to an even larger number of job roles. English language competence in particular, is highly prized and essential for many roles in an advanced economy. Fewer and fewer roles can be successfully performed without a certain level of language proficiency.

In this presentation, we will look specifically at tests of language proficiency produced by Pearson. These tests are part of the journey through different levels of attainment at school and university, leading to lifelong learning and assessment for job roles and employability. Education often equips us with the basic

building blocks of language, but it is usually through our own work and motivation that we are able to reach the levels of language ability needed for specific employment roles.

The presentation will show how well constructed English language tests, giving rich feedback, can help support people as they move through the important lifetime cycles of study and work.

Speakers

David Booth is Director Test Development in the Pearson English Content division. He is responsible for the development of test specification and test materials for Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic, Level, Benchmark, Pearson English International Certificate and Pearson English International Certificate Young Learners. David is responsible for ensuring that all test development processes are executed to the highest standard, to ensure that test material is of the highest quality and fit for purpose. He works closely with other staff at Pearson to develop assessment and learning solutions to meet specific institutional requirements. David’s main expertise is in the development and revision of tests and he has given presentations at major conferences including EALTA, IATEFL and AILA on this theme. He has also contributed articles on specific test development projects in published research notes.David’s other interests include corpus linguistics and the application of corpora to assessment quality, including the quality of test items. Before joining Pearson, David worked for 10 years at Cambridge ESOL, a part of Cambridge Assessment. His work included revising and developing tests, developing test materials for specific examinations. David has extensive academic management, teaching and teacher-training experience working for the British Council in South Korea, Hong King and Malaysia. David has a Master’s Degree in Education from the Institute of Education, London University.

University Conference | 23 and 24th February 2021

Destination Italy - Increasing University recruitment through internationalisation and employability pathways

Programme

23rd February 2021

Programme

24th February 2021

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University Conference | 23 and 24th February 2021

Destination Italy - Increasing University recruitment through internationalisation and employability pathways

Programme

23rd February 2021

Programme

24th February 2021

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Chi Siamo

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