The Management Skills of SALL Managers

David Gardner,Lindsay Miller

doi:10.37237/040402

Abstract

This paper looks at the management skills of SALL managers. It is based on data collected using quantitative and qualitative instruments with six SALL managers in tertiary contexts in Hong Kong. With reference to the literature in the field of management, the paper reviews the data in terms of identifiable management skills. This provides a picture of the skills possessed by these managers and also identifies gaps in their skill-sets. The paper provides a checklist of skills relevant to SALL management which individual managers may find useful, and also discusses the 4 key management areas of leadership, scope, expectations and evaluation.

Highlights

Self-Access Language Learning (SALL) has grown and matured into a respectable sub-section of the field of applied linguistics and there is evidence that the number of selfaccess facilities continues to grow
This paper looks at the management skills of SALL managers
The self-access centres which these managers were responsible for were often housed within larger academic units and all the managers had additional roles to play within their centres such as, teaching, course-development, and administration

Summary

Introduction

Self-Access Language Learning (SALL) has grown and matured into a respectable sub-section of the field of applied linguistics and there is evidence that the number of selfaccess facilities continues to grow (see Gardner and Miller, 2011 for a summary). Management is relevant to SALL at all levels, and in all its variety, from large dedicated self-access centres to smaller implementations in the classroom. The management of SALL, tends to meet the criteria of middle management, and, the literature dealing with middle management is considerably less rich (Busher, Hammersley-Fletcher & Turner, 2007), is less often research-based (Briggs, 2005) and tends to be practical. In a study of tertiary level self-access centres, Gardner and Miller (1997) define the managers they looked at as middle managers because of their liaison functions of maintaining a flow of information between departmental managers and their staff. In another study, Gardner and Miller (2013) identify a well-established community of practice amongst SALL "#!$!

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion