University of Cambridge Asian, Middle Eastern and Persian studies during the pandemic

Mahbod Ghaffari

doi:10.14705/rpnet.2021.52.1279

Abstract

This case study will focus on the COVID-19 lecturers’ experience in the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES) at the University of Cambridge. After a brief background about how the academic year works in the University of Cambridge and an introduction about the situation after the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK, the author will discuss about the measures taken by the faculty and the way the teaching was conducted in the FAMES in general and Persian language courses in particular. Then, the challenges and problems regarding online teaching in Department of Middle Eastern Studies (DMES) will be highlighted. Finally, a short explanation about the way the examination and assessment were handled in the faculty will be provided. The findings show excellent management and steady leadership turned the classic classroom-based teaching to remote and online teaching. Also, professional collaboration and performance of lecturers along with the ongoing technical and training support were the main factors to go through the critical phase of the pandemic’s impact successfully. It seems that the language teachers have gained valuable experience and skills in teaching languages differently, which can be deployed in future post pandemic situations.

Highlights

A brief introduction of the academic year in the University of Cambridge, the institutional context, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the UK will be provided.Usually, each academic year in the University of Cambridge consists of three terms named Michaelmas, Lent, and Easter term[3] respectively, of which Easter term includes the assessment and examination period
Some believed that body language was missing, which has a great role in understanding spoken language, and there had been less opportunity to focus on speaking skills in comparison to classroom-based teaching
The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (FAMES) took action immediately concerning the outbreak of COVID-19 and the sudden changes of the educational requirements

Summary

Introduction

A brief introduction of the academic year in the University of Cambridge, the institutional context, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 in the UK will be provided. When I was introduced to Zoom by Cambridge University Language Centre in April 2020, I found that the platform had many features and advantages which could be helpful for online delivery of the lessons It was very user friendly: you could have 100 students logged in to your class and you could see them on your screen; the breakout rooms provided the opportunity to divide students into pairs and groups in order to practise speaking skills and conversation; recording the session was straightforward and reasonably easy to be shared with those unable to attend so they could make use of it; the chat box was available to communicate with the student and write words and phrases for them; the whiteboard was helpful to write in Persian script, so the students could see the cursive handwritten form they would experience in normal in-person classes; and above all, you could share your screen with the students to work on particular text, watch a particular clip, etc.

Objective

Support

Challenges

Assessment

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion