At the core of the Centre’s activities is increasing the subject knowledge of language teachers and students, both within and beyond the curriculum. Teacher seminars held throughout the year aspire to do just that: complement teachers’ knowledge of their language and its associated cultures, whilst at the same time encouraging discussion between teachers about the application of this knowledge to their GCSE and A Level syllabi.

Some seminars are run in conjunction with existing LCLC activities or study days, whilst others take place as stand-alone events. Over the course of the project’s first two years, seminars led by academics and postgraduate students from Oxford and The Open University were run in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Persian, Portuguese, and Spanish, covering topics ranging from Italian Futurism to the Sudanese novel Season of Migration to the North. Several of these seminars were held jointly with pupils and teachers, thereby allowing A Level students to take advantage directly of the linguistic and cultural topics being presented.

Furthermore, seminars and workshops on such teaching-related topics as Dyslexia and Language Learning, Listening Skills, and Translation have been held, led by specialists from The Open University.