How things work at JC

Welcome! 

We wish you a warm welcome to the Department of Foreign Languages within the Junior College!  You have joined a small family of experienced and dedicated lecturers who will join you for an exciting two-year learning experience at Junior College.  It is lovely to see students choosing to study foreign languages in their post-secondary curriculum.  The study of foreign languages is not only about learning a new language.  It teaches and encourages respect for other cultures; it fosters an understanding of the interrelation of language and human nature.

 

How do things work at Junior College?

If you are feeling lost and confused, do not be concerned.  It is perfectly normal to harbour these feelings when you are a fresher at Junior College.  The leap from secondary school to post-secondary is no joke!  This document will help you operate effectively and safely as student within our department.

 

Induction meetings for you

All first year students shall be receiving an induction session by one of their respective lecturers.  This will help you familiarize yourself with your lecturers, the system of learning and how things work at Junior College.  Bring up all your queries for clarification.

 

Our lessons!

At Junior College we shall be holding lessons in presence during the forthcoming academic year.  All classes shall receive tutoring through a physical presence here in the College’s classes. 

 

Staggered approach to start lessons

·         Lectures for First Years commence on 04 October 2023.

·         During the week starting 9 October 2023, tutorial sessions and additional language sessions will commence.

 

Lecture entitlement

All students are entitled to the following:

·         Advanced:  5 hours of lectures per week; 1 tutorial every week.

·         Intermediate: 2 hours of lectures per week (3 hours in the case of Italian).

 

Note taking in class

Lecturers are not obliged to give you notes of the subjects they teach.  Some lecturers might choose to give you notes (either on VLE or in notes packs), but others might want you to take notes yourselves during their lectures.  So make sure you know exactly what your lecturer is expecting from you.  This is your responsibility.  If you find it new and difficult to take notes during lectures, kindly contact your lecturer or subject coordinator as soon as possible.

 

Attendance

Attendance to all types of lectures, seminars and tutorials on your timetable is obligatory.  Attendance will be carefully noted by your lecturers.

 

Contact hours

You are also cordially invited to set individual appointments with your lecturers during their consultation hours.  You might want to present individual difficulties encountered in your learning a particular topic, or else you might require a repeated explanation of a class lecture or tutorial.  Ask your lecturer for more information about this.  May we also remind you that contact hours are not there to replace deliberately missed lessons.  Contact hours shall be held physically and in presence.

 

Tutorial sessions

We would like you to appreciate the vital importance of your tutorial sessions.  These one hour sessions shall be held once every week.  A tutorial is a special session in which you will have the opportunity to receive more individual attention from your lecturer.  You will also have to present a task to your lecturer.  Presenting this work in full respect of the deadlines imposed, is a must.  Your lecturer will give you feedback and suggestions on how to improve your linguistic skills.  All tutorial tasks are marked for your assessment and promotion.  This does not mean that other tasks assigned during the lectures do not carry any weighting on your assessment.  Every drop counts!

 

Homework rules

Kindly follow your lecturer’s instructions to present HWs.  This rule applies for tutorial and lecture tasks assigned by your lecturers.  It is up to the responsibility of the students to deliver their work on time.  We also do not tolerate plagiarism and copied material.  Being the experienced lecturers that we are, we can trace immediately any work that is not yours.  Copying from online sources is forbidden unless you paraphrase and reference your work in a bibliography.  Speak to your lecturer for more details about this.  We want to see YOUR work so that we consolidate and improve YOUR skills. 

 

VLE

The Junior College has an online learning platform, or moodle system, called Virtual Learning Environment (VLE).  During the induction meetings, your respective lecturers will show you the platform, how to log in and how to navigate through it.  Kindly make sure you know how to use this platform and that you have full access to handouts, notes and other materials your lecturers will upload on the system for you.  Kindly use the VLE to communicate with your lecturers.

 

Who are your lecturers?

The primary person of reference for any arising course issues will always be your subject lecturer.  Should these however remain unresolved you can also contact the Subject Coordinator, Ms Antoinette Zammit Bugeja.  Kindly refer to her any issues or problems that you might encounter during your stay at the College.  Email: antoinette.z.bugeja@um.edu.mt

Office: C315

 

The other members of staff are listed online:

https://www.jc.um.edu.mt/subjects/languagescommunication/staffforeignlanguages

 

Lecturers’ staff room – C317

 

Find us online

·         Department webpage

https://www.jc.um.edu.mt/foreignlanguages

·         Department facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/um.jcforeignlanguages


https://www.jc.um.edu.mt/foreignlanguages/students/howthingsworkatjc