Innovation in Language Learning

In standard classroom settings, learning is structured in accordance with a curriculum enabling teachers to decide if students develop according to their grade level or if their progress is slowed down by learning gaps. When teaching translation studies at university, the situation is considerably more complex since students have a lot of freedom, e.g. in deciding at which point during their academic career they want to take the classes on business and economics. Accordingly, the groups are heteregeneous with respect to the business experience, the language background, and the translation skills they bring to the classsroom. Moreover, there is no curriculum-like definition of the areas covered in the different classes on general and on specific translation topics. It is essential to take these factors into account as well as the general shift from teaching to learning when mapping out the overall learning outcomes for any given course. Consequently, the syllabus should reflect this focus on individual needs and flexibility since students have to find out what their particular learning gaps are and get to know ways to improve their skills of comprehension, research, analysis, and translation. The strategies proposed in this paper involve blended learning to ensure that students find all the resources at their disposal and may not only create their own, individualized learning experiences but also discuss and compare the results in class acting as a group and finding good solutions. The paper will on the one hand explain the general outline, corroborated by academic research regarding blended learning and bridging, and on the other hand illustrate practical applications. Among other things, the paper will explain how assignments can be arranged to stimulate independent thinking, enhance creativity, and above all help students to understand texts as part of a greater context, applying their cultural literacy and world knowledge. The blended learning design offers learning bridges to ensure that the individual learning experience matches each student's needs and enables class interactions at a higher level leading to a good performance that is based on informed decisions, thus reflecting sustainable learning experiences.

Keywords: Learning bridges; blended learning; individual learning experience;