Steve Briggs, University of Bedfordshire
Ralitsa Kantcheva, University of Bedfordshire
An ALDinHE research funding grant for 2024-2025 has enabled us to undertake an international project examining the nature of Academic Language and Learning Development (ALLD) practitioner roles. In our International Consortium of Academic Language and Learning Developers (ICALLD) Symposium overtime 2025 session we presented interim findings and invited feedback from attendees relating to the development of a preliminary taxonomy addressing ALLD practitioner operational foci and areas of specialism.
Why was this research needed?
Bickle, Johnson and White (2024) discussed how learning development could play a central role in the provision of academic support within higher education however it was reported that this is not universally well understood within universities. We suggest that inconsistency across the sector in how the roles of ALLD practitioners are defined is exacerbating these challenges.
In contrast to other professions (such as Librarians (see CILIP, no date) or psychologists (see British Psychological Society, no date)) there is currently no recognised taxonomy of ALLD job roles. In practice, this mean that ALLD practitioners with similar job titles often have quite different roles. This can add to the confusion around the nature of ALLD practice. This 2024-25 ALDinHE funded international research study is seeking to address this through the development of a taxonomy of ALLD professional roles (as proposed by Briggs, 2025).
Our research project
In November 2024, we sent an online questionnaire was sent to ALLD Practitioners. This was administered with support of the ICALLD member states. This included questions related to principal job role responsibilities along with whether practitioners perceived their current role to have a specific academic language or learning development specialism(s). Responses to these questions are informing the development of a taxonomy of ALLD practitioner roles. Responses were analysed through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods.
Initial Taxonomy
Figure 1 shows the first iteration of the taxonomy that we created:
Figure 1: ALLD Taxonomy: Version 1
As hoped, attendees provided valuable feedback related to the comprehensiveness of the taxonomy. Notably, this included the importance of adding Numeracy as an additional specialism (despite this being under-reported in the online survey). Attendees also emphasised a need to better illustrate how many ALLD practitioners operate at a general level in that they may not have a dedicated specialism.
Based on feedback we are developing a second version of the taxonomy. This will be presented at the ALDinHE Conference 2025. We also plan to write an article detailing the development of the taxonomy for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education.
References
Bickle, E., Johnson, I. & White, S. (2024) Learning development should be at the heart of conversations about academic support, Wonkhe. Available via: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/learning-development-should-be-at-the-heart-of-conversations-about-academic-support (Accessed: 17 December 2024).
Briggs, S. (2025) Redefining the work of learning development practitioners, Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 33.
British Psychological Society (no date) Career options in psychology. Available via: https://www.bps.org.uk/career-options-psychology (Accessed: 17 December 2024).
CILIP (no date) Libraries and librarians. Available via: https://www.cilip.org.uk/page/LibrariansandLibraries (Accessed: 17 December 2024).