The skills-based versus knowledge-based learning debate in British higher education has given rise to a double agenda, clearly observable in Modern Languages degrees, where the sometimes called "content units" (knowledge-based learning) form one dimension, and the "language units" (skills-based learning) form the other. The organization of this structure is sustained in the understanding that knowledge-based courses provide students with the necessary intellectual tools for students to make informed judgements of the different contexts and situations where their (linguistic, or other) skills can be applied. From this perspective, a Modern Languages degree offers invaluable opportunities for undergraduates to develop as well-rounded critical beings (Barnett, 1997). However, a programme where its main components are conducted in (at least) two different linguistic codes, poses additional, but often overlooked challenges for the transferability of information and skills between units described above. This could affect at the same time the development of Modern Languages students' criticality. It is hoped that this study will contribute to our understanding of this higher level learning process involving two languages. This research explores the different learning experiences organized for students of languages, which curriculum designers believe help students to build up their capacity to behave critically in different areas of their professional and personal lives. Through an ethnographic-type investigation, this study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the elements involved in the development of Spanish students' criticality, and in particular, of the ways these elements are interlinked with one another. The data collected for this investigation includes samples of students' oral and written work, interviews with students and tutors, classroom observations and a collection of course documents and university documentation, all of which was qualitatively recorded and analysed.

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' Writing is product and process, noun and verb. ' (Colyar 2009:422) This dissertation explores the journey taken in devising and implementing a third year undergraduate module. The journey started with the undertaking of my doctoral studies and a developing appreciation of the value of creative writing as a form of inquiry into the self and context, and the associated reflexivity involved in this process. Bringing this work to bear on the design of the module, I became aware of a shift in the teaching and learning taking place in my classes. The focus of this study is an investigation of this change in pedagogy. The study has three related lines of inquiry. The first is to situate and evaluate creative writing as inquiry, initially through my own experiences and then through those of my students as they undertake work in this area. This addresses the question of what it might mean to write reflexively within an academic context. Secondly, I am interested in the transformative impact of this work on my teaching identity and its possible effects on students. Finally, reflecting on the development of a reflexive pedagogy that has arisen out of the collaborative work I have undertaken with my students, I consider whether there are further applications for this pedagogy. Because my research questions vary in purpose and take me in different directions, I adopt different approaches to inquiry during the study. I undertake narrative inquiry through the analysis of my own story on motherhood, reflections on which inform the development of the action research component of my study, as I evaluate the shift in pedagogy introduced into my classes. The study concludes with reflections on the value of the work carried out and on the applicability of a reflexive pedagogy.