An ACTFL White Paper

ACTFL PROFESSIONAL ISSUES REPORT Languages Across the Curriculum: A Postsecondary Initiative

Author and Chair of Editorial Committee: Emily Spinelli, University of Michigan-Dearborn Editorial Committee: Keith Anderson, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN; Audrey Heining-Boynton, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Robert Ludwig, Mount Pleasant High School, Schenectady, NY; Millie Mellgren, Robbinsdale Language Immersion School, MN; Marie Trayer, Millard High School, Omaha, NE; Richard Weber, , Lexington, KY.

Introduction edge of a language other than English in courses out- As the has become more global in its side language departments and/or integrate other dis- economic and political outlook, many employe r s ciplines into language courses. While the languages of have come to recognize the need for personnel with most LAC programs tend to be French, German, and language and cultural skills in order to compete effec- Spanish, programs can invo l ve the less commonly t i vely in the international marketplace. At the same taught modern languages as well as Latin. T h e time, many language educators have come to realize “e x p o rt model” of LAC refers to programs that use that the traditional language program based on one to language materials in courses outside the language two years of the study of grammar structures followed d e p a rtment; the “import model” of LAC refers to by literature-based courses will not produce the type p rograms that integrate materials from other disci- of skills necessary for working in the global economy. plines into language courses. T h e re are curre n t l y In a 1991 position paper entitled “A National Plan many institutions that have adopted or are in the for a Us e - Oriented Fo reign Language Sy s t e m , ” p rocess of adopting some form of an Languages R i c h a rd D. Lambert, Di rector of the National Fo r- Across the Curriculum program. Many of these new eign Language Center, explained, “We expend almost initiatives are based on four well-known model pro- all of our national re s o u rces for foreign language grams; these programs are described below. learning on first-time, low - l e vel language learning among high school and college students, then watch Model Programs those minimal skills decay and disappear thro u g h Earlham College lack of use or reinforcement... We need a set of insti- Earlham College (Jurasek, 1988) was one of the tutions that will re i n f o rce and build upon past lan- first schools to devise a foreign language program that guage learning.” (Lambert, 1991) cuts across the entire college curriculum. Fa c u l t y “f a c i l i t a t o r s” in disciplines other than foreign lan- Definition guages re v i ewed and refined their second language T h roughout the United States many postsec- skills in order to integrate foreign language re a d i n g o n d a ry institutions have begun to experiment with materials into their regular courses. Courses which language programs that will reinforce and build upon a l ready used translations of foreign language texts prior language learning. These programs fall under were identified. The facilitators then chose brief but the general rubric of “Languages Across the Curricu- key passages from those texts to use with foreign lan- lum.” Languages Ac ross the Curriculum (LAC) or guage students. In order to participate in the program Fo reign Languages Ac ross the Curriculum (FLAC ) the faculty facilitators need only reading know l e d g e a re two widely accepted designations for curricular of the foreign language; they then help the students innovations that allow students to apply their knowl- read and understand the materials in that foreign lan- guage. Materials might include selections such as ny the foreign language readings. The Language Re- Kant’s letters in a philosophy class, a French transla- s o u rce Specialists also served as discussion leaders, tion of a portion of a play by Sh a k e s p e a re, and de tutors, and graders. The SUNY- Binghamton LAC Tocqueville’s L’ancien regime et la revolution in a Euro- p rogram differs significantly from the Earlham pro- pean history class. After several experimental ye a r s gram in its use of international graduate students the Earlham program is now solidly entrenched with- instead of regular faculty members to prepare course in the entire curriculum; the schedule of classes indi- materials. The Binghamton model does not rely on cates which courses have French, German, or Spanish extensive faculty development efforts or the develop- options. Jurasek points out that Earlham College has ment of new courses. The Binghamton program also demonstrated to its students that language study can relies almost exclusively on the reading skill. be meaningful, and the foreign language faculty is The benefits of the SUNY- Binghamton pro g r a m satisfied that the college curriculum has a skill-using have been extensive. The undergraduate participants foreign language component. in the program improved their foreign language read- ing comprehension skills while the international stu- State University of New York at Binghamton dents benefitted from their service as Language In the fall of 1991 the State Un i versity of New Re s o u rce Specialists. The SUNY- Binghamton cur- Yo rk at Binghamton (Ba d g e r, Rose, Straight, 1993) riculum has benefitted from the great variety of cul- initiated its pilot program in Languages Ac ross the tural perspectives brought to classroom topics by the Curriculum (LAC). They enlisted international grad- international students. uate students as Language Resource Specialists to pre- pare foreign-language reading materials, primarily in St. Olaf College French, German, and Spanish, for use in seve n St. Olaf College (Allen, Anderson, Narvaez, 1992) undergraduate academic courses that would not usu- has developed a more ambitious program that enables ally include such materials. The Language Resources students to make significant use of second languages Specialists who were selected were proficient in one of in a wide variety of courses in the humanities, behav- the languages of the program and possessed the nec- ioral and natural sciences, and mathematics. The use essary disciplinary background. In consultation with of the foreign language ranges from courses that are the LAC staff the Language Resource Specialists pre- “e n r i c h e d” with foreign language readings to full p a red class assignments using non-English re a d i n g immersion courses. selections from newspapers, magazines, journals, and St. Olaf students with at least intermediate high books. proficiency in a foreign language may take courses in Undergraduate students at SUNY- Bi n g h a m t o n other disciplines with an Applied Fo reign Language could enroll in one of the LAC courses based on their Component (AFLC). Pa rticipants in AFLC courses own interest and their performance on a simple, self- substitute texts in a foreign language for a number of graded reading comprehension test in the foreign lan- the assigned English-language course readings. They guage. The workload of the LAC students was bal- also participate in a special weekly discussion con- anced with that of the regular students by substitut- ducted in the second language. Students may submit ing one LAC assignment for two regular assignments their written work in English or the foreign language. or by making the LAC assignments significantly Each completed AFLC course carries an additional shorter. The workload adjustments were balanced by o n e - q u a rter course credit; successful completion of the linguistic and cultural benefits gained thro u g h two AFLC courses is re c o g n i zed on student tran- the use of non-English materials. scripts by the Applied For eign Language Certi f i c a t i o n . Most of the LAC course faculty had little or no The St. Olaf program began with language com- knowledge of the foreign languages used in the LAC ponents in French, German, and Spanish in human- classes. Within the LAC classes the Language Re - ities courses. With grant support they have expanded source Specialists provided all instructional materials the languages to include Chinese, No rwegian, and in the foreign languages and prepared ancillary aids in Russian; disciplines beyond the humanities have been the form of glossaries and commentaries to accompa- added to the program as well. Participating faculty members at St. Olaf College The program, developed largely through the work in pairs to prepare an AFLC course; one mem- efforts of John Grandin, Chair of the Department of ber of the pair represents a language and the other the Modern and Classical Languages, has been highly cooperating discipline. As a pair they first explore the successful; the graduates of the program have found relationship between foreign language study and the jobs using both their German-language and engi- study of the other discipline as well as the curricular neering skills. The success of this program has and pedagogical implications of integrating non-Eng- allowed the faculty to consider expansion into other lish language texts into the course of that other disci- language areas including Chinese, French, and - pline. The faculty pair then shapes teaching methods, ese. In addition, a similar program is being initiated identifies materials for library purchase, selects appro- with the College of Business at the Un i versity of priate foreign language texts for course use, and pre- Rhode Island. T h rough grant support the business pa r es study guides, glossaries, and other course materials. faculty is learning German, and the German faculty Students who have participated in the St. Olaf pro- is learning business skills in preparation for a six- gram benefit from an expanded vocabulary and read- s e m e s t e r, team-taught sequence of German courses ing comprehension skills. The students also value the focusing on issues of international business. access they have to texts not normally studied in lan- Grandin reports that the faculty at URI no longer guage classrooms and sometimes unavailable in Eng- think of their field as a monodimensional one that lish and special insights into course content. Partici- takes literary study as its single goal. They believe that pating faculty members re p o rt that the AFLC pro- language learning must be integrated into the disci- gram has helped increase interdisciplinary collabora- plines of all students and taught across the curricu- tion and curricular coherence on campus. In addi- lum. Grandin further states that their Languages tion, the program has served as a catalyst for all fac- Ac ross the Curriculum programs have provided a ulty members to enhance their own foreign language richer education experience for the student and an proficiency. Command of a second language has even enrichment for the faculty as well. The faculty become a factor in the re c ruitment of new faculty i n vo l ved gain a much clearer appreciation for each members across the college. For the foreign language other’s disciplines. According to Grandin, Languages faculty, the AFLC program has reaffirmed the impor- Ac ross the Curriculum initiatives have become the tance of language study not as just the acquisition of centerpiece around which faculty members from tra- a set of skills but as an important means of accessing ditionally disparate areas can gather with ve ry pro- information and learning in all disciplines. ductive results.

The University of Rhode Island Summary The University of Rhode Island has taken the Lan- While the model programs of the Languages Across guages Ac ross the Curriculum concept even furt h e r the Curriculum initiatives va ry gre a t l y, all pro g r a m s by developing a joint degree program in German and h a ve one common thread: the programs allow stu- engineering offered through the International En g i- dents to apply their knowledge of a language other neering Program. Students in the program graduate than English in courses outside language departments in five years with a B.A. in German and a B.S. in an and/or integrate other disciplines into language engineering discipline. The key features of the pro- courses. LAC programs simultaneously improve lan- gram are German-language courses tailored to engi- guage skills while using those skills to acquire infor- neering students during the first three years of study, mation and perspectives in other disciplines. Both a six-month paid internship in an engineering firm or students and faculty members participating in the research institute in a German-speaking country dur- p rograms benefit. In many cases the entire ethos of ing the fourth year, and in the fifth year both tradi- the institution changes as faculty members and stu- tional upper-level German language and literature dents alike see the advantages of using foreign lan- courses and a special interd i s c i p l i n a ry engineering guages to acquire multicultural perspectives within a course taught in German by bilingual engineering variety of disciplines. ❏ faculty members. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY CONTACT INFORMATION

Allen, We n d y, Keith Anderson, and Leon Na rva ez . For further information on the model programs, the “Fo r eign Languages Ac ross the Curriculum: T h e following names and addresses are provided. Applied Fo reign Language Component.” Fo re i g n Language Annals 25.1 (1992): 11-19. Earlham College: Richard Jurasek; Language and Lit- Badger, Ellen H., Marilyn G. Rose, and H. Stephen e r a t u re De p a rtment; Earlham College; 701 Na - Straight. “Binghamton Un i ve r s i t y’s Languages tional Road W; Richmond, 47374-4095. Ac ross the Curriculum In i t i a t i ve.” E R I C / C L L TEL: 317-983-1532; FAX: 317-983-1616; E- News Bulletin 16.2 (1993): 1, 6-8. MAIL:[email protected] Johnston, Joseph S. Jr., and Richard J. Ed e l s t e i n . Beyond Borders: Profiles in International Education. State Un i versity of New Yo rk at Bi n g h a m t o n : L a n- Washington, DC: Association of American Col- guages Across the Curriculum Program; Bingham- leges, 1993. ton University; State University of New York; Box Jurasek, Richard. “Integrating Fo reign Languages 6000; Binghamton, New York 13902-6000. TEL: Into the College Curriculum.” Mo d e rn Language 607-777-2499; E-MAIL: ebadger@bingva x a . c c . Journal 72 (1988): 52-58. binghamton.edu; sstraigh@bingva x a . c c . b i n g h a m- L a m b e rt, Richard. “A National Plan for a Us e - Or i- ton.edu ented Fo reign Language System.” Reprint of a National Foreign Language Center Position Paper St. Olaf College: Keith Anderson; German De p a rt- (Washington, DC: NFLC, June 1991). L a n g u a g e ment; St. Olaf College; 1500 St. Olaf Ave n u e ; and In t e rnational Studies: A Richard Lambert Pe r - No rthfield, Minnesota 55057. TEL: 507-646- s p e c t i ve . Ed. Sarah Jane Mo o re and Christine A. 3465; FAX: 507-646-3549; E-MAIL: anders@sto- Mo rfit. Washington, DC: National Fo reign Lan- l a f.edu. Wendy Allen; De p a rtment of Ro m a n c e guage Center Monograph Series. 1993: 47-52. Languages; St. Olaf College; 1500 St. Ol a f Pickert, Sarah, and Barbara Turlington. International - Avenue; Northfield, Minnesota 55057. TEL: 507- izing the Curriculum: A Handbook for Ca m p u s 646-3247; FAX: 507-646-3549; E-MAIL: wallen- L e a d e r s. Washington, DC: American Council on @stolaf.edu Education, 1992. Rivers, Wilga M. “Developing International Compe- The University of Rhode Island: John Grandin, Chair; tence for a Centripetal, Centrifugal World.” ADFL Department of Modern and Classical Languages Bulletin 26.1 (1994): 25-33. and Literatures; 126 Independence Hall; The Uni- Sudermann, David P., and Ma ry A. Cisar. “Fo re i g n versity of Rhode Island; Kingston, Rhode Is l a n d Languages Ac ross the Curriculum: A Cr i t i c a l 02881-0812. TEL: 401-792-5912; FAX: 401-792- Appraisal.” Mo d e rn Language Jo u rn a l 76 (1992): 4694; E-MAIL: [email protected] 295-308.

Fall 1995