o6to^ IMODULAR COURSES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGEAND LITERATURE

AN INHERENT lask oismallcollese toreisn lancuasedepartmenls is servi.ing both large elementary and in-rermediate cla$es and small uppe.divisjon couBes wirha limited nunber of faculry. The absence of a sraduaredivision in sucb coueges precludes the use of gradual€teaching asisranrs a melancholy prospect for rhosewho dislike leaching at the lower levelbul a iacl ollifethat imposes uusual bu.dens and yieldsdisrind rewardtfor the facully. This repon on a lwo-yea. NEHsponsored projed at Linfield Collece addreses perhapslhe most perplexing dilemma facing small Iansuasedepanments: the need to oifer a great many advanced'uror id lor indeDerder ' . rud\ .our .e. ro - . i . t ) mdjoor minor requiremenrs. I believe we are approachrnc asolulion that pronises to boost enrollments in our upperdivision. In describin€ what we have done ar Linlield,I should firs! say something about the college and tlsconstituency, since th€se inevitably dererdine thesubnance and direcrion of curicular procrams.

we are a private, fouryear liberal ans .ollege localedabout fo.ty miles soulhtrest ol Ponland on rheedge ofrhe Coast Ranse. Linfield is bt no neans alone in theareai Lewn and Clark, Willaderre, the Univesily ofPortland. and Pacilic Univerity in Oreeon, and PacificLurheran, the Univerity of Puger SoLrnd, and whitman in Washington all compde wirh Linlield forstudents from the Pacific Northwest. Our srudenrsrendlo come l rom \mdl l ros l \ dbour f [ t ] per .en. t -omO.econ and nearly all rhe resl from rhe other Pacificslates. Approximalely one percent live in the RockyMounrain region and one percenr farrher ean. Our re-.enr npro!emen, . "e l 'ope. s . l l a l lor u .ocomperesuccessfully with Reed on rhe narional level.

The hunaniii€s curiculum is less well developed arLinfi€ld rhan ar simitar schools in rheEasr and Midwesr.For a stlrd€nr bodyofrwelve hundred,lhe Departmenrof Modern Languages has only four lull rine facultymedbes and two adjuncis offe.ins majos in French,German, and Spanish and one year each oi Japaneseand Ladn. I hasien to add that the collese hassrenglhened ns lacuh! and curriculum subsranrially inrhe lasr six o. seven yeas. Roushly half of the €ightyiacuhy nemb€rs we.e hired during lhis rine, culled inthecurent buye!'s market from insrilurions across theland, Oi prinary inportance to my deparrmenr is our

p o8 dr . $hr .h hd. 'ampl ,e. :Japan, Cosra Rica, France, and Austria. Each year sixryLinfield studenrs, mosl of whom have never left rhePacific Norlhwest, spend a semener ot study abroad(generauy rhe iirst tern ol thejr sophomore yeat and

ADFL BuLrErr ._, 15, No I , v^Rc! 198.1 15

Petet N- Richatdsan

on their return share wilh feUow srudems rh€ir x€wperspeoiv€ on rhemselves and theh counrry.

Happily, a nunber of lhese sixtt rerurnees want ro.ontrnue rheir ]anguaSe sludies, and nany of them!hoo e o p i . I up a lqngudge nrror d. proolot an d1-cillary skill We require our lansuage majos to spendan entne yea. abroad, Nhich mosr o i rhen rake in rhea d i r i o n d l j u n r o r i e d r . w , f b u r r o J r t a c u i r d l l h e d \ l

ly burdencd with an annualhvenry fiv€ ro rhi y hourol leaching, largely at theelemenrary and inrermediatelevel ho\y do we serve rhese nudenrs? Bear in mindthal se are not yet blc$ed sirh hany upper levelstudents: Mosr rerurnees from abroad have thcequivalent oithree or four sedesters oflanCuage study!so we can hardly callthem advanced. To accommodarerhe needs oiupper levelnajos and minoa in lhe tnreemarn languases, we musr otfer manr counes rhar arIracr small €nrollmenrs, sometines only four or fivenudenls. It k common knowledCe thar such aprogram

which is typical of facuhy burdens ar smau schoolsacross rhe counl.y-does nor do *onders for faculry

Wirh consulting advice iron Kim Sparks ar Nlidore-bur,! and rvith fac!lty released rine spoDsored by rheNalional Endownent for the Hunaniries, Ne unde ookio consolidate our advanced intermediare oflerincs,lo l lowine Ihe su.ces! fu l cxample o i rhe UniveBiry ofMary land, Bal t imore County.

In t9E2, our iifsr year, we focused on two moderndrama coursesi in 1983, on an inrroduct ion rolhsuist ics. In 1982 one iacul ty nenber raught a''parenf'cou6e in modem drada, dealine with a dozenor so European and Lar in Amer ican p lay! . Readines,lectures, and das disculsions ivere a1l in English. Thecoune ner Monday, wednesday, and Friday (MWF)al l0 A.M. Keyed ro lhis cou6e and deeting Tucsdayand Thusday (TTh) at l0A.M. were rhree cohplenentary s€ctions, $hich read and discused addi,r ionalmodern dranas in the or ig inalFrench, Ge.man,

The outhot.hai6 the Deparlntent oJ Marle Lansrases alI arpld Co.leee lh- onnk I Do eo a' ! pp\?4rouardelire..d ot A DFL Seftina. west, he|l at the DeJeBe Lansuosetnstitute and Asilon Cankrence Cenler an Caiifornia sManlerer Penirsula, 273A June 1983.

0 bM-zor spanish we ,equned s*den: sho sl:o,l15

ili .*T[]Tii..fi::ll""jJ::j-::i:i,:lilli,f"Hicomplemenrary couBes Io rake rhe parem as wc|' Dur :'l:l::l'^llli:::^:::."';'ir.. r"""r,*s or rre con

alowed those sithout foreisn ransuage expenencc to presenr requires !ooperalio: I li: lililji'-': l ; ; ; ; ; i l ; ; - ; ,1 ,r-" "r ' iu ' 'ou"" ' pt" '*o 'vsct io munbeobs€rversin^theDarent

{ere seDarale enlitre!, wrth rn'lependenl s!rkur ard rcune and must leftain fromenlenng tbech$ discus-

;;;".';;;;.;i,;.."r, oi**,io" i" rr'"..i-. :f;$:ff:,"";E:::ijiill:iXT,i"11l,j:lii;Dlemenlary .ourses could gro* oul ol tne crr

melhod eiDlained and p.aoi."A it tftt o--t -"tti meeling wfhfte nudems a! bemused bvstandds ln lhe

ffi'ffi;i,;;;;il";....' -*,* -* r'r' 'rui rmeusiro rcune *htre,EnBrsh ts rhe objd oi sludv'

i l ; ; ; t ; " ; . ; " . ; : : ; ' ' en 'o r r ' t ne ' ' nv \ \ r ou ' ' ' " "on 'o - tne r ' ho ! Dedre t \o ro 'he ' ranPuage '

meelines. Whc! we r€ad and dscusseo uarcrd LU'ca's are especiallv valuable' and other instrudds aie con'

;;;;;";;;;;; ';;;;'iish rorcn' the sruderts in surred regurdrv s native o! near-native jnrdmants

,rr.i"-rtrt -'l * *-;pressiblv eager to cornmen! H€re se can entenain lopics that we olren-wdl Io puF

:r,l*lil"i;{n:;yii;',"1",:'t,:"i:: ;:;'xl::fi:1iH':'"TT::HTl,"jfl::::;'il:;;::;:i;;;;; ;,;. '/edd,"s ,i ,he ortc,l:'J,jle;i "T,i#i jl",iJ'ii?;ili"i,"1* *",, *** -ous b] point ing out man, inadequacre\ o l Lne tn

,*"i"1.". *n* *. ol'"nt class rcad Du(enn;lr's rhe lancuase course have protd themserws do mev

The visit, n sas the c€lman sruoe s *"''titi "'I **' i' three or four vears counes on realism'

brough! special rnsrght to rrt" tr'"-t' "' '"tpt"tiiitv expresionism' and o!h{ tradiljonal sutieds de obuNs

and humanirY, which rhev h"a,"' u**""o ' *" '"' ca;di'tates for rhis lrealmenl' il9-i:^'s-::ntarizins

to

ill:ffii;;;;;';:;;i" iitsiker' sv tt'e rirn" ir'" rr'intor't"u'taushtcourseinscienceri'ion Bultrrs

ii"'"ii it', n"Ji"J", o"v rn our rneiisr aiscusions format inliles arririalion wirh other depanments nosr

of French existentialisr dtam",,n" te* u"0""" t"'"uti con5ptruouslt Enclish mus ' hrtot' or philosophv

l ] i ; ; i l i l ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . ;e*ereteer ingar i r t remen his ; rsoasoodrorumtor" isr l rneracLrr t ) - ior instance'

and-we hope-thinkins thal it *as aboul r;e ro Fulbright scholas *ho could teach th^e-parenr cour

.rhcard nonolingualism as a bad joke to*ardt;;;nJ anu o;e or lhe eomplemenLarv \e(rrons thus berns

of lhe lerm, w€ turrher int"r*ta tn" ""tpntt"try a'ailaUte ro Lrre enrrre college Dillrins ou! foreign

c o u n e s i n t o t h e m a i n s e c r i o n t h l o u g n e n n e . p a n e t t a n g u a e e o t f u l i n g s d o g n l o a f o n y . p e J c € n l s l u r t o ndiscusions or performances ol selecred scenes

' rw;dats our of live mch week mav sound like heresv'

ln lhe sprins oi l98l we repealed the expelrment *ith but bea! in mind.thar lhis !rccran- atfeds dlv de

a Dar€m coune entided Intta*tio" lo t-*"tt "ti course out of lhe departmental curiculum Besides we

c o m D l € m e n r a , v c o l r ' r ' o n h c h i ' r o r \ o l r h e r ; e n c h n e e d n o l m i r r h e l d n s u a s e c o n p o n e l r o l J c l L e a n

cerman. and spani 'h laneLdse r r ' " t ' " ' l ' i ' qeel l ! neerr le : we nnrPd laLe ld ' r

il;ff ;#;";i;il il;"d; l1 :.t:l:,'ijijj xl"'+l;*ll':::l#;*:#:::fi::t'G*':ij:::::1JilT:';,":"-::.;:#HTil;:l; -'�".'."' Le, ne .um .o$ ,o ow s,uden,.cons'Nmc! dd

#";;;;:';;fi ana on ro.-pics dearine wi$, obsefu rhar i! one imporrani respecr it 'esembles that

t l r o s € l a n g u a g e s i n n o d e r n l i m e s : c o n " o , u n . * a a l l i r t u a l l y a n y o r h e l c o l l e g e i n l h e c o u n i ' v ' w h e n IMissouli French. P€nnsvlvdia Gqmd, tne ranguase menrioned our nlernalional progam' qhrh sends

ii"#""'""i"lililiri'. i;" workines of the spanisb nudenc abroad ior the.fi'n re'm or thor $phomme

Acad€my, chica'o spanish, ano so on aearn' rtre rour vars' I also menrioned lhal Y]:l:le-stud€nr

oesire

sludems nor enrolled in the compr€menrary seciions io continue rheir language work on rheir return lt is

;il:;;;;;i;;v were missine; rhev carried their s iderv ackno{redstd lbar '

weishl by sivins rh; crass a two'hour 'eport on black ot lansuaee skius the eniire T::c:::-li :']'***"

''"

"'+lii;,-" "-,,"., and olhers like lhem,."' '- :I'",TX;il:;T'lT:Jli:"::::il::H:::li"#i:J

iouow, represen! a special kind oi leam reaching in tematrcnal progrums . when we{ere'conremplarrns a

which rbe srudenls are exposed to rhe emrre torlien ne* internarional studies prosram ar Lintield we con_

language tacultv: io ensure conrinu'tv o"t*""n '""tlo'i" sulled wirh awid€ varielv ofinslitLrlions aboLrr rhe prob_

theins l rudorsot thecomplementar 'coursesai lendthelemsi .helent insuchploglams.Flomplacesa5di i ierenlparen! course as well (Prep-utit" rt"at, no**"'' "tt as Sraniord' Pomona' Macale(er' L€{k and Clark'

[**".,1u;:tltlt*j:H.i".fi1'ff;xx]:, [,:jl,ll;i.ll]T:13":jl5,l'"j ji;illjii"iiiril';;;;"i;;"-;..1:t,::'::"1.,;:l;;'i::,:ii,l?;;;J::T;:\:i[1]1,;1",,'"",'$]lilrhouah f t ree of Ihor houls are In Ensrsn

do we cushion rhe inevitable shock oi r€entry, apsychological problem that plasues almo!t allstudenrs?Jusl shen rhcy think they have begun to sort out rherrposradol€scent lives. they tall prey to an emolionallywrenchin€conf tonrar ionwi lhtheindescr ibablebeauryof the slained glas ar Chanresor with the idyllic peaceand simplicity ot an Aunrian alpine meadow. Especially'o , .ndl le , .o ese. in rur" ldrcd. . r l e o ld q-e .on r ' r s .rruei How you eonna keep em down on rhe farm afterrhey've seen Payree?

A1 Linlield se have devised a new r€enlry course,laughl by an amhropologist, that seems to addre$ prob-lems ol rh is sor t . Bur we musl help out in lhe languagedcpartment, too, espe.ially since we are the naluralbeneliciaries of the foreien prograns and probablyrelatc bes! !o !he relurnees' problems. An obvious .olewe can play involves rhe kinds ol courses I have described above. whercvcr I have taughl, studenrs havedemanded course! in oiher depaftmenls-notablyhislory lauChr in Germanr I a$ume this holds rrue forstuden!! oforher lansuases as well. Traditionally theserequests have been denied: Hos many h is torydepartments olher than thosc with a couple of nonAmer icans could s laf fsuch courses? And s iventhesratiins how could they jusliiy reaching such a snallnudber of srudents? Bul behold the languaee depanr p 1 r , . l o ' k u I o i p c o p l e { i r h C d d u a e , r d i n i n c i nioreisn culrural and intell€dual hislory; behold !h€lancuage deparldent, eager lo ler a stafimember teacha TTh secrion in French to cornpledenr a rradilionalMwF course on ninereenlb cenlury French history. And*hat could be more re levanr to a course o. lwent ieth' "1 u4 I urope r fan d r io .hol anci l ls ) e . r ion cncnin French, Cerman, or Spanish in which !h€ stLrdents.ead and discuss arricles from periodicah in the couege

o 6 l 0 - 3

libra.y? I do not m€an 10 imply lhat all lansuagereachers ar€ universal geniuses whose reaching con-petence spans rheenrnecollese curriculum, bui *e teach"culture" couses any*ay-usually !o najoB and Ithink rve can learn enough to read and discu$ wilhstudents articles that relatedirecdy ro their sork in olherlields. We in language departmenls are nol allluminaries, bul we nillpossess more powerlo illuminalesludents'lives than we a.esiven credit for. Historicallywe have plied our trade someNhe.e near the peripheryoirhe curiculum, a ready-inade bushel to hide our lichtsulde, . Bur ou p 'ofe. \ io . wi l l ,u i ier a b ldct rour r f \e

I! seems ro me !ha! such a symbiolic alliance wrthotberdepanments isa proper undenaking for lancuaeeteachers (ar leasr for a ponion ot then course load),especially at a couege like Linfi€ld. where the burdenis clearly on the facuhy to justify language study by placing it in the broadest possible humanistic context. Alanguage department wbose members can demonsbatethis kind of valu€ to a college clearly has broader concerns than producins majors with quantifiable languageproficiency. whereas I am conlinced thal more ot usneed to incorporate proficiency lesting ad pertormance

soals in our loweFlevel courses, I sussestthat languagedeparhents are. abov€ all, humanities departments,concerned with developing not only linguistic flu€ncybut fluency oflhought and intellectual flexibilily. Say-in€, after all, is more important than laiking. Bydemonstra!ing !he inlerconneclion of humanisiicdisciplines in lhe way I have succesled. weestablish andsrrenglhen ourown position somewher€ near lhe centeroi the colleee cuniculum, where we should bave beenal l a long.

need intensive nainins in underslanding and speak'ncFrencb and who wish not 10 see France as tourists, burto livein French comnunilies and asociate wilh Frenchpeople-students, senior citizens, policemen, house-wives, socia lworkers, pol i r ica l and union leade6, and

Fouowing the iive weeks in Angers, vhere each stu-denr wiu livewith a French family, rhe sroup wiU havea chance to study in deprh a specific provinc€, rhis year

La Br€tagne, 2 l Ju ly 4 Aug,Enroumenr is limited. Six ro eisht semester ffed1r

For furrher information wrire Andrd walther, Direc-tor, 1984 French Summer Inst., Depr. of ModernLanguases, Uni!. of Northern lowa, C€dar Falh, IA50614.

Summer Institute for Teachers otFrench

Forrhe sev€nte€nth conseculive year, the Depanmentoi Modern Languaees oi rhe Universily oi NonhernIowa is planning its prosrams in France ior teachers ol

The resular program, from l6 June !o 4 Aue. 198,1,$illbe held in Ans{s and in Quinper loreishl semesFrhours of graduate credit.

A fiv€+veek se$ion, trom 16 June ro 2l July 1984(lor teacheB who are unable !o alrend our resular ses-sion), will be held in Anser! for six semester hours ol

The insriture prosram is designed for reacheG who

l 1