One of the guiding principles of Arizona State University President Michael Crow's vision for our institution as the New American University is to make ASU a “leading global center for interdisciplinary scholarship, discovery, and development.” Gaining proficiency in a second or multiple language(s) provides a solid foundation for international study and eventually global engagement in any profession. The School of International Letters & Cultures (SILC) has established the goal of becoming an innovative leader in the field of second language acquisition by elevating the goals of its language programs, so that students are required to reach specific benchmarks in a second language in order to fulfill College or program requirements and to engage globally in their future. In the first stage of this move toward proficiency-based language education, SILC is implementing a cutting-edge second language instructional model of intensive courses—one that focuses on adopting proven strategies and techniques, which encourage students to be active learners as they keep track of their own proficiency goals through “can-do statements” as progress indicators.
The first stage in the development of the new intensive language tracks is a two-year pilot project in which we create and implement the new curricula in 6 language programs: Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. A cohort of SILC faculty members are currently working together in Spring 2015 to develop the new intensive curricula, and the courses will be offered for the first time in Fall 2015. The highly motivated students in this track will work to achieve specific levels of proficiency, varying by language, at a faster pace. At the end of the courses they will be tested using internationally recognized proficiency assessments. The results of these assessments will serve as documentation of their proficiency level, which students can share with future employers or graduate/professional schools. Following successful completion of the pilot cycle, SILC will use the data derived from the experience to reshape the entire language curriculum, and expand the model as appropriate to other languages.
The new intensive courses (110, 210) will provide all ASU students a better opportunity to gain professional-level skills in a second (or multiple) language(s) as undergraduates, an important advantage in our increasingly globalized and international economy. These efforts will help move SILC closer to its goal of creating proficiency-based requirements.
If you have any questions about the new intensive courses offered in Fall 2015 (CHI 110, FRE 110, GER 110, ITA 110, JPN 110, SPA 110), please contact Sandra Palaich: <Sandra.Palaich@asu.edu>.
Explore Further:
- New ASU Language Courses Help Students Meet Requirements in Less Time
- Proficiency-Oriented Language Instruction from the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
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