Faculty Learn Spanish To Prepare for International Students
It’s 8:30 a.m., and the 18 students in Deb Dougherty’s Spanish class
slowly make their way into SAC 309, find their seats and prepare for
the Alma College professor’s greeting.
“Buenos dias!” says Dougherty. “Buenos dias!” responds the group.
The classroom looks normal, but these students are not typical. They
are all Alma College faculty from a range of disciplines — the arts to
the hard sciences — who enthusiastically volunteered to take the
three-day-a-week, two-semester long class titled “Spanish for Faculty.”
Faculty members Peggy Thelen, Will Nichols and Carrie Parks-Kirby practice their Spanish.
The class was made possible by a $250,000 grant from the
McGregor Foundation for “Internationalizing the Alma Experience,” a
program designed to enhance the partnership between Alma College and
Equatorialis University, an English-language liberal arts institution
in Quito, Ecuador.
When Alma College welcomes future Ecuadorian students as part of an
articulation agreement between the two institutions, more Alma faculty
will be able to identify with some of the difficulties the students may
face.
“My colleagues are learning to exchange pleasantries and communicate on
a general level with Spanish-speaking people,” says Dougherty. “There
is also the empathy factor. When they get non-native-speaking students
in class in the future, they will understand how hard it really is to
learn in a different linguistic and cultural environment.”
Deb Dougherty, in command of her class.
The faculty-students are reporting a positive experience, even if they were a bit apprehensive about their role reversal.
“Deb Dougherty is doing a great job of working with us,” says class
member Peggy Thelen, assistant professor of education. “She is patient
and has a great sense of humor, which I think you need with this group.
Deb has set up the curriculum so that the pace is good, not too
stressful, for us. She is mindful that we have a lot of other
obligations. She has done a lot of work for this class, which I
appreciate. The other ‘students’ are a lot of fun to learn with.”
Thelen, typical of many of her classmates, signed up for the class to
better prepare her for future travel to Spanish-speaking countries.
Last year she took a student group to Argentina.
“I was not apprehensive at all to learn Spanish, but I was apprehensive
about the time commitment, required to take this class,” she says. “I
will probably go back with students to Argentina at some point, and
with the college's relationship with Ecuador, I can foresee a trip
there, as well.”
Dougherty uses simulated immersion teaching techniques, such as
role-playing and drill work to practice grammatical structures. For one
exercise, the “students” were asked to mingle, introduce themselves,
and collect phone numbers — all in Spanish.
“The way I’m teaching is very purpose driven,” says Dougherty. “I’m not
laying the foundation for Spanish majors and minors. Rather, the goal
is to prepare these faculty members to have the ability to converse in
Spanish on their own without relying on a colleague or interpreter.”
The faculty participants come from many academic disciplines, including
art, biology, exercise and health science, education, music,
psychology, mathematics, sociology, economics, environmental studies,
communication and chemistry.
Later this spring, the faculty will travel to Quito for a two-week
immersion in a Spanish-speaking culture, living with host families and
collaborating with Ecuador faculty on curricular development and
research opportunities.
Alma College has maintained a relationship with the Academia Latino
Americana in Quito for several years, with a number of Alma students
traveling there to develop their Spanish language skills. The
Academia’s board of directors expanded educational offerings there in
2008 with the creation of Equatorialis University, which will offer
degrees in business administration and environmental science.
Alma College and Equatorialis officials are pursuing an articulation
agreement that will allow qualified students from the Ecuador
institution — as many as 50 by 2012 — to complete their senior year on
the Alma campus.
Posted: Thu, February 12th, 2009 at 4:23PM
