High School and Public Relations Survey and Webpage

Tue Oct 1 23:58:41 UTC 1996

As most teachers in the field can attest, Slavic languages across
the country have been suffering from a severe drop in enrollment in this
decade. Two years ago, a group of Slavic linguists, all members of AATSEEL,
met to discuss the issues related to this decline for the profession as a
whole. At that time, the Slavic Linguistics Task Force was created. It is
our hope that the task force will be able to gather data that will be used
to boost interest in Slavic and Slavic linguistics in North America. The
Committee on High School Enrollment and Public Relations is one of the
committees that makes up the task force and respectfully submits this
questionnaire to you in the hope that your insights and input will help us
rebuild the profession. The information will be presented at the AATSEEL
conference in December 1996 and will be available on the Slavic Linguistics
Task Force Web Page. We invite you to join with us at the conference to
discuss these issues. The results of the questionnaire will also be
forwarded to the leadership of AATSEEL, in the hopes that they will act
upon your suggestions. All material on the web page and forwarded to
AATSEEL will be anonomous unless you give us permission to use your name.
        While those in academia have taken steps to increase our enrollment
from within the university, there are groups of people that have been more
or less ignored in the attempts to improve enrollments. These include:
        high school teachers of Slavic languages, culture, etc.;
        Slavic heritage groups;
        non-academicians or those in non-teaching related academic
positions (librarian,
        administrator, etc.) who hold degrees in Slavic.
        .
The following questionnaire is addressed to members of these groups. If you
are a high school teacher, have a job outside of academia and/or have a
non-teaching academic position and hold a degree in Slavic, or are a member
of a Slavic heritage group, we would appreciate your cooperation and
assistance in filling out this questionnaire. If you are not a member of
any of the above groups, but know of someone who is, please pass the
questionnaire on to that person. PLEASE NOTE THAT this is the one of two
questionnaires to be released by the task force. The second survey was
released last week, and focuses specifically upon enrollment data at the
high school and college levels and on issues related to institutions of
higher learning.

Please return the questionnaire by October 30, 1996. If you would like to
return the survey via email, please send it to: jrouhie at pop.uky.edu
If you prefer U.S. mail, send the survey to: J. Rouhier-Willoughby, Dept.
of Russian and Eastern Studies, 1055 Patterson Office Tower, University of
Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506

A) Biographical Information:

Name:

Mailing Address:

email address:

Profession:

Number of Years in this or similar positions:

Institution (school, heritage group, non-academic institution, etc.):

Educational Background (institution, degree):

Prefer to remain anonymous:  Yes    No

B) HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS:

1) What Slavic language do you teach or have you taught?

2) Is that language still offered at your school?

3) If no, when was the class cancelled? What was the reason for its
cancellation?

4) How many years has it been or was it taught?

5) How many levels of that language are/were offered?

6) Are any other Slavic languages offered (or have they been offered) in
your school or in other schools in your district?

7) Could you provide enrollments in your Slavic language class(es) for the
last 5 years (or for as long as you have information)?

8) How have you attempted to solve the enrollment problems, if any, in your
classes?

9) If you have not had enrollment reductions, to what do you attribute this
fact (large number of heritage speakers, public relations, or other
factors)?

10) Is your position full-time in Slavic or do you teach other languages? If so
what languages?

11) Could you provide enrollments in non-Slavic classes for the last 5
years? If you do not have specific figures, could you please give a general
idea if the
y have fallen or risen in that time?

12) Do you (or does another teacher) teach any non-language Slavic-related
classes, such as history, folklore, culture, etc.?

13) If yes, does this course help interest in the study of the language?

14) Have you attempted any particular community outreach, public relations
or marketing strategies (such as cooperative work with heritage groups,
promoting Slavic language study to guidance counsellors, going to middle
schools to recruit, etc.)?

15) Of these attempts, which have been the most successful in your opinion? Why?

16) What suggestions do you have to increase the visibility and success of
Slavic language teaching in North American high schools (such as lobbying
of political officials, public relations in the community, involvement by
national organizations in these areas, etc.)?

17) How can university language teachers can help high school language
teachers increase the visibility and success of Slavic language teaching in
North American high schools? How can University language  teachers help you
motivate High School students continue their studies in the university
Slavic programs?

Additional comments:

C) HERITAGE GROUP MEMBERS:

1. Do you know if there is any cooperative work between your heritage group
and the University/College/High School teachers of Slavic languages that is
directed towards maintenance and promotion of your heritage language in
North America? If yes, give details.

2. Do you think that public lectures about your heritage language and
language culture (its history, development, etc.) read by University
teachers will help you in its promotion in North America?

3. Do you think that it will be a good idea if the local newspapers and
radio programs include some information about your heritage language?

4. What are your suggestions for improvement the contacts between your
heritage group and the university (college/school) teachers which are
directed towards the promotion of your heritage language in North America?

5. What are your suggestions for improvement the Slavic language teaching
in North America (such as courses, contacts between students and heritage
grioups, student (undergraduate/graduate) representatives, etc.)?

6. How can members of the American Association of Teachers of Slavic and
East European languages help you in promoting your heritage language and
culture?

7. Have you had any formal courses on your heritage's language or culture?
What and where?

8. How did you find out about the courses in 2.?

9. Were the courses in 2. what you were expecting? If not, why not?

10. Did you complete the courses in 2.? If not, do you have any suggestions that
might have helped you continue with the course(s)?

Additional comments:

D) INDIVIDUAL SLAVISTS (currently working outside academia or in
non-teaching areas of academia, such as libraries, administration, etc.)

1) What areas of Slavic and/or Slavic linguistics did/do you specialize(d) in?

2) How enthusiastic are you in promoting Slavic Linguistics as a
worthwhile subject of study? Please answer this question even if you were
not trained as a linguist.

3) What is your main Slavic language?

4) Do you feel comfortable in other Slavic languages, and if so, to what
extent?

5) Have you been able to apply your knowledge/skills outside the area
of academia/or in non-teaching related pursuits?

6) If the answer to 4) is yes, please comment - specifically from the
point of view of using your knowledge of one Slavic language plus your
skills in Slavic Linguistics to tackle work in another Slavic language.

7) If you haven't come across the ideas expressed in 5), please comment.

Additional comments:

E) EMPLOYEES OF NON-ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS:

1) Does your institution need any sort of language work?

2) If the answer to 1) is yes, which languages?

3) Are you aware of linguistics (specifically in this case, Slavic)?

4) How much skill and education do you think is required for  a
linguist/translator/interpreter?

5) If the answer to 1) is yes, would be useful to have a linguist on
staff, or for part-time /contract work?

Additional comments:

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Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby           telephone:  (606) 257-1756
Department of Russian and Eastern Studies      fax:  (606) 257-3743
1055 Patterson Office Tower                email:  jrouhie at pop.uky.edu
University of Kentucky           URL: http://www.uky.edu/~jrouhie/
Lexington, KY 40506-0027
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