Results of Nachalo survey

[Eileen C. Thurman]

        On Thurs Nov 11, I asked of any teachers using the Nachalo text, "How
much do you cover in one high school year or one college semester?  What
do you and your students believe is a reasonable pace?  In order to cover
the material, do you skip activities or sections, and if so, what?"
        In response, from least amount covered to most, I was told:

Syracuse U.  4 chapters each semester
Auburn U.      3 chapters 1st quarter, 3 chapters 2nd quarter, 2 chapters
3rd quarter
U of Illinois    5 chapters each semester
U of Georgia      6 chapters each semester, but considering only 5 in 2nd
semester
Sarah Lawrence    6 chapters each semester
American U             7 chapters each semester
Fairfield U      7 chapters 1st semester & plan 8 chapters 2nd but not
yet taught
U of Calif Santa Barbara  5 chapters each of 3 quarters
Berkeley         8 chapters 1st semester and 7 in 2nd semester
U of N Carolina Chapel Hill    8 chapters each semester

        The average was 6.25 chapters per semester.

        I really regret that I had no responses from high school teachers except
for one teacher who wrote, "I am not using Nachalo, but I figure if I can
cover in TWO YEARS what a college course covers in a semester, we are
doing well....I am more concerned about keeping students interested so I
can build a program."

        Comments on difficulty included:
        "In the three years we've used it, no students have complained about
going too fast"...Jonathan Ludwig, U of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
        "I do have to say the pace gets pretty hectic during the second
semester...and some of the students have a hard time keeping up."...Keith
Langston, U of Georgia
        "I've had no problem this term with students complaining of too much
work.  I spend eight class periods per unit and test after every two
units."...Paula Sapienza, Fairfield U
        "This represents a relatively heavy work load, but I don't think it's
too much for university students."...Larry McLellan. UC Santa Barbara
        "Many of our students comment on how fast the pace is but then often go
on to say how much they have learned in one semester.  I can see where it
could be a bit much for high school students, though."...Lisa Little,
Berkeley
        "We really rush to get things done."...Anne Stepan Keown, U of NC Chapel
Hill
        "The other teaching assistants and I have some problems getting through
all of the material.  Our students are able to get through the grammar,
but all the rest of the material the textbook offers: conversations,
dialogs, readings, get short-shrift, not to speak of the video."...Maria
Stainaker, U of NC Chapel Hill

        George Mitrevski of Auburn University has very useful web exercises for
Nachalo and his syllabus at http://www.auburn.edu/~mitrege/index.html.

        I hope this is useful information for you.  If you would like a full
text of all comments received, let me know at thurmchcs at juno.com.
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