Spanish enrollments

[Genevra Gerhart]

Mila -- The solution is to play "Let them eat cake."  You establish class
sizes that you can handle. When they fill up, then no more are accepted at
least until you are given more faculty or TA time. Send the latecomers to
the Germanic or Slavic Departments. Be merciless.
   This way, at least some students will discover a language beyond Spanish.

Genevra Gerhart

http://www.members.home.net/ggerhart
New email address: ggerhart at home.com
206-329-0053



-----Original Message-----
From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
[mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of Mila Saskova-Pierce
Sent: Monday, October 09, 2000 1:49 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
Subject: Spanish enrollments


Dear colleagues, our Department of Modern Languages experiences an
enormous growth in Spanish enrollments.  Yet we did not receive any
additional resources to cover the increasing number of sections.


Would you be so kind and let me know how did your institution deal with
this or a similar situation?


Did it modify foreign language requirements?

Did it change the number of students per section?

Did it mandate a placement exam for incoming students?



We are brainstorming about changes in the language requirements format.
 Do you have any experience, positive and/or negative with the
following proposed formats of foreign language requirement? We would
like to attract students into Slavic and Germanic languages, and
alleviate the pressure onto Spanish.  The motivation of the students
studying Spanish is frequently suspicious, since they want to escape
serious work.  Read bellow.


<fontfamily><param>Courier_New</param><bigger>1.        Version:  103 model
of
3 hrs in class, and 2 hrs in lab.

The point was raised that accommodating more than 30 people at once in
the lab for a class is often problematic since it fills up too many
seats, thus making it difficult for regular users to find place and
time for lab. And the idea only works if you have a situation where,
say, 60 students are handled by 1 TA for the 2 hours in the lab -- only
then do you achieve savings.



2.      Version:  Lang. requirement to allow students to take either 101-202
in one lang., or 101-102 in 2 langs. Students coming in w/ 2 yrs of HS
language would automatically have 101/102 fulfilled in their lang
reqmt, and could opt either to take placement exam & requisite courses
to fulfill the one lang up through 202, or could start a 2nd lang. This
model might ease enrollment problems, esp. in Spanish, and spread out
students among all langs.



3.      Version:  Lang requirement to allow students to take either 101-202
in one lang, or 101-102 in 2 langs. Any student (even those who did not
take any foreign language in high school) could take the 20 hours in
two languages, instead of sixteen in one. In the universities that
implemented the model of two languages, did this drive additional
students into Spanish, and away from other languages?


4.      Version: Culture course instead of the fourth semester. What format
would it take, to help to alleviate Spanish enrollments, and attract
students to the other languages?


5.      Version:  Students who placed in 101/102 after several high school
years will be allowed to enroll in 101/102 (beginning) for credit in
the same language, but not credit counted toward graduation.  Only a
different language would give them the credit.  Would this decapitate
the high school foreign language program?  (There is no foreign
language requirement any more in Nebraska.)


6.      Version:  Court magistral:  A faculty meets two/three times a week
with a big group of students (60 or more), deals with grammar, or other
materials in a lecture form, and then the class breaks into
recitation/conversation group sessions of 15-20 with TAs.  We would
like to try a pilot program.  (Saving of one/two TAs hour?)


7.      Version?

</bigger></fontfamily>

Dear colleagues, if you belong to any other listserve of teachers of
foreign languages, would you put me in touch with them?



Thank you.  Mila Saskova



Dr. Mila Saskova-Pierce

University of Nebraska

1133 Oldfather Hall, Lincoln, NE 68588-0315

Tel:  (402) 472 1336

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