[lg policy] Small University Uses Fulbright Program to Bolster Foreign-Language Teaching

[Harold Schiffman]

Small University Uses Fulbright Program to Bolster Foreign-Language Teaching

Pauline Lubens for The Chronicle

Lincoln University, in southeastern Pennsylvania, has long had a
global outlook. The historically black institution notes, for example,
that its graduates include the first presidents of Nigeria and Ghana.
But in recent years, international interest among its students has
flagged. Lincoln has been forced to drop two-thirds of its language
offerings over the past seven years; only about 40 of its 2,000
undergraduates studied abroad last year. Now Lincoln is hoping that
four participants in the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant
Program on the campus this year can help jump-start its ambitious plan
to restore students' global perspective. Among the university's new
priorities are increasing foreign-language enrollments and more than
doubling its study-abroad numbers.

"We've always had a strong international connection," says Constance
Lundy, the study-abroad director. The teaching assistants "just
heighten cultural awareness and sensitivity at the institution." The
Fulbright program, known as FLTA, has brought 422 teaching assistants
from 49 other countries to American colleges this academic year. It
focuses on small, rural, or minority-serving institutions like
Lincoln, for which the additional teaching support—along with the
international exposure—can prove invaluable. In addition to their
teaching duties, the assistants take courses and participate in campus
activities.

Lincoln has long been active in the
foreign-language-teaching-assistant program, tracing its on-and-off
participation back for about 27 years. This year the four teaching
assistants nearly doubled the number of faculty and staff in the
department of foreign languages and literatures, to 10 full-timers.


"Without them, our department would be a different one," says Abbes
Maazaoui, an associate professor of French who is chairman of the
department. Their expertise—in French, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic,
the four languages Lincoln offers—has allowed the university to offer
more introductory language courses and individualized language labs.
Between 200 and 300 students are taking language classes there this
year. The teaching assistants make an impact outside the classroom as
well. Among other things, they run foreign-language clubs and help out
at college-recruiting fairs.

Beyond that, having young academics from other countries on the campus
(the maximum age for participants is 29) has exposed students to
different cultures. "Their presence is absolutely helpful because of
their age," says Mr. Maazaoui. "They're integrated in the department,
but they also sit in the same classes as students. That experience is
unique, and the students fare well to that." Over the years, one-third
of study-abroad participants at Lincoln have been referred to the
program by Fulbrighters, Ms. Lundy estimates.

Exposing students to other cultures has often been seen as a crucial
part of generating interest in study abroad. That is particularly
important among minority students, who participate in study-abroad
programs at lower rates than white students do. Badreddine Ben Othman,
an Arabic-language teaching assistant from Tunisia, says one of his
goals this year is to combat stereotypes about Arab countries. He
hosts a language club each week in which students discuss current
events in the Arabic-speaking world.

"Some of the students taking history and cultural studies are
definitely very aware of the issues, while others don't even know
where the Pyramids are," Mr. Othman says. "It depends on the student,
but I try to provide pictures or experiences to provide a clear view
of the Arabic world and culture." Floriane Jagueneau, a
French-language teaching assistant, says she had wanted to work beyond
her home country, France. A course she is taking, "The History of
Black People," has been one of her favorite experiences at Lincoln.

"I'm learning to have a different point of view on what happened in
history," Ms. Jague­neau says. "Students here are open to new ideas
and know that the American way is not the only one. And I'm learning
about ebonics and black culture, too." Mr. Maazaoui says that his
department will get student feedback at the end of this year to
improve the program's effectiveness, but that he feels very positive
about the experience.
"In today's world, we cannot measure the effect of interacting with
people from other cultures," he says. "It's a must for our institution
and should be a goal for everyone to increase their global
perspective."

http://chronicle.com/article/Small-University-Uses/125048/

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