After much discussion, the new Pathways curriculum of the College has finally been implemented, beginning this academic year for the current first year Class of 2020. The several components of this new curriculum have earned it a mention in Inside Higher Ed, a major publication on the state of higher education. As a result of Pathways, there have been major changes to the General Education requirements. The seven areas of General Education have been replaced by five Modes of Inquiry. A new set of interdisciplinary courses called ConnCourses have been introduced, with every student needing to take at least one such course over their time at Conn. However, the change with the most significant short-term impact has been the language component of the new curriculum. Approximately 70% of first year students have enrolled in language courses, setting a new record.
Studying foreign languages has always been an important component of a Connecticut College education. Conventionally, most students take a foreign language at some point during their studies. Students could choose to take one semester of a language in which they had a previous background, at the intermediate level, or alternatively, choose to study a new foreign language in which they had no back- ground for two semesters. Further, students fluent or native in a language other than English could have the language requirement waived entirely if they so wished. As a result, some students, many of whom international, could entirely avoid taking a language during their time at the College. However, beginning with first year students who enrolled in the current academic year, all students, regardless of their previous language backgrounds will be required to take two semesters of a new language at any level.
The new language curriculum has been welcomed by language faculty across the board. Heretofore, according to Amy Dooling, Professor of Chinese who recently assumed the role of Director of Global Initiatives, “Connecticut College has had excellent language resources that have been underutilized.” In her view, the new language requirement, which she considers only a small change from the past, allows students to more fully use the incredible language resources that Conn offers them. Further, although it is almost certain that many students will not continue taking languages at the intermediate level and beyond, Dooling believes that all the language departments will be reinvigorated by the fact that so many first year students have enrolled in introductory language courses.
Andrea Lanoux, Associate Professor of Slavic Studies, agrees with Professor Dooling’s assessment. While she acknowledges that not all students develop the same interest in and connec- tion with the languages that they choose to study, she believes that language study has immense personal and intellectual benefits for students, even if they choose to discontinue with their language study.
Not all students take languages for the same reason. Although some study languages merely to complete a requirement, others cultivate a deep passion for their chosen language of study. Students are more likely to study Chinese, Japanese and Russian out of interest, rather than to complete a requirement. This happens because these languages have a high linguistic distance from the English language and thus require a considerable degree of effort on the part of the learner. By contrast, Western European languages, such as German, are closer to English. Further, languages such as Spanish, French and Italian are widely taught in high schools across the country. As a result, students are extremely likely to take one of these languages at the college to complete language related requirements. Such language departments have thus also suffered high rates of student attrition at upper levels of study.
In Professor Lanoux’s opinion, however, such distinctions between the various language departments are “being blurred”. This is because, as she sees it, with the new compulsory requirement for an entire academic year of study in a new language, students are increasingly likely to attempt something novel by choosing to study Chinese, Japanese or Russian. These languages, however, have complex systems of writing. Mastering character writing can be especially challenging for some students, and this requires a great degree of individual attention on behalf of the language instructor. Tek-wah King, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, considers this a matter of special concern. In an email interview, he remarked that, “the grading of nearly 2,000 rounds of student works per semester, both oral and written, as necessitated by our recent enrollment numbers still lies beyond the capacity of what one single faculty member can accomplish effectively.” He believes that students need to further use language resources outside the classroom, including the Language and Culture Center, tutoring and the language tables at Knowlton. The East Asian Languages and Cultures Department is also “looking into the possibility of hiring advanced-level or natively educated East Asian students” to assist language faculty in teaching characters appropriately to students.
For Hisae Kobayashi, Senior Lecturer in Japanese, another challenge for language departments remains the extremely high price of language textbooks. The high cost adversely affects students who cannot afford textbooks that could cost upwards of $150. Foreign language textbooks, alongside textbooks in the sciences, are especially expensive. She believes that the college needs to provide more support to students who are not able to afford such expensive textbooks. Language departments have attempted to deal with the decreasing direct accessibility of textbooks in a range of ways, including increasing the use of technology. Students of Japanese and Chinese, for instance, are provided with iPods and iPads respectively to help with different facets of their study. Through using technology, all students have access to a set of resources to facilitate their study.
For some students, their preferred language for study is unavailable at the College. South Asian languages, spoken by over a billion people in the Indian subcontinent and beyond, are not offered. Similarly, several popular languages, such as Korean, Vietnamese and Portuguese are not formally taught at the College. Despite the fact that hundreds of millions of people live in sub-Saharan Africa, no language from sub-Saharan Africa is taught at the College. Many of the faculty members I spoke to consider this a matter of concern. Professors Dooling and Lanoux concur that collaborations with other colleges and resources over the internet provide the means for some students to access the study of these languages. In a similar vein, the Korean Culture Club provides an opportunity for the informal study of the Korean language with the support of interested faculty and native speakers.
However, in Professor Lanoux’s view, there needs to be a shift in the intellectual paradigms of language education. She believes in the necessity of “moving beyond teaching the languages of empire.” The most recent language to be introduced into the curriculum was Arabic, which Lanoux views as a promising development. However, in Professor Dooling’s view, it is imperative that there exist an academic and curricular context within which language education can be situated. For instance, language courses need to be supplemented by classes in area studies (including about history, literature, and culture) relevant to that language. The Language Caucus, a sub-group within the faculty, has been discussing these and other aspects and ideas related to language education at the College. According to Leo Garofalo, Associate Professor of History, this includes the possibility of a summer language program “shaped by a critical theory approach, and with strong local connections,” an idea still at the germinal stage, but with support from several key players in administration and faculty. Such a program is visualized as more affordable than similar programs offered at institutions such as Middlebury College. With the strategic plan set forth, it remains to be seen how language education is fully impacted by the College’s continued efforts to revise curriculum and make its academics more relevant and more “global.”
With ever-ballooning tuition fees, college is increasingly viewed as an investment that needs to give a monetary return to students. For some, language study is important for business in emerging markets. For others, studying languages is important for a future academic career. Others still choose language study for the pure delight of it. As a liberal arts college with a solid foundation in language study, it should be interesting to observe how Connecticut College sets forth a future vision for studying world languages as it negotiates the views and interests of various stakeholders, faculty, students, staff and the administration- all of whom are likely to view the value of language study differently.•
