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SINCE the end of World War II, colleges and universities in the United States have created language houses or language floors in student dormitories to give students an opportunity to speak a foreign language and improve their general linguistic skills. These houses or floors often have five to ten residents who agree to speak the foreign language, say German, but we all know the normal results: although a German exchange student may live in the house or on the floor and ostensibly help students speak German, most of the students still speak English most of the time. Despite good intentions by a language professor or department, the language house devolves into nothing more than a dormitory where students could, but usually do not, speak the target language. By emphasizing speaking a foreign language, language houses and floors appeal primarily to foreign language majors as residents. However, as the number of majors in languages such as German, French, and Russian falls, the future of these language houses becomes questionable. The plight of language houses is further damaged by student perceptions that the house is for language majors only and by a general isolation from the rest of campus and dormitory life.
To curb this trend, I propose a new language house model, whereby the language house serves as a cultural center on campus for professors as well as students, advocates language and culture studies, integrates area high schools, and reaches out to the community at large. That is, the proposed model can change the general perception that the language house is the domain of just the foreign language department. The major goals of the model are to increase the awareness of specific cultural studies and to foster academic curiosity. To achieve these goals, an energetic, proactive faculty member is required as a liaison who will build bridges to and create contacts and working relations with other departments. The language house thus benefits not only the language department but history, art history, philosophy, film, literature, and other departments, as well. As Peter Hohendahl (81-88), Mark Roche (10), and Robert DiDonato (14) have all recently suggested, language departments must work with other departments and university institutions and not isolate themselves. The model I am proposing aims to do exactly that but also moves beyond the university level. The liaison would develop contacts with local high school language teachers and integrate them into the university setting. With dwindling language enrollments, language houses can serve as advocates for the study of languages and foreign cultures and can begin to make their case on the high school level.
Having lived in a German house as an undergraduate and directed two as a professor, I am currently charged with creating and directing a German house at Saint Louis University. I present here my attempts to develop an interdisciplinary German language and culture house, indeed, a German cultural center on campus. I begin with a detailed description of the language house, its goals and how to achieve them; offer suggestions on how the language house can help departments achieve positive and meaningful curricular goals; and, finally, tell how the language house can serve as an advocate for foreign language and culture study and as a medium to integrate local schools and the community into the house’s offerings.
Language houses should be seen as an extension of the university classroom without the typical restrictions classrooms and courses present. Instructors who approach a language house as a classroom and not as just a dormitory can, with diligence and preparation, create a cultural center on campus that will increase the presence of language and cultural studies while helping students achieve the five “commonsensical” (Jennings 9) goals of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities.1
Ideally, the language house is a hermetically sealed linguistic environment where residents agree to speak the target language. Typically, the linguistic abilities of language house residents range from beginning skills to near native and native. Far from being a detraction or liability, this range of skills can be advantageous. Less-experienced speakers are exposed to the target language more than they would be in the classroom. In order to communicate with others, they are forced into using the target language and thus gain confidence in their ability to communicate meaningfully.
The language house offers linguistic variables not encountered readily in the classroom. Students are faced with various dialects, accents, an entire range of grammatical accuracy and are forced to react to these variables in a foreign language setting. During group meals, free time, or even house-sponsored events, students speak an everyday vernacular that is difficult for instructors to replicate in the classroom, whereas upper-division seminars typically concentrate on culture studies and ignore almost completely the everyday vernacular. With the presence of native speakers, students become acquainted with contemporary slang in the target language. To ensure that students do not just learn an academic language but also learn how to use the target language in social settings, I have integrated a weekly evening coffee hour in the German house into the curriculum of all our German courses at Saint Louis University. As a result, I notice that students are beginning to approach German differently: they see German as a “real” language, not as something abstract, and with this second language they discover and trade information and new ideas, express opinions, and elaborate on various topics. In other words, my students are beginning to see German as a mode of communication! Successful language houses function as quasi-immersion programs for their residents. To attract nonresidents, language houses could sponsor retreats or immersion days. The German house at Saint Louis University sponsors immersion weekends at the university’s remote site an hour from campus. Such weekends give all students who learn German the opportunity to speak German in a nonclassroom, ideally less stressful, and nonacademic environment.2
Language houses must integrate themselves into the campus and other academic departments in order to offer a diverse cultural program that moves beyond stereotypes. In directing our German house, I have attempted to act as a public-relations agent for the house and our department by sending campus departments, students, and professors e-mails and flyers about the house’s activities and by making all aware that they should feel comfortable to attend German house events and to use the German house for German cultural, academic, or social activities.3 Students and professors are already pressed for time so it is imperative to offer programs that appeal to as many people as possible and at opportune times.
Janet Swaffer and Claire Kramsch have argued articulately that language instructors and departments must export their skills to all the disciplines in the humanities, develop an environment of support for one another (Swaffer 8), and establish mutual trust between SLA and literary-cultural studies (Kramsch 33). I envision a language house as a de facto cultural center with the responsibility of raising awareness about targeted foreign languages and cultural studies; in order to achieve this, English is needed to reach those who do not speak German. As a language instructor, I am concerned with the linguistic fluency of my students and those who are learning German, but as a cultural critic, I want to focus attention on culture and events in German-speaking countries. To foster interest, each semester I have organized an interdisciplinary symposium in English on German studies topics, like Bauhaus art and architecture and German unification, that take place in the German house. The symposia at the language house ideally integrate and appeal to other departments, professors, graduate students, and the general student body and help to avoid what Stanley Fish calls the “hardening of the arteries” (15), when disciplines appear too compartmentalized, distinct, or autonomous. It is a grave mistake for foreign language departments to isolate themselves from the rest of campus by insisting on the primacy of the target language at all the events they sponsor. In order to deconstruct the stereotype that language departments are merely service departments devoid of academic inquiry, language departments and their professors must work with other departments, and this means using the common language of English.
The interdisciplinary cultural and academic program of the house is only one means through which students and house residents explore German-speaking cultures and relate this knowledge to their specific academic major and pursuits. Those who live in the language houses bring with them a divergency of cultural views and attitudes. Living together, students exchange cultural views and are confronted with potentially contradictory behaviors and attitudes. Students begin to recognize cultural and linguistic differences among German-speaking peoples and must learn how to negotiate these differences. Whereas cultural diversity may be difficult to demonstrate and teach in the classroom without devolving into stereotypes, cultural diversity and the “cultural bubbles” (Gates 7) may be more visible in language houses where students of various ethnic, religious, social, and economic backgrounds live and interact with one another.
The five C’s of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning are not progressive steps whereby after the first goal—Communication—is achieved, students move on to Cultures. The five C’s are a complexly interrelated totality; one cannot divorce cultural studies from interdisciplinary studies and successful interdisciplinary cultural studies programs heighten students’ awareness of their own culture and lead to intercultural competency. Language houses and their academic and social programs, I submit, make this process easier to achieve for students of language and cultures and benefit the entire student body by increasing the presence of cultural studies on campus. A language house is in microcosmic form the fifth C of the Standards—Communities. We place our students in a situation where they oscillate between target and American cultures, and in this environment they develop an “intercultural competence” (Fantini 167) whereby they function effectively in multiple cultures. The students’ academic and social interest in the target culture is piqued and they pursue these interests in the offerings of the house. They perform daily the kinds of tasks that we want all our language majors to perform; they speak the language, function within the culture, understand the culture on its terms, and continue their study of it. A German house and its programs draw attention to German studies in the general curriculum and as a course of academic inquiry, encourage faculty members and departments to collaborate on projects, and promote interdisciplinary studies. Considering the guidelines of the German Studies Association in the framework presented, a German language and culture house is one of the best and most effective ways to achieve the goals of the GSA.4
In first-semester German courses I often ask my students what they think a German major is. The typical answer involves a university career of learning tedious grammar rules so that one can someday read German. When I then ask my students what one can do with a German degree, the inevitable answer is “teach German” (while the answer “be unemployed” from the smart alecks is in second position). Although we have worked diligently to change this perception of languages, it is still there. We must do more! We need to inform incoming freshmen why they should study a foreign language and we must demonstrate how languages and language programs are integrated into the campus community. We can express goals during freshman orientation, make our presence felt (and understood), and perhaps even champion languages by visiting our colleagues’ courses in history, art history, or philosophy. We cannot continually blame poor enrollment on guidance counselors and uninformed academic advisers who tell students that languages are too difficult to learn and are not necessary. I suggest that a language house can play a pivotal role in articulating more successfully what language and culture studies are, in advocating our courses through its cultural and social programs, and in making language and culture study more tangible so that students can see what cultural studies are. In this manner, the language houses fulfill many of the articulation and advocacy goals suggested by the German Studies Association. And also important, the language houses offer a contextualized, indeed, concrete environment to demonstrate these goals.
In the beginning and at the end of the academic year, language houses together or a specific language house can offer student mixers where the entire theme is culture studies and integration. Majors and advanced students can talk in an informal environment about their experiences with foreign languages and how languages have helped their studies. Especially effective are students who just returned from a year abroad and can entice freshmen by describing their experiences. Professors from various departments may be available to advocate cultural studies in general, and perhaps even give students the perspective that language and cultural studies are interdisciplinary and span the entire academic spectrum. Residents of individual houses can talk about the houses, their academic and social programs, and how they have benefited from a language environment.
It is imperative to attract freshmen who are beginning their studies and to retain advanced students who have finished their language requirements. Active, engaged articulation of the curriculum helps ensure that we continue to have healthy enrollments in beginning courses and keep our brightest and most enthusiastic students for upper-division courses. Language houses and well-conceived language house events can help in this enormous challenge and awaken students’ interest in cultural studies. It is important to remember that our students are “students” with interests that we may not understand. Foreign pop culture, such as music, cult movies, and popular books can present a side of a target culture that students find enticing. A language house can serve as the medium for this type of cultural exploration. I have had students in first-semester courses tell me that they are only taking German because they like techno music or the band Ramstein and want to find out what the music means or conveys. These are the enthusiastic students we want; and pop-culture events sponsored by language houses may help awaken this interest.
We are all aware of recent ACTFL and MLA figures that show that the study of German has increased at the high school level but has declined on the university level. To correct this trend, universities and language professors must advocate foreign language and cultural studies on the high school level also. We cannot wait until high school students are in college before they learn about the merits and importance of linguistic and cultural fluency. In addition to advocating German and German studies on campus, the German house is an excellent source and means to advocate and advertise our courses and subject to high school students. At colleges and universities, professors are competing for the same students; in language departments this competition can often be intense. The sooner we reach our desired audience, namely high school students who have begun their study of foreign languages and cultures, the better chance we have of attracting them to our programs, increasing our enrollments, and retaining students who may place out of a language requirement altogether.
At Saint Louis University, I am the coordinator of a German dual-credit, high school-university program in which high school students can receive college credit for specific German classes. One of my responsibilities is to visit area high schools. I have used this opportunity to speak with students and their teachers about the events that the German faculty at Saint Louis University and specifically the German house offer. I invite and send these students flyers advertising our coffee hours, films, lectures, and any other special event. To augment this effort of canvassing for students and advocating our program, I contacted the admissions office at my institution to find out what area high schools are our main “feeder” schools and then sent these schools flyers about the German program and German house at Saint Louis University. As Roche has suggested, we must build alliances with high schools (16).
A weekend coffee hour in a language house is an effective way to provide high school students with a taste of language in a university setting. With the language house as the base where students can speak with one another in German and get to know faculty members, a professor can lead the students on a tour of campus, stressing language-related buildings and commence with a tour of the language department and language computer labs or “smart” classrooms. I have found that this may be the first university exposure for many students. Many of their fears and misconceptions about languages and language learning can be allayed by a visit and tour of the facilities; active, vibrant programs may give them the initiative to continue their study of language.
It is imperative that universities articulate the goals and expectations of their programs to high schools and high school instructors, but this dialogue must not be one-sided. High schools, students, and instructors need to be incorporated into a partnership with the university departments. A language house could serve as the backdrop for a teacher workshop sponsored by a language section or department. Professors and instructors could initiate a discussion on ways to improve their working relationship and devise strategies to continue the momentum generated in foreign languages on the high school level. With an expectation of advocating German to incoming freshmen at Saint Louis University, I am in the process of composing a letter about the study of German, its benefits and goals, and also about the German house, the house’s activities, and study abroad. I will send the letter to all those students who have had at least two years of high school German. Some of these “sexier” topics, I hope, will capture the attention of the students as well as their parents. Not only do I hope to increase the enrollment in beginning courses and to attract students who have placed out of their language requirement, but I also aim to integrate students who took German their senior year into our program immediately before they take a semester or year off from language study and begin to lose their linguistic base.
Language houses can be a springboard from which departments can reach out to the community and develop relationships with ethnic and cultural societies in the area and state. This is especially important with languages such as French, German, or Russian, because of the lack of opportunities available for our students to speak these languages on a regular basis in a nonacademic environment. The benefits of community outreach are enormous: first, it brings together groups that share a common interest in the target language and culture. By integrating the community into the events of a language house, such as a film series or coffee hours, the notion of the university as an island indifferent to its community begins to crumble. Second, community outreach may increase the number of native speakers of the target language and thus benefit the students and the program in general. In academic settings or language house functions, I have noticed that students often respond differently to people not associated with the university. They speak with these outsiders with less inhibition and often try to impress them with their knowledge. Generally, our students’ only chance to speak a foreign language has been with peers and professors, but when a language house can reach out to and integrate local residents into the program, we are helping our students achieve the five C’s simultaneously. Students gain confidence, their interest is piqued, and their perception of German as a mode of communication is strengthened. In an era of dwindling enrollments in French, German, and Russian, it is imperative that we use all the resources we have available to demonstrate to our students why they should study a foreign language and culture and to provide them with as many opportunities as possible to speak the target language and learn more about its culture.
Language houses are not miracle answers for the many problems facing foreign language programs and departments, but with dedicated faculty members, language houses can help us tackle some of the most pressing issues facing our profession. In turn, administrators and fellow colleagues must recognize that the energy and time spent on developing and then maintaining an integrated, interdisciplinary language and culture house should be seen as commensurate with publication and other service requirements for tenure and promotion. That is, the unerring dedication (and long hours) of the house director must be rewarded. A language house alone does not attract students, advertise the department and individual programs, or immediately appeal to the community at large, but we as teachers of languages and cultures can achieve these goals, and I submit that the presence of language houses on campus can make our task more likely to meet positive results. At smaller and midsize institutions, or even at larger universities with smaller language programs, language houses can create and foster a vibrant academic and social environment within a foreign language speaking setting.
2For more on how to organize and conduct an immersion weekend, please see Moser and Ohnesorg.
3Henning (25) and Clifford (156) point to the continued resistance to foreign languages and see anti-foreign language tendencies at the university level. Language departments are at least partially to blame for this. A language house that is integrated into the intellectual and social life on campus can make strides to overcome this perception.
4The New Guidelines for Curricular Organization can be found
on the German Studies Association Web site http://g-s-a.org/guidelines.htm. Information on the genesis of the document is in sec. 6, “Research,” in the subsection “Background of German Studies Guidelines.” New Guidelines defines German studies; offers academic and practical reasons why one should study Germany, Austria, and Switzerland; presents guidelines for German studies on the undergraduate, graduate, and even secondary school levels; and proposes study-abroad and exchange opportunities on all levels of education for students and professors alike. I wish to stress five explicit goals of the GSA as articulated in the New Guidelines: “emphasize the role that German Studies can play in the students’ general education and intercultural competence”; “direct attention to the importance of German Studies programs in schools, colleges, and universities”; “suggest curricular guidelines and voluntary standards for institutions that offer or plan to offer interdisciplinary German Studies programs”; “encourage programs to maximize use of faculty resources and facilitate cooperation in a challenging academic environment”; and “foster new interdisciplinary models that encourage students to pursue in-depth knowledge while acquiring useful skills in several related fields and developing flexibility for their future careers.” All quotations are from page 1 of New Guidelines on the GSA Web site.
DiDonato, Robert. “Undergraduate German Programs: Strategies for Success.” ADFL Bulletin 30.1 (1998): 12–14. [Show Article]
Fantini, Alvino E. “Comparisons: Toward the Development of Intercultural Competence.” Foreign Language Standards: Linking Research, Theories, and Practices. Ed. June K. Phillips. Lincolnwood: Natl. Textbook, 1999. 165–218.
Fish, Stanley. “Being Interdisciplinary Is So Very Hard to Do.” Profession 89. New York: MLA, 1989. 15–22.
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. “Beyond the Culture Wars: Interaction in Dialogues.” Profession 93. New York: MLA, 1993. 6–11.
Henning, Sylvie Debevec. “The Integration of Language, Literature, and Culture: Goals and Curricular Design.” Profession 93. New York: MLA, 1993. 22–26.
Hohendahl, Peter Uwe. “The Fate of German Studies after the End of the Cold War.” Profession 98. New York: MLA, 1998. 81–88.
Jennings, John F. “Using National Standards to Improve Education: A Way to Bring about Truth in Teaching and Learning.” National Standards: A Catalyst for Reform. Ed. Robert C. Lafayette. Lincolnwood: Natl. Textbook, 1996. 9–21.
Kramsch, Claire. “Constructing Second Language Acquisition Research in Foreign Language Departments.” Learning Foreign and Second Languages: Perspectives in Research and Scholarship. Ed. Heidi Byrnes. New York: MLA, 1998. 23–38.
Moser, Beverly, and Stephanie Ohnesorg. A Guide to Language Immersion Weekends for Undergraduates. Cherry Hill: Amer. Assn. of Teachers of German, 1997.
New Guidelines for Curricular Organization. German Studies Assn. 24 Aug. 2001 http://g-s-a.org/guidelines.htm.
Roche, Mark. “Strategies for Enhancing the Visibility and Role of Foreign Language Departments.” ADFL Bulletin 30.2 (1999): 10–18. [Show Article]
Standards for Foreign Language Learning. Yonkers: Natl. Standards in Foreign Lang. Educ. Project, 1996.
Swaffer, Janet. “The Case for Foreign Languages as a Discipline.” ADFL Bulletin 30.3 (1999): 6–12. [Show Article]
© 2002 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
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