16, no. 3 (April 1985): 18-21 To the Editor Search

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THE Department of Foreign Languages on Northeast Campus of Tarrant County Junior College has experienced tremendous growth since the early 1970s. Enrollment statistics for the department show an increase of 126%, or 197% including ESOL, from the fall of 1973 to the fall of 1983, a period during which the campus as a whole had a 91% increase (see Fig. 1). Enrollment in credit-bearing foreign language courses has grown at a much faster rate than has enrollment in the college, and this growth has occurred during an era of general growth of technical and occupational programs in most community and junior colleges accompanied by a general decline in foreign language study.

The figures for spring 1984 are even more dramatic. During the last ten years in spring terms campus enrollment has increased 71% while enrollment in the department has grown 214%, or 291% including ESOL. The department total for the spring 1984 semester is over 1,600 enrollments, 1,367 in credit courses plus 250 in noncredit continuing education courses.

Much of the success of the foreign language program, as measured by student enrollments, is due to the number and variety of curricular offerings. Part of the success, however, must also be attributed to the instructional emphases in the department. Curriculum development at its best is an extension of sound instruction. It should never be used as a camouflage for poor instruction.

Beginning in 1970 an individualized instructional system was introduced into the department. The system is not independent study; rather, it is a truly individualized program including classroom interaction, multimedia instructional materials, an open laboratory for student practice and testing, a tutoring system, repeatable testing, a computer learning center, and advanced placement with credit through a sequence of courses. Primary emphasis at all levels is on the development of listening comprehension and speaking skills with secondary attention paid to reading and writing.

The course sequence in French, German, and Spanish includes four semesters of language development followed by two semesters of history and civilization. Of course, in a two-year institution not many students take the entire three-year sequence. Most students begin their language study at TCJC with no prior preparation in the language; they start at the elementary level and take two years of language courses. Others, however, enter the college with two or three years of high school language courses. Through a testing battery they are placed at appropriate levels in the program, often at the intermediate level. The three-year sequence allows them to continue their foreign language study during their second year at the college. In English for Speakers of Other Languages, added to the department in 1982, the course sequence currently consists of four semesters only.

In addition to these regular sequences of courses are the one-semester-hour courses, the components of the flexible curriculum and the key to departmental growth. These one-hour courses were originally designed under one catalog number, 2611, in each language. But as the number of titles expanded because of student interest in a variety of topics, the department clustered related courses under six catalog numbers. Administrative fear of possible questions from the Texas Coordinating Board of Colleges and Universities concerning large numbers of students who were repeating a single course number encouraged the change in organization. Furthermore, the department agreed to an administrative directive that no student be permitted to take more than four courses under one number.

Thirty-five different courses in French have been offered under the one-hour umbrella. There have been twenty-four in German and twenty-two in Spanish. Some course offerings were abandoned under the new numbering system and the administrative directive concerning repeated enrollments.

But the topics most in demand in each language were retained. The offerings, although not identical, are similar in all languages. For example, the French titles are Studies in French Culture (Paris for Travelers, France for Travelers, French Cooking, and Introduction to Language); French Grammar (Levels I, II, III, and IV); Conversation in French (Levels I, II, III, IV, Conversation for Teachers, and Conversation Tutorial for High School Students); Practicum in French (Correspondence, Special Projects, Composition, and Laboratory Practice); Listening Comprehension (Levels I and II, French Pronunciation); and Readings in French (Introduction, Intermediate, Reading for Comprehension, and Literature).

The primary differences among the languages are in the culture courses. In German the titles are History of the Weimar Republic, History of Imperial Germany, History of Nazi Germany, and German for Travelers. In Spanish the titles are Barrio Spanish, Chicano Literature, Mexico for Travelers, and Spain after Franco. In English for Speakers of Other Languages, courses consist of four levels of grammar study, conversation, listening comprehension, reading, and composition.

Different aspects of the program vary in content and purpose. For example, courses in conversation, grammar, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, composition, and linguistics facilitate specific language skill development. Courses such as Paris for Travelers, History of Nazi Germany, Spain after Franco, and French Cooking primarily promote cultural understanding. Some courses such as Personal Correspondence in French, German for Travelers, Barrio Spanish, and literature courses do both.

In addition, there are variations in the type of instruction demanded by different offerings. For example, students meet with professors in required, scheduled classes for conversation, travel, history, linguistics, advanced grammar, specialized literature or language, and cooking. However, students taking grammar review, listening comprehension, reading comprehension, or composition work by independent study supervised by professional tutors in the language lab and the computer learning center.

Variations also exist in skill or difficulty levels of the courses. Prerequisites range from none to a bachelor's degree. Examples of courses with no prerequisites are travel, history, and cooking courses taught in English. Courses requiring two prior years of study are advanced conversation, advanced grammar, readings in literature, and composition. A few courses designed for particular groups have special requirements for admission, such as conversation for teachers taken primarily by high school faculty from the local area and conversation tutorial for high school seniors in their second or third year of study.

Departmental enrollment has not always grown at a steady rate. Rather, it has jumped at irregular intervals. These large changes have occurred in conjunction with the evolution of the one-hour curriculum, a program that had grown 572% by the fall of 1983. As indicated in Figure 1, enrollments were small in the early 1970s. The introduction of the first one-hour course in each language in 1973–74 had little effect on the enrollment. The addition of a second option in French in the spring of 1975 was accompanied by a jump over the previous fall from 96 to 133 enrollments. However, since students were permitted to sign up for only one of the courses at a time, the numbers tended to stabilize rather than continue to grow.

In 1977–78 the college finally agreed to repeated departmental requests to allow students to enroll concurrently for two or more courses under the one-hour catalog number. Multiple French courses were developed first: French enrollment spurted to 194 in spring 1978 and continued upward to 244 that fall. Multiple Spanish offerings the following spring, 1979, resulted in an enrollment surge to 506. Variety in the German offerings by the next fall, 1979, brought about the first big increase in those enrollment figures, When ESOL was added in 1982, a one-hour course sequence was designed. As a result, enrollments in ESOL went from 46 in the fall of 1982 to 303 in the fall of 1983.

Continued development of new courses of study resulted in a gradual growth of enrollment. The administration's insistence that students' enrollment repeats be limited after 1982 was perceived by the faculty as a possible threat to the continuation of this growth. Under the new organization of catalog numbers, however, the program is still progressing. There are currently 1,367 credit enrollments in foreign languages on Northeast Campus—the largest enrollment ever.

Most of this enrollment increase is a result of the numbers of students who have signed up for one-hour courses. As indicated in Figure 2, however, the overall increase has been accompanied by an increase of students in the regular three- and four-hour sequence courses, though the rise is not proportional to the growth of the campus population as a whole. For example, in the fall of 1973, there were 84 students in regular sequence French courses. By fall of 1983, there were 160. Spring enrollment differences are even larger. In the spring of 1974, only 58 students enrolled for sequence French courses. By spring of 1984 (not shown on the table) there were 170. Thus the one-hour courses have enhanced the growth of sequence courses, not drawn students from them as once feared.

All the one-hour courses are elective. (In fact, since TCJC has no foreign language requirements for entrance or graduation, all language courses are elective.) Students may choose any combination of courses for which they meet the prerequisites.

1. Students can design their own curriculum by their choice of courses. For the first time, the system gives the student control of his or her curriculum. By making choices among courses, a student can emphasize one skill or a combination of skills.
2. Options are available for slower students and for transfer students with different backgrounds. In effect, they are given extra time and assistance in developing skills. As a result, sometimes the program can keep students who might otherwise drop out of language study.
3. More advanced or demanding courses function as a type of honors curriculum, permitting students to learn at a faster rate or on a greater level of difficulty or detail.
4. There are additional courses for students to take after they complete the regular sequence. Some students continue their language study at TCJC for four or five years, taking courses in a single language, developing real language proficiency. This is a particularly popular practice among community adults who are not pursuing a degree but who wish to speak a second language.
5. Students can take one-hour courses during the summer to bridge the time gap and thus minimize skill loss between spring and fall terms.

Since students can take courses in areas of their interest and at an appropriate level of difficulty, they do well, building their self-confidence and developing a positive feeling toward language study. If they like language study, they tend to do more of it.

And they tell their friends.

And the enrollment continues to grow.

Editor's note: Figures for fall 1984, just received from Jane Harper, show that growth is continuing. Total departmental enrollment rose 15.6% between fall 1983 and fall 1984. This is made all the more dramatic by the fact that the overall student population at the college dropped 3.5% in the same period.

The author is Professor and Chair, Department of Foreign Languages, Tarrant County Junior College Northeast Campus. The material in this paper was presented at the annual fall conference of the Texas Foreign Language Association, 28 September 1984, in Austin, and at the annual fall conference of the Community College Association, 25 October 1984, in Dallas.

© 1985 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.

ADFL Bulletin 16, no. 3 (April 1985): 18-21

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