21, no. 2 (Winter 1990): 34-40 To the Editor Search

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LANGUAGE loss is a major impediment to the profession's efforts to boost American university students toward fluency in a foreign language. Language loss may occur when students discontinue foreign language study for a period of years or even months during their high school and college studies. In the most extreme scenario, students pursue foreign language study as eighth, ninth, and tenth graders but do not take it up again until their junior or senior year in college. This period of inactivity, or “incubation period” (Gardner), leads to deteriorated language skills and negates the benefits of high school language study.

At Michigan Technological University, language loss has contributed to bottom-heavy enrollments at the elementary level. Over 60% of the foreign language students at Michigan Tech are enrolled in elementary courses, even though many had studied the same language in high school. As an example, Loughrin-Sacco and his coauthors found, during the course of an ethnographic study, that 56% of the students in elementary French classes had taken at least a year of high school French. When asked why they had enrolled in the elementary course despite their years of high school French, students admitted that they did so to enhance their grade point average. Just as significant, however, students feared that their eroded skills might hurt their chances for success in an upper-level French course. One intensive French student summarized the situation for many Tech students: “Sure, I've had three years of French, but it's been four years since I had it.” Not even the prospect of receiving 12 to 21 advanced-placement credits in French could persuade many students to enroll in intermediate or advanced courses.

Unfortunately, by the time such students complete the elementary course, their rigorous technological studies leave little discretionary time for further language study. Consequently, the university loses a large pool of students who could have reached a meaningful level of proficiency through intermediate- and advanced-level language study.

To combat language loss and encourage experienced students to enroll in intermediate and advanced foreign language courses, Michigan Technological University has established intensive refresher courses in French, German, and Spanish, using part of a $226,968 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The intensive courses are designed to rebuild the eroded language skills of MTU students who have had at least two years of high school foreign language study. The intensive program also strives to solidify revived language skills and create enthusiasm for continued study by offering students an immersion experience with instructors with native or near-native speaking skills.

To meet these two goals, the program provides a complete review of major grammar points and vocabulary with the expressed intent of boosting students into second- or third-year courses by enabling them to pass the Educational Testing Service (ETS) advanced-placement examination. Students who score 430 or better on the exam enter second-year courses and receive 12 quarter hours of advanced-placement credit. By scoring 580 or better, students place into the advanced courses and receive 21 advanced-placement credits.

This article describes and evaluates the two-week intensive French course and suggests how similar courses can be implemented elsewhere in other languages.

Strategies to Revive Language Skills

Based on advice from consultants, Jon Strolle of the Monterey Institute of International Studies and Claire Gaudiani, president of Connecticut College, the French course incorporated the following strategies to combat language loss.

First, the course was designed to be intensive, providing adequate time to review major grammar points and vocabulary and to offer students an immersion experience, where all in-class and out-of-class activities were conducted in French. Eroded language skills were replenished through the use of both “skill-getting” and “skill-using” activities (Rivers), in a schedule that consisted of 60 contact hours total at a rate of 6 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 2 weeks. To sustain the immersion experience after class hours, students were housed together in two large study rooms of an MTU residence hall. All male students bunked together in one large room, the female students in another. Each room, decorated with posters in French, contained an Apple IIe microcomputer for computer-assisted language instruction and a videocassette player for viewing French movies.

Second, the French course promoted a caring, informal, and noncompetitive atmosphere for learning. This atmosphere was established to relax science and technology students, who have demonstrated a consistently high level of anxiety while learning a foreign language (Loughrin-Sacco et al.). To provide special attention for students, the student-to-teacher ratio was lowered from 17:1 (as in traditional foreign language courses at Michigan Tech) to 3:1, by limiting enrollments to fifteen students and by adding a second faculty member and volunteer student assistants to teach the course. In the 1988 intensive French course, a total of five instructors served a class of fourteen students. To create an informal learning atmosphere, classes were held in numerous locations on and off the Michigan Tech campus, a strategy that also enabled the class to participate in the wide range of immersion activities.

Finally, the intensive French course was scheduled in late August and early September, before the start of the academic year. This scheduling enabled students to avoid any further period of foreign language inactivity before the start of intermediate and advanced French courses during the fall quarter. Students were not permitted to take any other courses or to work at a job, so that they could focus their attention solely on French study.

Course Activities

In selecting course activities, the two faculty instructors wove together 60 hours' worth of instructional and recreational activities and events. Three criteria were followed in selecting or creating activities. First, the activities had to meet the goals of reviewing the French language and of reviving French skills. Second, a large number of the activities had to focus on learning-by-doing activities that promoted active language use. Third, the activities had to create enthusiasm for learning French and be compatible with the goal of creating a caring and supportive learning environment.

Approximately one-half of the school day was dedicated to the retrieval of eroded grammar and vocabulary knowledge. Students participated in a grueling review in two 90-minute sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The other half of the school day emphasized immersion activities.

As appendix A shows, every class day began with “Salute the Sun,” 20 minutes of meditation and stretching exercises, accompanied by soothing music, to eliminate tension, clear the mind, and promote relaxation. Conducted entirely in French as a total physical response (TPR) activity, “Salute the Sun” set the tone in getting students physically involved in learning French. “Salute the Sun” combined the affective nature of language-teaching approaches such as Suggestopedia and community language learning with the physical nature of TPR.

From 9:20 to 10:30 a.m. and from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., the students reviewed grammar and vocabulary in the traditional format of presentation, drill, and completion of workbook exercises. Students also read and discussed (in French) selections from Connaître et se connaître, a communicative reader. Grammar homework was assigned every evening, and students worked in the lab and in the dorm with assorted computer software. Students also reviewed grammar and vocabulary through French in Action, the Annenberg/CPB video series, whose episodes they viewed once or twice a day.

From 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, classes were held at an instructor's house, a 12-minute walk from campus. From 11:00 a.m. to noon, students and instructors worked in three groups on various activities in the house. In the kitchen, the first group prepared the noon meal for the class. Students read French directions and recipes and followed either written or oral directions for cooking, setting the table, and subsequently cleaning up. This activity, known as “A la Cuisine,” focused on “learning by doing,” as one student described it. The instructor and the students chatted in French, grated carrots, chopped onions, learned how to fold omelettes, and so on. Before everyone ate lunch, the kitchen group for that day described their tasks in French to the class.

While the first group worked in the kitchen, the second group spent half an hour on TPR activities, which consisted of two stages: the textbook stage, in which students practiced vocabulary in the living room, using The First Thousand Words in French, and the house stage, in which students continued their vocabulary practice in TPR activities in all rooms of the house. Meanwhile, the third group conversed in French on the front porch. At 11:30 a.m. the second and third groups switched locations and activities.

At 1:00 the class watched French in Action to review grammar and vocabulary, enhance listening skills, study culture, and discuss aspects of nonverbal communication. After the viewing, the senior instructor led the class through short drills and role playing to review grammar and vocabulary and led a discussion of the actors' nonverbal behavior, the “million images of contemporary France” (Capretz, episode 1), and other cultural topics. The class then sang a variety of French songs, before heading back to campus for the second grammar session.

In addition to the 60 hours of class activities, students participated in supplemental activities in the evening. On each of four evenings, students viewed a French film. Before seeing the films, students received a brief introduction to French cinema to prepare them for future film study in intermediate and advanced French courses. On two other evenings, students played the French version of Monopoly, a recreation that served as a relaxing way to practice oral and reading skills. While playing, participants read the directions to set up the game, the “Chance” and “Caisse de communaute” cards, and the rules to settle disputes. Students and instructors negotiated properties, used numbers to exchange money, and expressed frustrations and occasional insults-all in French.

Course materials

The instructors used three textbooks for the course: Deuxième livre, a grammar and vocabulary textbook; The First Thousand Words in French, an illustrated vocabulary textbook; and Connaître et se connaître, a communicative reader.

The instructors selected Deuxième livre to support the grammar review because it is a multipurpose textbook that enables students to (1) review the major tenses and other important grammar structures without following the textbook order, (2) review key vocabulary, and (3) prepare for the advanced-placement exam by completing auditory and reading-comprehension passages. In two weeks, Deuxième livre enabled students to review the present, imperfect, passé composé, passé simple, future, and conditional tenses, as well as many other grammatical structures. In addition, students had ample opportunity for vocabulary building. For example, pages 2 and 6 present 114 common - er verbs, pages 271 to 306 review 152 idiomatic expressions, and pages 311 to 319 offer over 216 French synonyms and antonyms. Finally, pages 395 to 419 provide extensive auditory and reading-comprehension practice, similar to that found on the ETS advanced-placement test.

To review and build vocabulary, the students used The First Thousand Words in French, an illustrated book of everyday vocabulary that is well suited for TPR activities. For the vocabulary review, the class studied the sections on the parts of the body, the family, foods, colors, clothes, and the like. Enhancing the immersion experience, The First Thousand Words in French served as a means of learning vocabulary that the students encountered daily in the instructor's house, at the grocery store, on the street, at the park, at the gas station, on the beach, and so on.

To provide intensive reading practice in a communicative context, the instructors chose Connaître et se connaître. They selected the most interesting passages, amounting to one-half of the book, and inserted them into the grammar review when the reading passages coincided with the grammar points being covered. For example, while reviewing adjectives and adjective endings, the students reinforced the grammar lesson by reading “La graphologie: Votre caractère est dans votre écriture” (Jarvis, Bonin, and Birckbichler 29–36). The reading selection describes the qualities of individuals ( autoritaire, èmotif, doux, enthousiaste, etc.), based on handwriting. During the subsequent class discussion, students and the instructor analyzed one another's handwriting and completed other activities involving adjectives.

Staffing the Course

A key to success in reviving language skills in the intensive French course was the 3:1 student-to-teacher ratio. The instructors, all native or near-native speakers of French, taught classes, served as resources by leading small-group discussions, tutored students, listened to students' complaints, and shared in their successes. The instructors worked in proportion to their salaries. The senior instructor, who designed the course and taught for 30 hours, earned a summer-school salary of $2,200. The other faculty member, a part-time instructor, received $250 for 30 hours of teaching and for lesson preparations. The three student teachers, who worked 2 to 3 hours a day, volunteered to participate in return for independent-study credits and free meals.

The availability of five instructors for fourteen students provided a large measure of instructional flexibility It enabled the class to be divided into groups of three or four students for cooking, conversation, and TPR activities. When the instructors discovered in the mid-course evaluation that the grammar review was proceeding too rapidly for some students and too slowly for others, they divided the class into two groups that worked at different paces. Finally, the availability of five instructors contributed to the development of a close-knit community, since it allowed students to receive individual attention and encouraged interaction among instructors and students.

Creating a Community

In designing the curricular blueprint, the instructors worked to create a community to relax students and reduce learner anxiety. They scheduled events so that the students worked, studied, ate, and lived together. To promote a spirit of togetherness, the instructors also planned a series of events and activities outside the classroom, which included the course orientation, a Saturday picnic at a local state park, and a banquet and awards ceremony on the last day of class.

To reduce anxiety further, all formal classroom evaluation, except for the advanced-placement test, was eliminated. The students were informed during their orientation that if they attended class and actively participated in the class activities, they would receive an A in the course. Student performance and attitude indicated that the placement test alone sufficiently motivated students to excel in the intensive course. This group of highly motivated students worked hard to receive 12 to 21 credit hours of placement credit and save $600 to $1,100 in tuition and fees.

The informal learning atmosphere at an instructor's home enhanced the sense of community among students and instructors. Everyone worked closely together on hands-on activities such as meal preparation and subsequent cleanup. Preparing French dishes provided them with a sense of joint accomplishment. Conversations in French on the front porch encouraged students and instructors to talk about themselves and to learn about one another. Conducting class in this setting enabled the participants to see one another in new roles. Instructors and students did not act exclusively as authority figures and recipients of knowledge but served also as equal contributors to course activities.

Course Evaluation

We conducted a study to assess the effectiveness of the intensive French course in replenishing eroded language skills and in placing students into the intermediate or advanced levels of Michigan Tech's foreign language program. A pretest and a posttest, using an ETS advanced-placement examination, and course evaluations served as the primary means of assessment. In addition, two researchers regularly observed the classes and interviewed several students during the course.

A diversity of talent and background existed among the course participants even though the prerequisites required them to have had at least two years of high school French. Nine participants had two or more years of high school French; one student had more advanced skills. The senior instructor permitted four students with less than one year of high school or college French to enroll in the course.

Pretest and posttest scores from the ETS advanced-placement test may be the best evaluators of the success of the intensive French course. The advanced-placement test, which determines placement in MTU's foreign language program, consists of 100 multiple-choice listening and reading items. Students must score at least 430 to qualify for intermediate French and at least 580 to qualify for advanced French. Appendix B shows that on the pretest, administered the first day of class, students attained a mean score of 423, with only six of fourteen students qualifying for second-year French; no one qualified for third-year French.

On the posttest, the class averaged a score of 472. Nine students qualified for intermediate French, three students for third-year French. Only two students, both with less than two years of high school French, did not pass the advanced-placement exam. (In the parallel intensive Spanish course, all ten students qualified for intermediate or advanced Spanish courses.)

Course evaluations yielded rich data on students' feelings about the course. Appendix C lists all the survey questions and the tally of students' responses. For the instructors, the most interesting questions related to the overall rating of the course, the helpfulness of the instructors, students' motivation to continue foreign language study at MTU, and students' favorite and least favorite aspects of the course. Ten students rated the course as excellent, two as very good, and two as fair (question 11). Ten students evaluated the helpfulness of the instructors as excellent and two as very good; two students did not reply (question 7). Twelve responded yes when asked whether the intensive course motivated them to continue their study of French at Michigan Tech; two were undecided (question 10).

The course activities and materials received mixed reviews from the students. The grammar and vocabulary review received near-unanimous acclaim for its effectiveness (question 12). In addition, all fourteen students judged Deuxième livre as either excellent or very good for reviewing grammar, and all fourteen students evaluated The First Thousand Words in French as an excellent or very good tool for learning French. Only Connaître et se connaître earned below-average ratings (question 6).

Concerning the immersion activities, meal preparation and TPR activities drew excellent or very good ratings from eleven of fourteen students (questions 14 and 15). “Salute the Sun,” a learning activity to which most Tech students were unaccustomed, was popular for some and considered irrelevant by others (question 18). French in Action evoked strong responses from the students, both positive and negative; some cited it as their favorite activity, others as their least favorite (question 13).

In the essay section of the course evaluation, students were asked to state their favorite and least favorite aspects of the course and suggestions for improvement. Among the favorite aspects named were the “intensiveness” of the course, “learning by doing,” “camaraderie and immersion,” “small class and going to Sylvia's.” Some students were equally vocal in what they disliked: French in Action, “Salute the Sun,” “afternoon grammar,” and “walking to Sylvia's.”

A negative student evaluation of course activities or materials should not be taken to indicate that they are in themselves ineffective for language instruction. Work with Connaître et se connaître followed an hour of intensive grammar review, and student fatigue limited the reader's effectiveness and contributed to the negative evaluation. The scheduling of the video series French in Action similarly detracted from its effectiveness: intensive work scheduled directly after lunch does not appear likely to receive a high student rating. Both French in Action and Connaître et se connaître were received far more favorably the following year, when they were scheduled when students were more inclined to make a concentrated effort.

Applicability to Other Institutions

The applicability of the summer intensive refresher program to other institutions hinges on two key issues: financial feasibility and value to the institution. Michigan Tech profited financially from the summer intensive French course, earning $3,528 in tuition and lab fees from fourteen students. Each student paid $232 in tuition ($58 per quarter hour for a 4-credit course) and a $20 lab fee. In addition, MTU received $462 from seven students who resided in the dorm ($66 from each for fourteen days residence, with meals à la carte). Without counting revenues from meals, the university earned nearly $4,000. Total staffing costs, for an assistant professor and a part-time instructor, including 25% for benefits, amounted to approximately $3,041. Costs for instructional materials and physical operation (electricity, janitorial staff, etc.) were approximately $200.

Financial benefits are possible at other institutions. We suggest staffing an intensive refresher course with two graduate teaching associates (working 20 to 30 hours each). An institution could emphasize self-study by reducing classroom instruction from 60 hours to 40 and by assigning students to work for 20 hours with instructional computer software written for grammar and vocabulary review and with audio- and videotapes. Two graduate teaching associates, paid $15 an hour, plus 25% for benefits, would cost an institution substantially less than staffing costs at Michigan Tech.

MTU's 3:1 student-to-teacher ratio may not be attainable at other universities, where hundreds of students may need this kind of program, unless volunteers can be found among teacher education-foreign language majors or native speakers in the community. A thorough review of eroded grammar and vocabulary knowledge can take place with higher student-to-teacher ratios. MTU's model, which combines a language review and an immersion experience, is but one of several possible models for restoring language skills.

An institution that offers an intensive refresher program enhances its ability to boost students toward fluency. Students bypass elementary foreign language courses and proceed to intermediate and advanced study. Students who retake elementary foreign language are less likely to go on to higher levels of instruction. An intensive refresher program increases enrollments in intermediate and advanced courses, leaving elementary foreign language courses for true beginners.

We recommend the two-week summer intensive course to other institutions that face similar problems with language loss. The courses were successful in meeting the goal of boosting students into the intermediate and advanced levels. The French course provided students with a sound language review and created enthusiasm for language study. It enabled students to experience immersion activities in a caring and nonthreatening learning atmosphere and to focus all their efforts on learning French, instead of dividing their time and energy among four or five rigorous science and technology courses.

The summer intensive language program is the keystone in preparing the university's science and technology students to compete in the global marketplace. As of this writing, nearly all French and Spanish students from the course are currently continuing foreign language study at the intermediate or advanced level rather than at the elementary level. Because many of the course participants were freshmen and sophomores, we believe that these students will advance to literature, civilization, commercial, and technical French courses as well as participate in MTU's study-abroad and international internship programs. Given the nation's need for foreign language expertise, American postsecondary institutions must work more actively to reduce the effects of language loss. With programs like the two-week summer intensive course, colleges will maximize the benefits of high school foreign language study and boost more students toward fluency. ¹

Steven J. Loughrin-Sacco is Assistant Professor of Humanities and Sylvia Matthews is an Instructor of French at Michigan Technological University. Wendy M. Sweet and Jan A. Miner, MTU students in Scientific and Technical Communication, conducted the ethnographic study and program evaluation of the French and Spanish intensive courses.

Note

Special thanks go to the three MTU student instructors, Ahmed Loukili, Andrew Lee, and Helen Shepherd, without whom the intensive French course would not have been so successful as it was.

Works Cited

Amery, Heather, Katherine Folliot, and Stephen Cartwright. The First Thousand Words in French. London: Usborne, 1979.

Blume, Eli. Deuxième livre. New York: Amsco, 1979.

Capretz, Pierre, and Barry Lydgate. French in Action. New Haven: Yale UP, 1987.

Gardner, Robert C. “Social Factors in Language Retention.” The Loss of Language Skills. Ed. Richard D. Lambert and Barbara E Freed. Rowley: Newbury, 1982. 24–39.

Jarvis, Gilbert A., Thérèse M. Bonin, and Diane W. Birckbichler. Connaître et se connaître: A Basic Reader for Communication. 3rd ed. New York: Holt, 1986.

Loughrin-Sacco, Steven J., Ellen M. Bommarito, Wendy M. Sweet, and Andrew T Beck. “Anatomy of an Elementary French Class.” In preparation.

Monopoly: Jeu de transactions immobilières. Board game. Parker Brothers USA, 1936.

Rivers, Wilga. A Practical Guide to the Teaching of French. New York: Oxford UP, 1975.

Appendix A: Schedule for Tuesday, 30 August 1988

9:00–9:20 “Salute the Sun” (Walker Arts and Humanities Center, room 115).

9:20–10:30 Grammar review. Walker 115, 116.

Regular group: You're going to review the passé composé and the imperfect with Sylvia.

Accelerated group: You will review the passé simple, the future, and the conditional in Walker 116 with Ahmed.

10:30–11:00 Break. Be sure to be at Sylvia's by 11:00.

11:00–12:00 “Chez Sylvie.”

Group B and Stan: In the kitchen with Sylvia. Stan is going to show you how to make a French-style omelette.

Group A: In the living room with Steve. We are going to teach you how to play cards in French. Head to the porch at 11:30.

Group C: On the porch with Helen. You will work on “the workshop” and “the street” from The First Thousand Words in French. Head over to the living room at 11:30.

12:00–1:00 Lunch.

Menu: Omelettes and homemade French bread. Drinks.

1:00–2:00 French songs and French in Action (episode 8) in the living room. Discussion with Steve.

2:00–2:30 Break.

2:30–4:00 Regular group: grammar review. Finish up the imperfect and go on to the passé simple. Walker 115.

Accelerated group: You will stay with Steve to buy groceries for crêpes. We need to make 75 crêpe shells for tomorrow! Stick around until 4:00.

4:00 End of school day.

7:00–9:00 Monopoly in Wadsworth with Steve and Helen (optional). We will take up to six people to play the French version of Monopoly. Priority goes to students who have not played yet. Sign up soon!

Appendix B: Placement.test scores for French course

Appendix C: Course evaluation for the intensive French course—Summer 1988

© 1990 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.

ADFL Bulletin 21, no. 2 (Winter 1990): 34-40

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