28, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 42-43
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Implications of Modern Language Enrollment Patterns in a Small Comprehensive
College
Carol Ebersol Klein
IT WOULD seem as though things could not be better for languages at Beaver College, a moderately selective comprehensive private college with a total undergraduate and graduate FTE of 2,500. Enrollments are way up at all levels of Spanish, and despite national trends French and German remain stable. Fewer students are electing Italian, but we still manage to offer elementary and intermediate classes each semester. The only immediate disaster is that we had to cancel fall Japanese classes because of insufficient enrollment, but even that situation may improve. We have more students on campus than ever, buildings are going up all over the place, and plans are under way for even more construction. Salaries are creeping up, all the buildings have Internet connections, multi-media classrooms are being installed, and another major financial campaign is being planned. And most important, internationalization is the force driving virtually all college initiatives.
The enrollment explosion in Spanish is definitely working to our advantage. While we have no language major, several students are designing majors for themselves that combine a language with political science or international business, and the number of students minoring in Spanish or French is growing. By September we expect to have reinstated a major in Spanish and a major in global business. Fortunately, instructors of the less heavily enrolled languages, most of whom hold substantially enhanced adjunct positions, have responded to the run on Spanish positively, devising innovative and attractive courses that are retaining highly motivated students for advanced courses.
So what could be wrong with all this? The surge of activity is putting us into a spin that we have never experienced before, and we're struggling to maintain our equilibrium. As department chair, I am no longer simply a teacher-administrator. Suddenly, I am expected to be a computer expert, one who utilizes the Internet for everything from electronic communication to class-related research, who is knowledgeable about all aspects of satellite instruction and distance learning, and who at the same time is researching and publishing. On top of all that, I advise students, supervise student placement, serve on committees, work at weekend and evening open houses for prospective students and parents, participate in international fairs and other events, and so on. A life, you say? Where?
On the one hand, it is an exciting time for modern language department chairs as we learn about and utilize the latest technology to provide effective and cost-efficient education not only for our own classes but also in a statewide and national network. On the other hand, we are becoming exhausted. As I write this essay I am preparing for a conference in Harrisburg on distance learning, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Association of Colleges and Universities, where I am to make connections with other educators in the state who have experience in the field; I then need to expand that network to include other people on my campus.
Our department used to feel left out of the loop, and we complained that languages were considered no more than a basic skill required for graduation. Now parents, students, and future employers are looking at the demographics of the United States, and people are lining up to study Spanish. Formerly, we were essentially our own bosses. Now the administration is getting involved, thinking that new technology and language instruction are perfect mates and therefore part of its domain. Administrators see in high-tech language instruction the potential for increases in enrollments and in external funding.
The administration is beginning to tell us how to do our job, asking us if we could collaborate with other schools to save money by teaching courses with low enrollments at a single institution through distance learning. More important, administrators are insisting that we adopt the latest technology for instruction so that our graduates will be better equipped for the job market. What the well-intentioned administration has overlooked is that getting and staying up-to-date technologically requires a huge investment of time by faculty members who already have heavy workloads. We need faculty development workshops on specialized applications of technology, money and time to participate in regional and national conferences, time for hands-on practice in our newly learned craft, online help on campus for technological problems, and time to imagine and plan the implementation of our new skills. Yes, knowledge is power, but we need time and money to acquire that knowledge.
But while much new and positive energy is being exerted on my campus, some things never change in our field. While we look ahead with vigor, hoping not to get exhausted as we are thrust into many areas, we have to be cognizant of continuing issues. I recently participated in a presentation to secondary school language teachers at a large suburban Philadelphia district's in-service program.The theme of the meeting was the transition from high school to college, and we were attempting to share our students' views on what would have helped them adapt smoothly to college language classes. Unfortunately, some high school teachers were offended that we dared tell them how to conduct their classes. While language teachers know intellectually that we are all in this together, it seems that despite national efforts to develop and implement standards and proficiency guidelines, we must still attend to the age-old articulation battles.
We in language departments know that we must get on the technology train and that by doing so we will win a recognition for our field unheard of since the age of Sputnik. Nonetheless, we must not forget that our work involves people foremost, and we cannot trade good teachers for even the highest technology. Our main responsibility is to prepare our students for their new world. We can help our administrations capitalize on our colleges' sophisticated instructional technology, but we must be firm in insisting on being provided the time and resources to do our job efficiently and effectively.
Beaver College
© 1997 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 28, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 42-43 |
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