ASDP Infusing Institute Project

1. ASDP Infusing Institute Project Development of a Foundational World Languages and Cultures course • To encourage students to study non-western languages and cultures • To diversify World Languages Concentration option, especially in Chinese and Japanese study • Connect World Languages study with corresponding cultural courses offered

2. INTRODUCTION TO WORLD LANGUAGES &A BRIEF SURVEY OF CHINESE, JAPANESE, ARABIC AND KHMER, Language and culture

3. The Need for the Course • To raise students’ awareness of the diversity and number of world languages and cultures, especially non-western ones • To assist students to make an educated decision before signing up to study a language • To “direct/guide” students to continue their Chinese and/or Japanese study through courses created by previous Infusing Institute participants

4. Institutional and Departmental Considerations • The plan for this course is to fulfill a program requirement in the • World Languages Program and possibly • Global Studies Program • Three ISLO’s (Institutional Student Learning Outcomes) will be developed and assessed within the course: • Written and Oral Communication • Critical Thinking • Multicultural and Global Literacy

5. Proposed Instructional schedule • Week 1: Introduction to World Languages • Weeks 2-4: Chinese language and culture • Weeks 5-7: Japanese language and culture • Weeks 8-10: Arabic language and cultures • Weeks 11-13: Khmer language and culture • Weeks 14 & 15 Student presentations

6. Introduction to World Languages By the end of the week, students will be able to: • Demonstrate awareness and appreciation for the diversity and multitude of languages and cultures • Identify several major world language families • Locate the countries on the map where major world languages are spoken • Name the languages most widely spoken and estimate the number of people speaking them

7. Language & Culture Sessions After these sessions, students will able to • Name a few important historical events of the country • Demonstrate an introductory level understanding of the multiplicity of religions in each country • Demonstrate an introductory level understanding of a new writing system • Greet each other in the target language

8. Language & Culture Components • The amount of time spent on language teaching will be a joint decision with the language instructors • Intermediate level students could be asked to “show case” their oral skills and discuss their experiences with the language study (advertising :) • Students will be required to do some research on their chosen country based on assigned cultural readings • Individually or as a team they will give a 15 minute presentation at the end of the semester • A movie would provide a powerful authentic experience of each country

9. Collaborative Approach • This course will be developed in collaboration with instructors and faculty members in the Humanities and Behavioral Science Division. • Flexible Studies Department will have a key role in the development and presentation as all the LCT languages are housed there. • Course designers and presenters will include: • A course coordinator • Flexible Studies World Languages instructors • Faculty members who have created cultural modules on either China or Japan • Flexible Studies upper level students

10. Concluding Thoughts • Piloting the new course in the Flexible Studies Department would be ideal. The reasons are: • The enrollment necessary to run a course in Flexible Studies is lower than in the classroom • The “flexible” budget structure in Flexible Studies makes it easy to employ instructors for short segments of time. • We should consider inviting the college community at large to attend students’ presentations, in order to : • Highlight students’ oral communication ISLO • Enhance the overall appreciation and understanding of cultural diversity • Advertise MCC’s fantastic Language and Culture Programs 