Fairfield University assistant teaching program
for foreign languages reaps rewards for students and
teachers alike
 Trumbull High School teacher Xiomara Morales builds props,
dresses up, draws pictures and acts things out in the course of her
class.
But her antics aren't part of a course on theatre and drama.
They're techniques she learned and perfected at Fairfield
University, for teaching students another language.
Morales, who graduated from Fairfield University in 2000, worked
for two years as an assistant teacher (AT) in the Oral Practice
Session Program of the Department of Modern Languages and
Literatures (DMLL) at Fairfield University. Her experience in that
program helped to put her at ease when teaching older students - and
enabled her to let inhibitions go when she throws herself into
active teaching. "I think the experience made me more comfortable in
front of a group more advanced in age," Morales said of the AT/OPS,
noting that many of her Fairfield University students were older
than she was at the time.
While Fairfield does not utilize teaching assistants for actual
classes, the DMLL relies on peer student teachers to conduct special
oral practice sessions that language students are encouraged to
attend. The AT/OPS Program has proven to be a success, not just for
students practicing how to speak another language, but for the
student assistant teachers who are training them, said Joel
Goldfield, Ph.D., director of the Charles E. Culpeper Language
Resource Center at Fairfield University.
"It is extremely satisfying to see students open themselves up to
other cultures through the active learning of a language," said AT
Carol Chiodo, of Weston, Conn., a student of University College at
Fairfield University. Chiodo sees the program as a gratifying
opportunity to share both her love of language and culture. "Through
the dramatic immersion in a foreign language, the OPS forces
students to extend their minds well beyond the mechanics of the
language and embrace its cultural context as well - something
normally experienced only through a prolonged visit abroad."
The program was borne out of the need to give language students
more oral practice in their new language, said Dr. Goldfield, who is
also an associate professor of Modern Languages and Literatures at
Fairfield.
"There's no way most college students can effectively supervise
their own oral practice," Dr. Goldfield said. But such practice is
necessary for learning how to speak a language properly - as opposed
to just writing and reading, although these goals are important.
Eighty percent of students consider speaking a language their number
one goal in taking foreign language courses, according to student
surveys at Fairfield University, Dr. Goldfield said.
The AT/OPS program, which began in the spring of 1998 as a pilot
in French only, has blossomed to include eight of the nine languages
offered at Fairfield. And while students are able to hone their oral
techniques, more advanced students get hands-on teaching experience
with an adult class. Each language's ATs are supervised by
departmental faculty specially trained for that additional work.
Morales knew from the start that she wanted to be a teacher. But
the AT/OPS assistant teaching experience encourages many undecided
students to become foreign language teachers, Dr. Goldfield said,
noting that by the end of the program, 80 percent of participants
say they are interested in pursuing teaching.
That's good news for Connecticut schools, which are often in need
of foreign language teachers, according to Mary Ann Hansen, Ph.D.,
the world languages consultant for the Connecticut Department of
Education. The state has turned to partnerships with other nations,
such as Spain, to recruit teachers from overseas, said Dr.
Hansen.
"We have had a shortage of Spanish teachers for a number of
years," Dr. Hansen said, adding that French and Italian teachers are
also becoming difficult to find.
Students who are chosen for the paid positions attend a workshop
to receive 14 hours of training. Those who want to be ATs in the
Fairfield University program must (re)audition each year. A jury of
faculty selects ATs based on merit and availability. The ATs
evaluate the students in their sessions, although they do not grade
them, Dr. Goldfield said. This semester, Fairfield has about 20 ATs.
On average, 30 percent of the ATs who participate in the program are
international students, Dr. Goldfield said. Many ATs, such as
Morales, are native speakers in the language in which they will be
teaching.
"The success of Fairfield's Assistant Teaching/Oral Practice
Session Program comes from long-standing and emerging intellectual
traditions, forged through the immense energy and talent of
Professor Joel Goldfield," said Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D., dean of
the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairfield University. "He is
joined by similarly engaged colleagues of the College of Arts and
Science's Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, who
understand the value of language and the literary and cultural
worlds that it opens to modern leaders and learners."
In addition to gaining teaching experience at Fairfield
University, Morales learned the Rassias Method for teaching a
foreign language. Named for its creator, John Rassias, president of
The Rassias Foundation at Dartmouth and chair of the college's
Department of French and Italian, the method calls for physical
demonstrations to teach students vocabulary in a different language.
By doing so, the method eliminates the need to translate a new word
into the equivalent word in students' native tongue. Translating a
new word into the equivalent word in the students' native tongue
would substantially slow down communication, Dr. Goldfield said. The
dramatized and direct approach taken in the AT/OPS Program
accelerates students' ability to communicate orally in the new
language, Dr. Goldfield said, adding that there is an element of
humor and playfulness in the method to put students more at
ease.
The method ingrains the new language in students' heads, Morales
said. It's also a very energetic and active way of teaching. Morales
will act out a word, say the word in Spanish, and then quickly point
to students, who must identify and repeat the word she is
demonstrating. "When I point at you, you better repeat what I said
and you better repeat it correctly," Morales said, laughing. "It
keeps everybody on their toes."
Media inquiries about the program can be made to Dana Ambrosini,
assistant director of Media Relations at Fairfield University, at
203-254-4000, ext. 2726.
##
Vol. 35, No. 236
Fairfield University is a comprehensive Jesuit university
that prepares undergraduate, graduate and continuing education
students for leadership and service in a constantly changing world.
U.S. News and World Report's 2003 "America's Best Colleges" ranks
Fairfield third among universities with master's programs in the
North. Approximately 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from
37 states, 43 countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico
are enrolled at the University's six schools. The University was
founded in 1942 in the scenic shoreline community of Fairfield,
Connecticut.
April 7,
2003 | 
