--- Forwarded Message from "Jean-Jacques d'Aquin" <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 11:24:38 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
>From: "Jean-Jacques d'Aquin" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
>cc: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: #5229 Language Graduation Requirements
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Organization: University of South Alabama

Dennis, 
it is patently discriminatory to treat international or "foreign"
students the same as we do monolingual Americans.  For the international
students whose nationality and language skills are obvious, English is
considered a foreign language and getting a passing grade in any 300 level
course or higher that is taught in English satisfies the requirement at
our institution, providing there is paper proof of nationality/native
language.  For some students, however, their nationality and native
language don't match, or their learning experiences don't follow the
obvious pattern.  Then I find a faculty/staff member of our institution -
or another university - who is a native speaker of the language in
question and who is willing to certify the level of the student's
proficiency.  For most cases, a simple oral interview of a few minutes, in
person or more often on the 'phone, suffices if the level is "native" or
"near native".  Based on that certification the student's qualification is
accepted.  At other times, a transcript of equivalent "k-12", or higher 
learning in the language in question can be accepted as indirect proof of
language proficiency.

The main problem lies in identifying a "believable and uninterested"
academic who is willing to certify.  With such languages as Hindi,
Bengali, Pharsi, Urdu, etc., I've been lucky to find such individuals in
our departments of math, statistics, and computer science.  Tagalog,
Kiswahili, Cambodian, Serbo-croatian, etc., I have had to search beyond
our local resources.  A good source of information about qualified and
willing external examiners is the National Association of 
Self-Instructional Language Programs (NASILP) at <[log in to unmask]>.

Another big problem is how to deal with the "heritage learner", the child
who is an American citizen, whose native language (supposedly) is English
but who has learned the family language beyond the intermediate level.
That is when these qualified "external examiners" I've described earlier,
become very helpful.  A teacher of **** at Ohio State, or the U. of
Maryland, or Cornell U. who certifies to me that so and so has such and
such a proficiency, even after only an oral interview over the telephone,
carries a lot of weight with me, and I, as faculty member of record will
accept that certification and sign that student off on the requirement.

Hope that helps!

Jean-Jacques d'Aquin, Language Lab Director
University of South Alabama, HUMB-322, Mobile, AL 36688
VOX 334-460-6291 FAX 334-460-7123