The Centre Summer Language Institute: Magnifying Linguistic and Cultural Preparation

• In Event: 59. US Classrooms: Contested Arenas for Learning and Teaching Southeast Asian Languages. Sponsored by COTSEAL

Abstract

In summer 2016, a generous LIASE grant from the Henry Luce Foundation made it possible for Centre College to launch the region's first intensive summer language institute. The institute was conceived ab initio as part of a strategic, scaffolded learning experience, not simply as a standard, stand-alone language center from which to imagine possible future applications. Students from the small college, who would otherwise be unable to enroll in Southeast Asian and other less-commonly taught languages, were invited to study Thai, Malay and Mandarin Chinese for 5-weeks in anticipation of a series of course offerings and research opportunities on campus and abroad dealing with these nations in 2016-17. The institute took a unique approach to language instruction by including daily lessons and discussion on environmental issues in Thailand, Malaysia and China. Far from hampering students' language acquisition, these content-specific lessons helped to motivate study, pique student interest and broaden their vocabulary in the target language. Post-assessments reveal huge gains not only in language development, but in intentions to work, research and study abroad in Southeast Asia. A focus on the environment also increased understanding and empathy toward those nations and their peoples. Finally, by committing to such a pressing, interdisciplinary theme at the beginning level, the institute succeeded in drawing in an unusual student cohort made up of a number of language-learners from the STEM disciplines. With the difficulties facing language programs within the American academy, experimentation with similar themed-approaches to the teaching of Southeast Asian languages merits further consideration.

Author

• Kyle David Anderson, Centre College