Spanish Summer Language Institute

As a Senior Military College, UNG has gained national recognition for its strategic language programs, including designation as a  Chinese flagship.  The Chinese program begins with a Summer Intensive Semester that gives majors a jump start on their coursework during the academic year and prepares them for Study Abroad experiences during subsequent summer semesters.  Using this well-established program as a model and inspiration, I designed an on-campus summer immersion program for prospective majors and minors in Spanish that applies a communicative approach to language instruction at the 1001-2 level with an interactive cultural component led by Spanish faculty and native speakers that prepares students to adapt and integrate themselves in the host culture of a Spanish speaking country during a future Study Abroad experience.

The main objective of the program curriculum is to prepare beginning Spanish students to communicate effectively in Spanish in a variety of contexts by developing basic language skills and building student Intercultural Communicative Competency, the ability to reflect critically on the similarities and differences that characterize their own culture and the cultures of the language studied, in order to better understand and appreciate intercultural experiences and cultural differences.

During the summer program, students engage in experiential learning through music and theater activities, participation in sports events, and preparation of traditional foods and celebrations.  Faculty and native speaker presenters are encouraged to draw on their own lives and perspectives in their instruction.  This format engages student participants in authentic cultural experiences as they learn to appreciate unique perspectives in dialogue with individuals from different cultural contexts.  Students are provided with media tools to further investigate themes that interest them and create projects that reflect on these experiences and the knowledge acquired, using their Spanish language skills to synthesize and present ideas that bring their own cultural perspective into dialogue with the cultures studied. Course assignments include reflective writing via blogs, discussion of films from Spain and Latin America, ethnographic interviews with native Spanish speakers, and a final multi-media project.

Spanish Immersion: Applications in Modern Languages Course Syllabus

21st Century Interdisciplinary Theme addressed in this course:  Global Awareness