Skyline College
Foreign Languages
Program Review
Executive Summary
Short Summary of Findings
Skyline College’s Foreign Language Program serves students well in their educational and life goals. It provides needed second language training the Bay Area community job market demands to serve immigrant customers/clients. The program is led by its only full-time instructor Luciana Castro. Besides English, Dr. Castro is fluent in four-languages, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian. She is trained through Title III in current technology and active in professional organizations. Foreign Language adjunct faculty have top-notch preparation and proficiency in multiple languages.
The Foreign Languages Program is a model of Skyline’s policy of “Students first.” It is up to date, employing the most current pedagogy and learning theory to educate students. It enjoys strong relationships with the rest of the Language Arts Division, especially the English and ESOL departments and The Learning Center. It provides foreign language education to students enrolled in diverse majors, from International Studies to Criminal Justice; it complements the offerings in the rest of the District’s Foreign Language Program. Through its core courses, the Foreign Language program is connected to the Honors Transfer Program and hopes to build stronger links to the Puente and Kababayan Programs. We serve a vulnerable population in terms of their preparation for college studies; the rate of enrollment, retention and success our core courses is high. As our students’ skills improve in foreign language studies, they gain confidence in language learning, a confidence that should translate to other studies.
Our courses represent the world’s languages and heritages: European, Middle-Eastern, Asian, and deaf language and culture. Our students learn about world cultures and perspectives because one best learns a language by learning about the culture in which it is embedded; language and culture are intertwined. Spanish is the strongest of the current offerings; students enroll in Spanish courses to satisfy transfer and graduation requirements. We also offer courses in American Sign Language, Arabic, and Tagalog. We will be offering Chinese in Spring 2003. Budget constraints have required that we cut back on several of our offerings; Italian and Japanese will be reviewed to see if they should be offered in the future or deactivated. (Since the last program review, German and French were deactivated.)
Foreign language faculty design courses depending on the public to be served. For example, within the last two years, Spanish faculty designed and taught several experimental courses, including Spanish for Travelers, Spanish for Health Care Professional, and Spanish for Public Safety Officers. These courses have since become regular courses under the names of Spanish for Travelers and Spanish for Pubic Service. Spanish 690, independent studies, is often offered by our only fulltime professor to provide students with the right sequence of course materials to continue their education in Spanish when there may not be sufficient enrollment to offer more advanced courses. A second example is in the development of offerings in Arabic. Arabic studies began after the need for more Arabic speakers became apparent because of the US involvement in the Middle East after September 11, 2001. The Division dean and fulltime professor identified a potential instructor and worked with him to designed elementary courses. The courses have been successful; Skyline College is the only community college on the San Francisco Peninsula to offer Arabic.
Three Strengths of the Program
§ Personification of Skyline’s policy of “Students First” policy
ü
offerings (revised
outlines, new courses, new area of study) based on students needs
ü combination of methods to help students prepare to continue on their education in other institutions
ü support system through personalized conferences with instructors, tutorials in the Learning Center, language sharing groups in the Learning Center
ü
Mentoring,
including Puente and mentoring students who studying for the Spanish major or
certificate.
ü
Outreach to
students, including letters to students to advertise offerings, posters
advertising in the community specific courses such as Spanish for Health Care Professionals, and personal outreach in
hospitals, clinics and community centers in San Bruno and South San Francisco
· Innovation
ü
Development of new courses, both experimental and
permanent
ü
TLC
workshops every semester on topics such as “How to keep your Spanish Alive,
Vibrant, and Fluent”
ü
Development
of courses in new language: Arabic
ü
Technology
and modern up-to-date audio-visual
methods implemented in the classroom instruction where technology available
·
Provides students with perspectives that
they might not otherwise see
ü
Offerings
representative of world languages: European, Middle-Eastern, Asian, and the
Deaf community
ü
Specific
instruction on the cultures of the languages being studied
Three Suggestions for Improvement
·
Make progress through
the goals suggested in Item 1.A, specific goals for the future:
§
Build enrollment in basic Spanish courses to generate sufficient student
interest to warrant the scheduling of the sequence of Spanish courses needed to
complete the major (use the pyramid
model: Three classes of Spanish 110, two classes of Spanish 120, two Spanish
130/220, one Spanish 140 and one
Spanish 160 class.
§
Build the Arabic program by generating sufficient student interest in
current offerings
§
Analyze student interest to see if there is sufficient interest to offer
Tagalog classes during the day
§
Redesign and build the Tagalog program, whenever it is offered.
§
Advocate for dedicated space for a language laboratory that could be
shared with the ESOL Department.
§
Advocate for dedicated space in The Learning Center
§
Advocate for better equipped classrooms.
§
Advocate for additional fulltime faculty to build both day and evening
offerings
·
Keep the American Sign Language, Tagalog, Chinese and
Arabic courses vibrant through evaluation/revision of the course outlines;
revive Japanese and Italian with at least first year courses offerings, budget
permitting.
·
Seek and obtain more support in advertising offerings;
various counseling and administrative offices could offer invaluable support in
this regard.
SKYLINE
COLLEGE
PROGRAM REVIEW SELF STUDY
PART A: Overview of Program
1.
State the goals/ focus of this program and how the program contributes to the
mission and priorities of the College and District.
The Foreign
Languages Program has as its focus the following:
§
to serve students by
meeting their educational goals of transfer, graduation, preparation for
employment, and personal development. Students may enroll in foreign language
offerings, all of which are college-level academic courses, to satisfy areas
requirements at Skyline College and at transfer institutions. High school
students are turning to Skyline in greater numbers as a primary source to
complete the foreign language requirements needed to enter higher education; often,
because of budget constraints or student interest, the foreign language course
that students may want to enroll in are not available in area high
schools. The evening American Sign
Language courses in particular are a draw to both students and parents who
often enroll together and study side by side.
Moreover, Skyline College students enroll in foreign language courses to
improve fluency and literacy in languages that may be spoken by elders in their
homes and communities. Skyline students
also enroll to improve proficiency so that they are more competitive applicants
to jobs where bilingual skills are a premium.
(Some jobs even provide extra pay for bilingual skills.)
o
Skyline students improve
critical thinking skills while engaging in foreign language study. Even the basics of a second, third, or
fourth language cannot be acquired without comparing/contrasting, analyzing,
and synthesizing what is known about the native language and what is being
learned about the target language.
Students must be able to engage in higher order thinking skills to learn
to appreciate and value the cultures in which the languages are embedded; one
cannot truly acquire a second language without understanding at a deeper level
the values and norms of the people whose language is being studied. Students are encouraged to think about ways
other people from different cultural backgrounds see the world and therefore,
they enhance their perspective about all kinds of issues and matters. The language learning skills we teach students are the key foundation for further
work in critical thinking. Students are
encouraged to think for themselves in the context of a multicultural and
rapidly changing world.
§
to
serve the community and help fulfill the needs of the Bay area work force by
providing employers and employees access to course offerings that may help them
better serve their clientele and market their products to bilingual
consumers. Skyline College’s service
area is home to large numbers of immigrant families whose educational,
healthcare, and social services needs may be better met in languages the
families are fluent in. Further, these
immigrants form a large part of the purchasing public. Businesses that can market and sell to them
in their native languages can earn a larger market share. The courses we currently offer are relevant
to the needs of the Northern Peninsula community (including the city of San
Francisco) and the South Bay Area.
These courses are enumerated in section B.1.
The Foreign Language program has these specific goals for
the future:
§
Build
enrollment in basic Spanish courses to generate sufficient student interest to
warrant the scheduling of the sequence of Spanish courses needed to complete
the major.
§
Build
the Arabic program by generating sufficient student interest in current
offerings
§
Analyze
student interest to see if there is sufficient interest to offer Tagalog
classes during the day
§
Redesign
and build the Tagalog program, whenever it is offered.
§
Advocate
for dedicated space for a language laboratory that could be shared with the
ESOL Department.
§
Advocate
for dedicated space in The Learning Center
§
Advocate
for better equipped classrooms.
§
Advocate for additional fulltime faculty to build both day and evening
offerings
The Foreign
Languages program contributes to the mission and priorities of the College by
offering college-level courses that
- enable students to
- develop their minds and skills
to their full potential
- foster their ability to
perform even better in their own native languages,
- transfer what they learn about
language learning into what they are learning in English
- achieve transfer, graduation,
work preparation, and personal development goals.
- serve the workforce development
needs of the neighboring community by providing
- more potential employees with
bilingual skills
- course work for current
employees who want to acquire or sharpen a second language for use in
current employment
In addition, the Foreign Language department provided
community outreach and service by instructing a Spanish class for three
semesters for Redwood City public officials.
This offering was coordinated by the district’s community service
program.
2. Discuss how this program coordinates, impacts, and/or interacts with other programs in the College.
The Foreign
Languages program coordinates primarily with the English Department (as home to a number of special
programs and learning communities), the ESOL Department, The Honors Transfer
Program (HTP) , the International Studies major, and with The Learning Center
(TLC).
- English department programs,
Puente and Kababayan: We have just developed and started teaching a new
course, Spanish 220, Spanish for
Spanish-Speakers, that we hope will be attractive to Puente students;
we know that success in one language often translates to further success
in another. We hope to begin
discussion with both the Puente Program and the Kababayan Program about
making a tighter link between Spanish 220 and Puente and between Tagalog
and Kababayan.
- ESOL Department: ESL and Foreign Language instruction
are closely linked disciplines because both provide instruction to
students learning a new language.
The Foreign Language Department and ESOL faculty enjoy sharing
information about language learning and teaching methodology. Further, some faculty who are qualified
in one are also qualified in the other, so the two departments may act as
referrals to one another of potential new faculty.
- HTP: Since Fall 2001, Spanish 110 and Spanish 120 have been
offered as part of the Honors Transfer Program.
- International Studies
major: This new major is housed in
the Social Science/ Creative Arts Division. In order to support the goals of this major, additional
efforts have been made to increase student interest in the study of Tagalog.
Further, new studies in Arabic
were launched. Skyline’s Foreign
Language Department is the only department in the District to offer
Arabic; City College of San Francisco refers students who wish to enroll
in college-level course work as the only Arabic course CCSF offers is
through their community services
department. We hope these courses
will serve Skyline international studies majors, students who are
interested in the new Middle Eastern studies area at San Francisco State,
and students who may need to speak Arabic at work or in future
careers.
- TLC: Many students enrolled in Foreign Language courses tell
their instructors that they are doing so in the hope that they will
enhance their ability to find employment after completion of such professional
majors as Cosmetology, Criminal Justice and Business. In addition we work closely with The
Learning Center (TLC) to provide academic support to students enrolled in
foreign language courses through individual and group tutorials, review
sessions, and language sharing groups. Felix Perez, TLC Tutor-Coordinator,
works with Foreign Language Professor Luciana Castro in identifying,
selecting, and hiring tutors to assist students who take Spanish classes
in the morning and evening classes.
Spanish majors and students who need extra help seek asssistance in
The Learning Center to succeed in their exams and graded assignments. Students who wish to improve their basic skills in
Spanish also find help in the Media Center; special assistance is
available to help students develop listening comprehension abilities. Faculty, especially Spanish Instructors collaborate with the
Tutorial Assistance Program and Media Service staff to design
assignments. Some assignments
require students to take advantage of resources available in Media Service
Files and the Learning Center Tutorials.The disabilities specialist also
provides help to students who require testing or special
accommodations. Foreign Language instructors and tutors
coordinate to a lesser degree with the other student services, especially
general and EOP&S counselors, and with librarians.
3. If the program utilizes advisory boards and/or professional organizations, describe their roles.
The Foreign
Language program does not have an advisory board. However, Foreign Language
faculty are members of professional organizations such as
- the Northern California Foreign
Languages Association,
- the Modern Languages
Association,
- Foreign Languages Community
Colleges Association,
- IMPAC (an intersegmental body
representative of the three academic senates of the public colleges and
universities meeting to discuss program articulation between the community
colleges and the University of California and the California State
University)
- several linguistics and
cultural organizations.
Faculty
also attend conferences, workshops, seminars and symposiums every year locally,
nationally and internationally. Through
these means, department faculty stay current,
learning about new theory, instructional design, new methodology and
materials available to enhance success.
Through our work at IMPAC, we are also hoping to shape the discussion
about under-graduate requirements for foreign language majors.
4. Explain how this program meets the needs of our diverse community.
We meet the
needs of our diverse community, its students
and their programs, in a number of ways.
Students: We
seek to engage our students with lively texts, videos, CDRoms,
videotapes, cassette tapes, siberdictionaries, Internet tutorials that are
mainly all content/culture based.
We sellect texts emphasizing
reading and viewing sellections across a variety of college discipliines (not
solely literature), including materials about popular culture, history,
geography, folklore, and
journalism. All of the
aforementioned material provides different perspectives about a variety of
world cultures.
Further, a
new language cannot be learned without learning about the culture in which it
is embedded. It is a truism in foreign
language learning that the best language learner is one who values the target
language to the same degree as the primary language. Helping students understand, appreciate, and harness this
practical aspect of language learning may transfer to other learning about
cultures or ways of being that are different from the one with which they are
more familiar.
By
demonstrating that there are a variety of ways of speaking about everyday life
and all of them are good, we show students in a concrete way how they can value
what they know and how they can also value something from a different
culture. It teaches them to honor and
appreciate the subtleties of difference.
It may also teach them about the power of language in everyday
communication and for both good and ill.
Other
Programs: While we infuse our general
curriculum with this defintition of diversity, we have also designed foreign
language courses to complement other majors.
We have designed and offered Spanish 103, Spanish for Public Service, a course that could be offered to
complement study in the health professions, in criminal justice, or in
education. If relevant,we could offer
similar coursework for other majors, such as International Business
5. If the program has completed a previous self-study, evaluate the progress made toward previous goals.
The last
self-study was done some time ago and listed the specific goals below. We assess progress in meeting these goals
immediately following each goal.
§
to
provide lower division AA degree and transfer programs which prepare students
for continued education in baccalaureate colleges and universities.
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in American Sign Language
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in Arabic
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in Chinese
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in Italian
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in Japanese
o
Response: the program offers a major and degree
applicable and transferable courses in Spanish: Spanish 110, Spanish 120, Spanish 130, Spanish 140, Spanish 161,
and Spanish 162.
o
Response: the program offers degree applicable and
transferable courses in Tagalog
§
to
provide offerings that will address the needs of businesses and the labor force
within that community
o
Response: the program developed and offered the
courses listed below but was unable to continue offering them due to budget
constraints.
·
Japanese
115, Japanese for Business
·
Spanish
101, Spanish for Public Service I
·
Spanish
680, Spanish for Public Safety Officers
(experimental)
·
Spanish
680, Spanish for Health Care
Professionals (experimental)
§
to
provide a variety of foreign languages for traveling or life enhancement
o
Response: the program developed and offered the course
lsited below but was unable to continue offering them due to budget constraints
·
French
680, French for Travelers
(experimental)
·
Italian
680, Italian for Travelers
(experimental)
·
Spanish
103, Spanish for Travelers
·
Spanish
680, Spanish for Travelers
(experimental)
§
to
expose our students to other cultures as they learn the target language; their
customs, history, values, music and
geography.
o
Response: current course outlines include an emphasis
on culture. They are Chinese 111/112,
Spanish 130, Spanish 140, Spanish 161 and 162 (Readings in Spanish American Literature I and II). The elementary Spanish courses also include cultural awareness
but not with the depth as the more advanced courses.
o
Response: several course outlines have been rewritten
to emphasize culture. They are ASL 112
and Spanish 120.
o
Response: All new course outlines are written to
emphasize culture. They are Arabic 111,
Arabic 112, Arabic 121, Arabic 122, Spanish 101, Spanish 103, Spanish 680,
Italian 680, French 680,
A number of
recommendations were also made; they are listed below together with an
evaluation of progress:
§
Spanish:
Continue assessment of needs and staying current with new trends in teaching
Spanish.
o
Response: The program has stayed current with new
trends through the efforts of the only fulltime instructor of the program. She atends conferences and meetings and
maintains open communication with other foreign language professionals.
§
French: The French program at its present enrollment
level could not support hiring a full-time instructor. However, a full-time instructor is needed to
maintain, foster and develop interest and functionability of this program. It
is recommended that consideration be given to hiring a full-time instructor who
has the qualifications to teach both French and Spanish. The Spanish program could support part of
the load of a full-time teacher in addition to the existing fulltime position.
o
Response: a new full-time instructor qualified to
teach in both languages was hired.
However, the full-time faculty assigned to teach Spanish only retired
and was not replaced resulting in the new fulltimer taking over his prior
assignment and not being assigned to teach French. French courses were deactivated in 2000-2001.
§
Italian: Keep an active needs assessment
program. Strengthen the available
tutorial services and software materials for outside of class practice.
o
Responses: This was done to a limited extent before the
current year. Due to budget constraints
and a changing student demographic, Italian classes were not offered in Spring
2003 and Fall 2003. The program will
review these offerings to see if they should be deactivated.
§
Japanese: Keep an active needs assessment in this
area.
o
Response: Due to budget constraints and a changing
student demographic, Japanese classes were not offered in Spring 2003 and Fall
2003. The program will review these
offerings to see if they should be deactivated.
§
Tagalog: It is recommended that the Filipino student
body be surveyed to establish Tagalog language needs and interest. It is
further recommended that courses be designed to addess those needs and
interests.
o
Response: To our knowledge, a survey was not
done. However, additional courses in
Tagalog were developed but have not been offered due to budget constraints.
§
Facilities
and equipment: It is recommended that
some (ten) computers be placed in the area where language cassette tapes are
being used for the purpose of listening and oral practice. There is a need for all the foreign language
programs to increase or upgrade their software holdings.
o
Response: The Learning Center computers that allow
students to practice foreigm languages are a limited option due to the noisy
location where they are placed. A
dedicated foreign language laboratory would and should provide adequate
conditions to practice foreign languages.
PART B: Curriculum
1. Describe how the courses offered in the program meet the needs of the discipline(s) and the students. (This may be answered through descriptive narrative evaluation or quantitative research).
Foreign
language courses include
- ASL – American Sign Language
(ASL 111, American Sign Language I;
ASL 112, American Sign Language II;
ASL 211/122 Advanced Elementary
American Sign Language I and II
- Arabic (Arabic 111, Elementary Arabic I;
Arabic 112, Elementary Arabic II; Arabic 121, Advanced Elementary Arabic
I; Arabic 122, Advanced Elementary II)
- Chinese – (Chinese111, Elementary Chinese I, Chinese 112, Elementary Chinese II)
- Italian – (Italian 111, Elementary Italian I; Italian 112, Elementary Italian II; Italian 121,
Advanced Elementary Italian I;
Italian 122, Advanced Elementary
Italian II)
- Japanese – (Japanese 111, Elementary Japanese I; Japanese
112, Elementary Japanese II;
Japanese 115, Basic Business
Japanese)
- Spanish – (Spanish 111, Elementary Spanish I; Spanish 112, Elementary Spanish II; Spanish 121,
Advanced Elementary Spanish I;
Spanish 122, Advanced Elementary
Spanish II, Spanish 130, Intermediate
Spanish, Spanish 140, Advanced
Intermediate Spanish, Spanish 161 and 162, Readings in Spanish American Literature I and II)
- Tagalog- (Tagalog 111, Elementary Tagalog I; Tagalog 112, Elementary Tagalog II; Tagalog 121,
Advanced Elementary Tagalog I;
Tagalog 122, Advanced Elementary
Tagalog II, Tagalog 801 and 802, Conversational
Tagalog I and II)
The
foregoing languages are representative of the world’s languages and
population. They include two European
languages (Italian and Spanish), three Asian Languages (Chinese, Japanese and
Tagalog), one Middle Eastern language (Arabic), and one language from the deaf
community (American Sign Language.)
Students who want to learn about culture and language as a human
phenomenon which has a number of ways for expressing word relationships, (i.e,
grammar and syntax) have a breadth of different languages with expressly
distinct origins from which to choose.
Further,
these languages may be of great interest to the students for a number of
reasons:
- They come from homes where
these languages are spoken by elders.
(Large numbers of Skyline students come from Arabic-speaking,
Chinese-speaking, Spanish-speaking,
and Tagalog-speaking homes.)
- They can get practice in nearby
natural settings. There is a
fairly large number of businesses, such as restaurants, where the language
students are studying is spoken.
Media, both print and voice, is widespread in some of the
languages, e.g., Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog.
- They can use these languages in
work or for travel. For example,
there is a pressing need for Arabic translators by the U.S. government
because of the world situation.
Faculty and
the division dean have made great strides in the area of ascertaining the
appropriate mix of course offerings to serve the economy, needs of our constantly changing Bay Area community, and
our students. The data about the
enrollment retention suggests that this is working.
2. State how the program has remained current in the discipline(s).
The program remains current in the discipline through its
faculty who regularly attend and present at professional meetings and
conferences, meet with representatives from other Bay Area community college
foreign language departments, discuss language learning theory with colleagues
in ESOL and English, and read in the area.
The only fulltime faculty member in the department
participated in Title 3 training and shares what she has learned with her
adjunct colleagues whenever time permits.
3. If the student population has changed, state how the program is addressing these changes.
The student
population at Skyline continues to become increasingly diverse, with larger
numbers of Filipino/Filipino American students and students from countries
where Arabic is the official language.
The Foreign Language Department has responded by
- Reviewing its curriculum to
determine which courses should be deactivated. In 2000-01, all French and German courses were deactivated.
- Continuing to offer Tagalog
classes at night, but initiating discussion in Fall 2003 to determine if
these courses should be revised for possible scheduling during the
day. Further review must proceed,
perhaps with a student survey or student focus groups, to ascertain
student interest.
- Developing a curriculum in
Arabic. To date, the first two
courses in the four-course sequence have been scheduled with the thought
of building student interest/enrollment that would justify offering
additional courses in the sequence.
- Making scheduling decisions
based on student interest and availability of courses at neighboring
colleges. When the Foreign Language Department was faced with having to
offer fewer courses because of budget constraints, the department checked
with neighboring schools and decided to focus in on building curriculum
and enrollment in four languages: ASL, Arabic, Spanish and Tagalog. The number of students and the amount
of interest in Chinese are being reviewed with an eye to further
developing this curriculum.
4. All courses in this program should be reviewed and, if appropriate, modified every six years. If this has not occurred, please list the courses and explain.
The Foreign
Language Department has focused its efforts on building curriculum in several
key areas: Arabic and Spanish. With
only one fulltime faculty member (in Spanish) on staff and a rotating cadre of
adjuncts who teach the rest of the languages at night, the program felt that it
could not fragment its efforts.
Further, the fulltime faculty member has had an irregular schedule for
the past year for a variety of personal reasons.
The courses
which have been reviewed and modified since the last program review include
American Sign Language II, Spanish 120,
Spanish 121, Spanish 122.
The courses
that still need to be reviewed and the proposed semester for doing so include
·
ASL
111, American Sign Language I, Spring
2004
·
ASL
121 and 122, Advanced American Sign Language I and II, Fall 2004
·
CHIN
111 and 112, Elementary Chinese I and II, Spring 2005
·
SPAN
110, Elementary Spanish, and SPAN 111/112, Elementary Spanish I and II Spring
2004
·
SPAN
130, SPAN 140, Fall 2004
·
SPAN
161/162, Spring 2005
·
TAGA
111 and 112, Elementary Tagalog, Fall 2004
·
TAGA
121 ands 122, Advanced Elementary Tagalog, Spring 2005
This should
permit the fulltime faculty member to work with the adjunct faculty to review
these courses and submit course revisions well before the need to begin work on
the next program review.
5. If external accreditation or certification is required, please state the certifying agency and status of the program.
6. Discuss plans for future review and program modification.
Future
goals were listed in part 1-A. We will
assess progress towards these goals over the next five years. We will also be evaluating the viability of
two languages, Italian, and Japanese, to see if course outlines should be
modified and the courses offered again or if
these courses should be deactivated.
PART C: Faculty and Staff
1. List major development activities completed by faculty and staff in this program in the last six years and state what development is needed or proposed by faculty in this program.
Luciana Castro, the
only fulltime member of the faculty, has participated in the following
conferences, presented papers, or otherwise participated in the following staff
development activities
- 1998 Latin American Studies
Association conference in
Guadalajara, Mexico.
- 1998 Spring Flex activity
organization on Foreign Languages
and how to create better marketing strategies for our district
- Paper: "El corrido de la
batalla de Torreon and its historical implications and falacies"
- 1998 Puplished paper in the
Smithsonian InstituteJournal of African Studies: " Repente and cordel
and its African nuances"
- 1998 American Folklore Society
in Portland, Oregon. Paper: " Pablo Neruda's poem on Joaquin Murrieta
and the corrido of Joaquin Murrieta, their literary and historical legacy
- 1999 -2000 Title III participant, Daedalus and
Plato training
- 1999 American Folklore Society
conference in Memphis, Tenessee.
Paper presented: “Chulas
Fronteras"
- 1999. Aberdeen, Scotland.
Paper presented: " El
corrido de Joaquin Murrieta and its
historical veracity"
- 1999 Northern California
Foreign Languages Association Conference attendance
- 2000 Foreign Languages Community
Colleges Association attendance
- 2000 Universita Boccone di
Milano. Research on Foreign
Languages methods for teaching foreign languages with audio-visual equipment
- 2001 Foreign Languages
Community Colleges Association
attendance. Discussion
participation on California Placement tests.
- 2001 McGraw-Hill review
of ENTREVISTAS final
edition
- 2001 American Folklore Society
conference attendance to research Eskimo languages in Anchorage, Alaska.
- 2001 Keynote Speaker on
“Educación a los Padres Latinos e Hispanos” at Skyline College
- 2002 College of San Mateo
Language Fair
- 2002 Course outline updates
- 2002 Spanish Instructors
selection process
·
2002-2003 IMPAC, Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated
Curriculum as a foreign language discipline representative, current
·
travel to a variety of foreign countries,
including Italy, Mexico, and Brazil
Other faculty have also
participated in staff development to the extent that their adjunct status
permits. Although not frequently, evening and day Foreign Languages faculty
meet or are in touch on to discuss common issues.
2. Describe the orientation process for new faculty and staff ( include student workers such as tutors and aides).
After new
foreign language instructors are selected, both the sole fulltime faculy member
and the division dean provide one-on-one orientation on a variety of matters
ranging from the practical to the more theoretical. The Language Arts Staff Assistant also provides assistance. Orientation includes
·
Introduction
to Skyline College and its culture, practices and procedures
·
Expectations
of Foreign Language faculty, including appropriate preparation of course
syllabi, book orders, and classroom content
·
Logistics,
such as navigating the campus, securing a parking permit, referring students to
academic support services
·
Working
with other services, such as Admissions and Records and General counseling
·
Professional
responsibilities, such as curriculum preparation
The tutors
who work in the Learning Center are selected and interviewed by the Tutor
Coordinator working in The Learning Center and the Foreign Language
coordinator, the department’s only fulltime faculty member. The faculty member does the primary
evaluation of experience and potential to be language tutors and instructional
aides. The Tutor Coordinator provides
the orientation.
3. If recruitment of new and/or diverse faculty is needed, suggest recruitment techniques.
A number of techniques have worked in the past, including
·
Notifying
professional organizations and colleagues of vacancies
·
Contacting
graduate schools in the region
·
Asking
the District Human Resources Office to highlight openings
·
Contacting
deans and department chairs of Foreign Language Departments at other
The division dean and Luciana Castro, the sole fulltime
faculty member in Foreign Languages,
are the key persons who receive resumes, interview applicants, and
select potential candidates for assignments at Skyline College.
PART D: Facilities, Equipment, Materials and Maintenance
1. Discuss the effectiveness of the facilities, equipment, equipment maintenance, and materials for the program to meet its goals and focus. Include if they impact success and if they are accessible to all students.
Not all
college classrooms are adequately equipped to hold foreign languages
classes. Classrooms usually assigned to
foreign language instruction are not wired to the INTERNET, nor do they have effective working
audio-visual equipment that should be available in all classrooms in which
language instruction occurs. Further,
there is not a dedicated language laboratory, a necessity in foreign language
learning. We recommend that such a laboratory be established and that some area
in The Learning Center be dedicated to support student practice and acquisition
of the foreign language students are studying. Students lacking access to such support cannot achieve competence
to the degree and with the speed and accuracy that students who have such
access. Further, having these two
spaces would allow students to complete the laboratory hour by arrangement; it
is a critical part of the plan to give added support to and serve as a safety net for Skyline students. It would also improve Foreign Language
program outcomes in student retention, completion, and success. This is especially so in Spanish.
2. List projected needs.
Projected needs include:
·
A
dedicated space for a language laboratory in which classes could be conducted
three times a week at a minimum and which students could use at other times for
individual practice
·
More
chalk or white boards in classrooms
·
Sound-proof
walls in classrooms to permit oral practice and small group work
·
Modern,
media-equipped classrooms
·
One or
more computer stations in Foreign Language classrooms connected to The Learning
Center for access to programs such as
Plato and other online tutorials
We recommend that the foregoing be
implemented during any modernization that should occur at Skyline College.
3. Describe the use of technology in the program and discuss if technology is current and comparable to other college and business or industry.
The only
Foreign Languages faculty member who is fulltime has exposed students to
computer-assisted instruction and modern audio-visual materials and methods
after having participated in Title III.
As mentioned in section D.1, technology is woefully lacking.
The only
fulltime member of the Foreign Language faculty was absent much of last year
due to a workplace injury and childcare leave.
Despite the limits on her time and the large number of professional
demands, she has done her best to keep things current on her website. The Foreign Language website needs further
development but may have to wait until she can devote more time to it.
4. If appropriate, describe the support the program receives from industry. If the support is not adequate, what is necessary to improve that support?
Not
applicable.
PART E: Budget Request
1. What resources (staff, facilities, equipment and/or supplies) will be needed in the next six years?
The Foreign
Language program is constrained from growing, sustaining a sequence of courses
for the Spanish major, and providing instruction in a broader range of classes
due to limited resources. Resources
needed to maintain a viable program include the following:
·
Electronic,
multi-media classrooms in which to provide instruction
·
At
least one more classroom during the day in which to offer additional sections
of Spanish and in which to offer other foreign language classes now offered
only at night. Prime candidates for day
instruction are Arabic, Chinese, and Tagalog.
·
A
dedicated language laboratory
·
Additional
funds to hire adjunct instructors to instruct new sections during the day.
·
Additional
funds to hire adjunct instructors to instruct discontinued classes at night,
for example, Italian
·
Additional
funds to hire adjunct instructors to instruct additional sections of popular
classes at night, for example, Chinese, Spanish, and Tagalog
·
Additional
funds to hire adjuncts to develop and instruct new courses, such as “Spanish
for the Legal Professions”
·
A
fulltime instructor to permit the building of both day and evening
offerings. The instructor hired should
be qualified to teach Spanish and at least one of the other languages which
will continue to be offered.
·
Reassigned
time for the fulltime faculty member to design and propose
o
A
schedule of offerings to truly serve Spanish majors, for example, a pyramid of
Spanish courses that will sustain enrollment through the highest levels of
Spanish required for the major
o
A
Spanish certificate program to certify for such possibilities as bilingual pay
or court translators
·
Funding
to develop additional partnerships, for example, with Kababayan, Puente, and
WIT
2. If appropriate, discuss methods the program could share resources with other programs in the College and District.
The program
could share the following with the Skyline College ESOL Department:
- Dedicated space for a language
laboratory
- If qualified to teach both ESOL
and a foreign language, a fulltime instructor (Most ESL master’s programs
require some degree of fluency in two or more languages: proficiency in one and a last one
semester in a second.)
- Additional classroom space,
depending on how courses are scheduled.
If new
partnerships are created, resources could be shared among the partners, for
example, between Spanish and Puente or between Tagalog and Kababayan.
Skyline
College Program Review
Worksheet for
Enrollment, Performance and WSCH/FTE
Weekly
Student Contact Hours – WSCH
Report
the 3 previous Fall semesters with
the most recent on the right.
We are
reporting information for each set of distinct language offerings in the
Foreign Language Program for the 3 previous years, both Fall and Spring.
FALL SEMESTERS
American Sign
Language I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 167 193 283
American Sign
Language II
Year 2000 2001 2002
Elementary Arabic
I and Elementary Arabic II
It was still early in the
program to get data since it started Fall 2002.
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 156 132 78
Conversational
Spanish 1
Year 2000
WSCH 51
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Data Not Available
Elementary Spanish
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 372 180 216
Elementary Spanish
Honors
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 279 380 387
Elementary Spanish
II
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 44 100 156
Intermediate
Spanish
Year 2002
WSCH 44
Intermediate
Spanish Honors
Spanish for Public
Service I
Data not available
Spanish for
Travelers
Data not available
Spanish Special Projects
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 4 15 12
* often offered to students
needing to complete requirements for the major when we do not have sufficient
enrollment for a class.
Elementary Tagalog
I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 105 148 320
Elementary Tagalog
III
Data not available
SPRING SEMESTERS
American Sign
Language I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 160 211 274
American Sign
Language II
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 48 80
Elementary Arabic
I
Year 2002
WSCH 124
Elementary Arabic
II*
Year 2002
WSCH 4
*offered in the same
classroom as ARBC I, but with advanced assignments, to accommodate students who
wish to take more Arabic when there is insufficient enrollment to warrant a
separate section
Advanced
Elementary Spanish- Honors
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 146
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Year 2002
WSCH 73
Advanced
Elementary Spanish II
Year 2002
WSCH 69
Conversational
Spanish I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 90 99
Elementary Spanish
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 360 198 234
Elementary Spanish
Honors
Data not Available
Elementary Spanish
I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 302 352 298
Elementary Spanish II
WSCH 129 116 104
Intermediate Spanish Honors
Data not available
Spanish for Public Service I
Year 2002
WSCH 80
Spanish for Travelers
Year 2002
WSCH 108
Spanish Special Projects
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 2 3 9
Tagalog I
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 170 271 168
Tagalog
II
Year 2000 2001 2002
WSCH 100
Please comment on program enrollment and expected tends.
We are unable to comment with as much authority on all
languages because except for Spanish, all of the other courses are taught only
at night and by a small but dedicated corps of adjunct faculty, many of whom
are employed fulltime as foreign language teachers elsewhere during the
day. (Other adjunct faculty are
employed fulltime in positions which make use of their bilingual skills.) We do believe that much of what we observe
for Spanish may also be true for the other languages.
Enrollment
in the Fall is higher than in the Spring semesters generally in all levels of
Spanish. Fall 2000 and 2001 carried
consistently high loads whereas Fall 2002 presented a lower enrollment in
Spanish because the only full-time faculty member was injured on the first day
of the semester. There was some
uncertainty about her return as she tried to continue to work for the sake of
the students who wanted to take classes with her in particular. Finally, medical wisdom prevailed and she
was out on worker's compensation. There
were difficulties in identifying a suitable replacement for her classes on such
short notice because of the strong competition from colleges and high schools
for Spanish teachers. Suitable
replacements were soon identified, but the absence of such a vital member of
the faculty took a toll on enrollment.
We
expect demand for Spanish courses to grow as the number of speakers of Spanish
continues to increase; people who speak and write Spanish will have more to
offer to potential employers and employers may ask employees to learn this
means of communication with an increasing Latino immigrant population. We expect demand for Tagalog to grow as the
Kababayan Program blossoms. If a study abroad
program in the Philippines comes to fruition, this may create a demand for
daytime study in Tagalog. Three factors
may also contribute to increased demand for Arabic classes: continued
involvement by the United States in the Middle East, increased interest in
Middle Eastern studies, and increased numbers of students at Skyline whose
elders speak Arabic. Further, as baby
boomers retire and begin to travel, demand for foreign language classes may
also grow.
FTE and WSCH/FTE (LOAD)
Report the previous 3 Fall
semesters with the most recent on the right
We are
reporting information for each set of distinct language offerings in the
Foreign Language Program for the 3 previous years, both Fall and Spring.
FALL SEMESTERS
American Sign
Language I
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 5.6 6.4 9.4
WSCH/FTE 29.7 446 387
American Sign
Language II
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 2.0 3.0 2.6
WSCH/FTE 297 446 387
Elementary Arabic
I and Elementary Arabic II
It was still early in the
program to get data since it started Fall 2002.
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 5.2 4.4 2.6
WSCH/FTE 366 280 420
Conversational
Spanish 1
Year 2000
FTE 1.7
WSCH/FTE 255
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Data Not Available
Elementary Spanish
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 12.4 6.0 7.2
WSCH/FTE 1116 540 648
Elementary Spanish
Honors
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 9.3 12.7 12.9
WSCH/FTE 1396 1901 1937
Elementary Spanish
II
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 1.5 3.3 5.2
WSCH/FTE 220 500 780
Intermediate
Spanish
Year 2002
FTE 1.5
WSCH/FTE 132
Intermediate
Spanish Honors
Spanish for Public
Service I
Data not available
Spanish for
Travelers
Data not available
Spanish Special
Projects
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 0.1 0.5 0.4
WSCH/FTE 0 0 0
* often offered to students
needing to complete requirements for the major when we do not have sufficient
enrollment for a class.
Elementary Tagalog
I
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 3.5 4.9 10.7
WSCH/FTE 525 740 1599
Elementary Tagalog
III
Data not available
SPRING SEMESTERS
American Sign
Language I
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 5.3 7.0 9.1
WSCH/FTE 799 1054 1371
American Sign
Language II
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 1.6 2.7
WSCH/FTE 240 400
Elementary Arabic
I
Year 2002
FTE 4.1
WSCH/FTE 620
Elementary Arabic
II*
Year 2002
FTE 0.1
WSCH/FTE 0
*offered in the same
classroom as ARBC I, but with advanced assignments, to accommodate students who
wish to take more Arabic when there is insufficient enrollment to warrant a
separate section
Advanced
Elementary Spanish- Honors
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 4.9
WSCH/FTE 439
Advanced
Elementary Spanish
Year 2002
FTE 2.4
WSCH/FTE 731
Advanced
Elementary Spanish II
Year 2002
FTE 2.3
WSCH/FTE 688
Conversational
Spanish I
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 3.0 3.3
WSCH/FTE 450 495
Elementary
Spanish
FTE 12 6.6 7.8
WSCH/FTE 1080 594 702
Elementary Spanish
Honors
Data not Available
Elementary
Spanish I
FTE 10.1 11.7 9.9
WSCH/FTE 1511 1760 1490
Elementary Spanish II
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 4.3 3.9 3.5
WSCH/FTE 645 580 520
Intermediate Spanish Honors
Data not available
Spanish for Public Service I
Year 2002
FTE 2.7
WSCH/FTE 400
Spanish
for Travelers
Year 2002
FTE 3.6
WSCH/FTE 540
Spanish Special Projects
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 0.1 0.1 0.3
WSCH/FTE 0 19 68
Tagalog I
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 5.7 9.0 5.6
WSCH/FTE 850 1355 839
Tagalog
II
Year 2000 2001 2002
FTE 3.3
WSCH/FTE
Please comment on the comparison of this program to College trends.
The programs that are reported in
Program Review are usually single focus programs divided into classes. However, the Foreign Language Program is an amalgam of
disciplines, each discipline a distinct foreign language, under one
heading. These disciplines are
subdivided into classes that sometimes use the same numbering system, for
example, 110, 111, 112,120, 121, 122, and so forth. This superficial similarity masks the diversity of offerings;
each language has its own core of knowledge and linguistic competencies for
students to master as well as a distinct cultural legacy that students must be
aware of, even if they cannot master all of the nuances. Reporting and interpreting data for such
distinct offerings is difficult; factors that increase student demand (thus
load) for one foreign language course, e.g., more speakers of Arabic seek
Arabic classes, may contribute to the decline in another, e.g., French, which
has already been deactivated. Further,
foreign language load may be quite high in those instances where we cannot
afford to offer more than one section of a class, e.g., night classes. The teacher’s choice is to allow students to
enroll in greater numbers than is wise or to deny access completely to the only
section that is offered. Moreover,
there is no proxy for study in a foreign language unless it is study in another
foreign language. (Such proxies may
exist for other areas of study. For
example, sometimes students can satisfy a critical thinking requirement in more
than one discipline; the same may be true for statistics. But substituting Spanish for ASL is often
not valid because the two languages are dissimilar in origin, places where
spoken, and suitability for transfer or a major.) Finally, while load in foreign languages is quite high, perhaps
it should not be so. Perhaps foreign
languages should be judged not by how high the load is, but on how moderate it
is because foreign language acquisition requires individual student response,
practice, and response in class. This
cannot happen in large classes.
Retention and Success
Report data on program
retention and success rate with the most recent on the right.
|
Skyline |
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|
Foreign Languages |
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|
|
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Fall 2000 |
Fall 2001 |
Fall 2002 |
|||
|
|
%Ret |
%Suc |
%Ret |
%Suc |
%Ret |
%Suc |
|
ARBC |
|
|
|
|
81% |
63% |
|
ASL |
77% |
75% |
85% |
85% |
76% |
70% |
|
SPAN |
73% |
67% |
72% |
65% |
79% |
73% |
|
TAGA |
69% |
69% |
71% |
67% |
83% |
71% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
|
Spring 2001 |
Spring 2002 |
Spring 2003 |
|||
|
|
%Ret |
%Suc |
%Ret |
%Suc |
%Ret |
%Suc |
|
ARBC |
|
|
|
|
90% |
68% |
|
ASL |
83% |
77% |
65% |
60% |
82% |
80% |
|
SPAN |
81% |
75% |
78% |
70% |
73% |
67% |
|
TAGA |
70% |
65% |
68% |
67% |
68% |
65% |
Please comment on the programs success and retention rate. Include factors that affect the rates and how college services are used to provide multiple avenues for student success.
We will again
comment primarily on Spanish, again, because this is the discipline which we
know best and the foreign language with the most extensive offerings at
Skyline. The retention rate of the elementary
Spanish courses is higher than the higher levels of Spanish because of their
transfer status. Students tend to
persist more in the elementary levels, unless they wish to major in Spanish,
because there may be less apparent complexity at the lower levels. Counselors and professionals from student
services, for the most part, advise students to come to Spanish classes. We are seeing more and more high school
students take one or two levels of a foreign language class to satisfy college
entrance requirements, especially when their high schools may have cut back on
foreign language offerings due to budget constraints. Moreover, the Tutorial Assistance Program in The Learning Center
(TLC) increases success and retention rates of the program due to the excellent
work of Felix Perez and the tutors he supervises in language-sharing and
tutorial sessions.
It is important to point out the fact that daily classes
sometimes can be counterproductive to enrollment, especially in the retention
and success of students. Oftentimes
students suggest having classes three to four times a week instead of five
times a week because of competition from other classes and needing to
work. The Spring 2000 and 2001
semesters had a great success and retention rates because SP 120 was offered
only three times a week. The single
factor that limits this scheduling is the shortage of classroom space.
In the future it would also help the Spanish program if
counselors came to class in the second week of classes and talked about the
Transfer Center and therefore worked more closely with faculty to advise students of the transfer
possibilities for foreign language classes.