One of the characteristics of the well-documented bifurcation in collegiate foreign language (FL) instruction is the difficult transition from lower-to upper-level instruction. Particularly pronounced are the expectations placed on readers at the upper level. No longer engaged in surface readings and sentence-level exercises that stay focused on everyday situations with clear intent and unambiguous meaning, learners at the upper level must shift to supersentential and discourse-level processing of texts that contain a significantly higher level of abstraction and ambiguity. Recognizing that preparation for such an approach to reading requires longterm attention, this article explores the pedagogical feasibility of implementing in beginning instruction the type of textual thinking and reading practiced at upper levels. Implemented in two sections of first-semester German (N = 27) while students read a full-length novel, this pedagogical approach centers on developing beginning learners' ability to see texts as message systems that reveal cultural significance. DESPITE REPEATED AND PERSUASIVE CALLS for change over the past 15
The collegiate foreign language profession has become increasingly aware of the unnecessarily detrimental effects of bifurcated curricula on student learning and departmental governance, yet there have been few instances to date of departments that have been able to achieve unified, articulated programs of study. This article presents one foreign language department's initiatives and activities to do just that. We describe the collaborative process that the German Studies Department at Emory University underwent in its full-scale revision of the undergraduate curriculum. The chairperson begins the description by explaining his role in the reform process. Other faculty members continue the description by outlining the institutional and department context, the impetus for reform, the curriculum's theoretical framework, and the different curricular levels. An ongoing, multi-year project, the revised curriculum has placed demands on students and faculty but also indicated promise for enhanced departmental identity and student learning. § It is no secret that collegiate foreign language (FL) education has been leading a bifurcated existence for decades. The divided departmental structure that characterizes much of the profession has been documented, discussed, and deconstructed in leading professional journals, including the ADFL addressed and problematized this curricular and structural bifurcation. Perhaps the central characteristic of this division is the separation between so-called "language" courses at the lower level and so-called "content" courses at the upper level, which manifests itself further through the divergent pedagogies (communicative approaches vs. literary and cultural analysis) and competencies (speaking vs. reading/writing) that are prioritized at the two levels. Such differences reflect, in turn, differing notions of language and language acquisition. Whereas lower-level instruction frames lan-1 1 A shorter version of this article was presented at the 2010 AATG Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. MAXIM, HÖYNG, LANCASTER, SCHAUMANN, & AUE: OVERCOMING CURRICULAR BIFURCATION 3 3Although not necessarily focused on collegiate FL education, Systemic Functional Linguistics (e.g., Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004), particularly in its work on genre, provides promising research and theoretical frameworks that have important applications for supporting articulated FL curriculum construction. 4 The German Studies Department at Emory offers a major and minor in German Studies and currently graduates each year roughly 15 majors and minors combined. In the past five years, total enrollment in German classes has averaged around 200 students each semester. The department typically offers each semester 5 sections of first-year German, 3 sections of second-year German, and 1 section each of Level 3, 4, and 5.
This position paper argues that collegiate foreign language (FL) education has lost sight of the central role that language plays in the profession. Regardless of one's sub‐field within foreign language education (i.e., linguistic, literary, or cultural studies), the profession shares the common focus of exploring how to make and interpret meaning in and through language. The paper therefore recommends that an acknowledgement of and re‐commitment to this foundational principle provides common ground to effect the types of change within departments that have long been called: the integration of upper‐ and lower‐level instruction; the reform of graduate student teacher education to foster curricular thinking; the explicit and systematic attention to the development of advanced language abilities; and the establishment of a collaborative departmental culture centered around publicly shared beliefs and concerns.
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