Individualized Spanish at an Undergraduate Institution: Implementation and Evaluation

Abstract

IN AN ATTEMPT T O PROVIDE AN INSTRUCTIONALalternative to the traditional classroom, the College of Charleston has embarked upon an individualized language program in Spanish with only a moderate budget and limited staffing. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the College of Charleston is a state-supported institution of 5,000 students, with a large local enrollment. The institution still retains a twoyear language requirement for all students. Approximately eighty-five percent of the Spanish classes meet three hours per week in the traditional self-contained classroom.Descriptions of individualized programs and their underlying theoretical framework have appeared in numerous books and articles during the past decade. The Individualized Learning Program (ILP) in Spanish at the College of Charleston has incorporated many of the elements of program design which have been discussed in the professional literature: mastery-based learning, variable pacing, flexible scheduling, learning activity packets, small group conversation sessions, and peer tutoring.' SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONSThe implementation of the I L P required attention to three major areas. Funding. While extensive funding was not necessary for developing the ILP, some money was needed to cover the initial cost of equipping the center with tape recorders, Caramates, tapes, and other supplies. Furthermore, the two pmgram directors received a stipend for one summer in order to develop the curricular materials which were based on the textbook used in all Spanish classes.2 The cost of maintaining the program in subsequent years has been com--Modern L a n , p q e Jvurnal, 66 (Summer 1981): 150-54 parable to that of the traditional program in that the student-teacher ratios have been approximately the same.Facilities. Elaborate facilities were not required. The ILP was assigned one large classroom on a permanent basis. This room has been divided into small activity centers for conversation sessions, taped activities, testing, and independent study. The only additional facility used was the language laboratory.Staffing. Obtaining qualified personnel was undoubtedly the crucial factor in determining the success of the I L P .~ At universities with graduate programs, teaching assistants are a ready source of staffing. In undergraduate institutions such as the College of Charleston, other staffing alternatives must be found. The two program directors were each given a onecoune reduction of the standard four-course (twelve hours per week) teaching load in order to supervise the ILP; they have divided the responsibilities for daily administration and have worked closely as an academic team. Spanish majors, native speakers, and other qualified upperclassmen were effectively employed as aides. These students have worked in a tutorial capacity and have provided clerical assistance as well. Work-study monies have usually financed such additional staffing; since student assistants have been used in the traditional Spanish program, their involvement with the ILP has not crea...

Progress in Language Classroom Research: Evidence from The Modern Language Journal, 1916‐2000

“…In addition, they outlined in much greater detail than previous classroom research the reliabilities of their extensive test measures, and they were the first explicitly to employ analysis of covariance to adjust for initial differences-although researchers from the beginning of the Journal's publication had shown concern and attempts to adjust for lack of equivalence between treatment groups. Also to the credit of Clark and Clark and of Blickenstaff and Woerdehoff, they sampled student attitudes toward the instructional variables, a practice that up to that time had been neglected in classroom studies (sam-pling of student attitudes toward instruction was undertaken more extensively in the 1970s and afterwards, as in Moody, 1976, a correlational study only; Benmaman, Moore, Morgan, & Rowe, 1982;Joiner, 1977;Nieman & Smith, 1978;Schulz, 1977;and Swaffar & Woodruff's 1978 review of several correlational studies at the University of Texas).…”

“…The paced group did better on achievement measures, but students with higher language or scholastic aptitude achieved relatively better in the control group, another finding of an aptitude by treatment interaction. A final study on this topic was Benmaman, et al (1982), whose large Individualized Language Program (ILP) was compared with regular class sessions in Spanish. Comparisons between the two groups showed significant advantages for the ILP in MLA test achievement adjusted for predicted grades.…”

“…In contrast, Bovée's (1923) groups lacked equivalence, so that he had to make an argument based more on their distinct rates of development; Russell (1940) provided no statistics nor comparison of initial abilities between his two reading groups, and the author's own reading test was the eventual comparison measure; Mueller and Niedzielski (1966) compared unequal groups in two different years; and Benmaman, Moore, Morgan, and Rowe (1982) conducted an attitude assessment of only the experimental treatment group.…”

MLJ Editorial Policy: Reflections on the Profession, Definition of Its Disciplines

“…The 1980s saw the end of the Cold War and the publication of recomendations by the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies; Benseler (1980b) published a special issue in the spring of 1980 about the Commission's report and ACTFL's booklet to disseminate it. In 1980 ACTFL held its National Conference on Professional Priorities, which recommended increasing empirical and action research; the MLJ published key research studies and papers on reading (e.g., Allen, Bernhardt, Berry, & Demel, 1988;Lee & Musumeci, 1988;Swaffar, 1988) and reported results of teaching innovation (e.g., Benmaman, Moore, Morgan, & Rowe, 1982;Twarog & Walters, 1981). In 1980, Paul Simon published The Tongue-Tied American, and, in 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education published A Nation at Risk: An Imperative for Educational Reform, which advised the country that its students were not being well prepared in core subjects; ACTFL responded with its Proficiency Guidelines and the MLJ published numerous studies and critiques both to challenge and to defend them (e.g., Bachman & Savignon, 1986;Kramsch, 1986;Lantolf & Frawley, 1985;Lee & Musumeci, 1988;Lowe, 1986;Magnan, 1988;Schulz, 1986).…”