A small number of unusually well–motivated students are permitted
to enroll in a program of supervised self–instruction in Arabic,
Hindi, Irish/Gaelic, Korean, Portuguese, Swahili, or Swedish. The Self–Instructional
Language Program differs sharply from traditional college–level
language instruction both in its limited goals and in its unconventional
methods. The aim is almost exclusively to develop an active oral
command of the language in question. The materials and methods used
reflect this emphasis: the textbooks are structured around oral drills;
extensive work with tapes is required; there are regularly scheduled
oral drill sessions with a native–speaking tutor; and students
take mid–term and final examinations each semester.
The exact amount of material to be covered is announced at the beginning
of each semester. Drill sessions are planned in accordance with the
tutor's schedule, and students are expected to attend regularly. It
must be clearly understood that these group meetings with the tutor
are intended as review sessions of material with which the students
are already thoroughly familiar from work with tapes. The tutor's function
is to serve as a control and as a model of correct language use. He
or she is not to be viewed as a source of information about the
language. In fact, the entire tutorial is given over to drills and conversation
in the foreign language; there will be no classroom instruction in grammatical
analysis.
Regular and frequent work with audio materials constitutes the heart
of each course in the Self–Instructional Language Program. The
appropriate recordings are loaned out at the beginning of the semester
or made available online. Students enrolled in this program should count
on spending between one and two hours daily drilling with recorded materials.
Beginning, intermediate and advanced spoken Arabic, Irish/Gaelic, Hindi,
Korean, Portuguese, Swahili, and Swedish are offered on this basis when
there is an indication of sufficient student interest well in advance
of fall registration.
Students may not be enrolled in more than one course in the Self–Instructional
Language Program in any semester.
The beginning and intermediate courses in the Self–Instructional
Language Program must be taken for a full year. College credit for each
semester's work is given upon the recommendation of outside examiners.
Prerequisite: permission of the coordinator of the Self–Instructional
Language Program.
Course numbers for Arabic, Hindi, Irish/Gaelic, Korean, Portuguese,
Swahili and Swedish:
105–106. Introductory Language Study (1)
210–211. Intermediate Language Study (1)
310–311. Advanced Language Study (1)