Languages Across the
Curriculum (LXC)
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WHY WE
NEED TO USE LANGUAGES THROUGHOUT THE CURRICULUM
The failure of our educational system to produce
multilingual and intercultural competence has inhibited our nation's
international effectiveness. Stunning opportunities and staggering
challenges abound in a "global village" characterized by increasingly
interdependent ecology, multi cultural artistic and intellectual
activity, and frightening cultural and political conflicts. we have
repeatedly found ourselves lacking the human resources needed to
interact effectively across the world's many linguistic and cultural
boundaries. As the saying goes, if you want to buy something, any
language will do, but if you want to sell something- be it a consumer
product or a political precept- you must learn the language of your
customer. We are not selling well these days, and we are also not
learning as much as we could about how other people work, think, and
feel. Our monolinguilism is an expensive exception in the multilingual
world. Requiring more students to take language courses is almost
certainly not the answer. In a 1991 position paper titled "A National
Plan for a Use-Oriented Foreign Language System," Richard D. Lambert,
director of the National Foreign Language Center, observed: "We expend
almost all of our national resources for foreign language learning on
first-time, low level language learning among high school and college
students, then watch those minimal skills decay and disappear through
lack of use or reinforcement...We need a set of institutions that will
reinforce and build upon past language learning." Opportunities for
language use must not only be more numerous but also focus more on the
specific language needs of students. students at all levels must be
given opportunities and incentives to employ their language skills in
new contexts. Fresh approaches are needed. Binghamton University's LxC
program is one of several recent initiatives nation-wide to improve the
intercultural knowledge and content-focused multilingual skills of
American college students. The long-term goal of LxC is to enable
students to use any language they know in any class at any level
anywhere in the University curriculum. To work toward this goal,
Binghamton's LxC program introduces a new ingredient: language resource
specialists.
The Role of Binghamton University's LxC Support Staff
To identify 7-12 courses per semester, outside of the language departments, in which optional assignments in a variety of languages can reasonably replace 10 to 20 percent of the course. To help faculty integrate LxC assignments into the course syllabus, including specification of the function of LxC assignments in the evaluation of student course performance. To train international graduate students as Language Resource Specialists (LRSs) as they prepare and implement LxC assignments in courses within their areas of competence. To assist LRSs and faculty in ensuring that LxC assignments enhance understanding of the subject matter of the course and foster intercultural understanding and language skills. To provide logistical and material support as requested for all LxC-related activities and needs.
STUDENTS with intermediate or higher reading proficiency in a language (generally with at least three high school units or three college semesters of study). Students join LxC study groups in LxC-supported courses to use and develop their reading skills in a language other than English and to obtain intercultural perspectives on the course subject matter.
FACULTY outside language departments, regardless of language proficiency. Faculty participate in Languages Across the Curriculum (LxC) to broaden and enliven content of their courses by including optional learning materials in a variety of languages. Such materials provide intercultural perspectives on the course content and foster student language skills. The LxC staff helps prepare languages to be used in 10 to 20 percent of the assignments in each LxC-supported course.
The key to the success of Binghamton's LxC program lies in its solution of the resource problem. Although language faculty typically posses considerable expertise beyond their areas of scholarly specialization, few would feel comfortable preparing and implementing assignments in more than a small number of disciplines. Similarly, nonlanguage faculty typically possess the linguistic proficiency to employ and non-English material in their courses. However, few would feel comfortable doing so in more than one or two languages. Fewer yet possess the breadth and depth of cultural knowledge to make the most of non-English sources. But another group of people on campus does not possess the disciplinary, linguistic, and cultural proficiencies to do the job: International graduate students. LxC employs international graduate students as language resource specialists to prepare class assignments in their areas of study. LxC assignments are thus characterized by disciplinary sophistication, linguistic accuracy, and cultural authenticity. We know the LxC idea works, because we have seen its effects. Participating students keep their reading skills fresh, learn new vocabulary, and acquire valuable intercultural knowledge. Faculty find their courses energized and enriched by the influx of non-English learning materials. International students acquire new skills and attain new insights into their own areas of specialization as they share their linguistic and cultural skills and knowledge.
LXC, 209-210 Hinman Commons, (607) 777-2499, Binghamton University
Webmaster and
general inquiries: lxc@binghamton.edu