Department: Foreign Languages; Spanish
What type of interesting features do you incorporate into your classes?
Pedagogical trends in contemporary foreign language learning favor the communicative approach in the classroom. Since Spanish comes in second place, in regard to the total number of speakers in the U.S., it is relatively easy to incorporate real materials in teaching. Students have the opportunity to practice all four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in the classroom. We use the Internet, video segments and students' own experiences to illustrate and expand cultural knowledge. We work in groups to practice dialogues, do exercises and interview each other, and we use the language lab to improve oral skills and record our voices on tape. In more advanced courses, students' interests are reflected in portfolios, papers written in the target language and outside of class activities, such as conversation sessions with the teaching assistant or the organization of a movie night. Because we use as much Spanish as possible in the elementary courses, and only Spanish thereafter, students feel more comfortable communicating in the language.
In your opinion, how is Mount Union College unique from other small liberal arts colleges?
Mount Union College fosters a strong sense of community both inside and outside of the College campus. College faculty encourages students to develop life long learning skills and a desire to excel, while preparing in a discipline of their choice. The personalized faculty-student relationships help the students make more informed decisions that positively affect their future. At Mount Union College, study abroad is a graduation requirement for language majors. The requirement is easy to fulfill because the study abroad program is an integral part of the College curriculum.
How do Mount Union students benefit from attending a small school as opposed to a larger school?
Students receive more individual attention from the administration as well as from the faculty. Class sizes are small, and therefore opportunities for learning and advancing in their field of interest are easily accessible. In regard to language learning, class size is essential; it provides an appropriate atmosphere to develop proficiency. In our department, teaching assistants are here to aid the students in developing language proficiency outside the classroom. They don't have regular teaching assignments.
Have you done any interesting research or developed any interesting courses at Mount Union? If so, explain.
While at Mount Union I have dedicated considerable time to the study of film and literature and film adaptation of literary works. This has provided me with a more solid background for teaching the Spanish Cinema class. In the area of classroom teaching, I have done some research on portfolios as an assessment tool for language learning. I usually require portfolios as part of the course activities in intermediate and upper-level courses.
What kinds of opportunities do Mount Union students have after graduating from College?
In the field of languages, being proficient in a language other than English, particularly in Spanish, is a very valuable job skill in any field. Having a working knowledge of Spanish has become an essential component in your plan of study, if your future plans include a job in a big city, in the south or in the southwest. We can no longer ignore a Hispanic population that surpasses the forty million figures in our country. Recent graduates of Mount Union with a Spanish major or minor are presently pursuing degrees in the areas of law, biology and international relations; Spanish majors with a teaching licensure are very sought after nowadays, and our graduates have little difficulty in finding a job.
In what activities do you participate in your spare time?
I like to read, travel and spend time with my family.