SA releases language class survey

By Tina Nazerian     2/4/14 6:00pm

The Student Association Academics Committee is currently gauging student interest on implementing a system for undergraduates to petition to create language classes Rice does not currently offer, according to Academics Committee New Student Representative Brett Gutstein. 

"Rice currently offers courses in 12 languages to undergraduate students: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish," Gutstein, a Lovett College freshman, said. "While Rice's language programs and opportunities are already robust and enriching, many institutions of the same caliber as Rice offer double that amount or have systematic programs that allow students to study languages not offered."

Gutstein said he has spoken with the administration in the Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication and determined what he thinks the system could look like at Rice if approved. 

---

---

A possible model for the system at Rice could be similar to the Group Independent Study in language at Brown University, Gutstein said. 

"A group of students would work with a current faculty member or graduate student capable of teaching the language to create a syllabus and plan of study for courses over the next few semesters," Gutstein said. "However, this system would be slightly limiting because it would require that a Rice faculty member or graduate student be capable of and willing to teach a language not offered."

Gutstein said he thinks the ideal model for Rice's system would be akin to Stanford's special language program. 

"A group of five or more Rice students would commit to taking a language not currently offered for at least two semesters and petition the university to teach it," Gutstein said. "Rice might then consider whether or not to hire a professor or adjunct lecturer to teach the class if funding is available."

While Rice may not be as big as some of its peer institutions, this system would allow Rice to provide students with a similar experience in language education, Gutstein said. 

"With a system in which students could petition for the creation of new language classes, Rice could teach the same less-popular languages that its peer institutions do but without having to spend the resources required to create entirely new departments and permanent classes," Gutstein said. "This system would also significantly enrich Rice students' study of global cultures and act as a marketable asset for Rice as an institution to both prospective students and employers."

Gustein said he will gather responses for approximately the next two weeks. Thus far, students have proposed a wide variety of languages including Cantonese, American Sign Lanugage and Swahili.

SA Academics Committee Co-Chair Nicole Zhao said the survey is purely to determine student opinion and is not indicative of promised results or outcomes. 

"The CLIC administrators have expressed interest in [Gutstein's] idea but wanted to see how much student demand there was for such a system," Zhao, a Brown College junior, said. "From there, the CLIC may or may not pursue such a system - nothing is definitively certain as of now. However, the SA will use the survey results to work for what students want as best as we can."

In the past, some students have tried to address the demand for languages not offered at Rice by creating student taught classes to teach them, but these classes only last one semester and lack the vigor of official classes, Gutstein said. 

According to Gutstein, the idea developed from his desire to learn Persian. He was initially disappointed when he found Rice does not offer the language but realized he could still pursue studying Persian at Rice when he joined the SA as an NSR on the Academics Committee in September.

"Instead of just campaigning for Farsi to be created as a new language, I decided it would be better to create a system for other students like me to be able to study languages that Rice does not currently offer," Gutstein said. 

Dean of Humanities Nicolas Shumway said he is a big supporter of language study and is glad there is this level of interest in languages. He said the logistics of a program like this would have to go through Director of the Center for the Study of Languages Rafael Salaberry.

"One of the big issues here is if a course is going to have an instructor, we would have to find someone who's qualified to teach the language," Shumway said. "Not any native speaker of a language is necessarily qualified to teach that language. Language teaching does require expertise, but we would certainly try to meet student interest in one way or another." 

Baker College freshman Yamin Arefeen said he thinks the potential initiative is a good idea. 

"I hadn't really thought about it before, but a way for students to take classes in languages that Rice doesn't have without Rice having to fund entirely new departments could benefit both the university and the students," Arefeen said. 

The survey can be accessed at tinyurl.com/ricelang.

---