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​Institute of World Languages to host open forum for language students

IWL seeks student input to improve language learning

The College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences received feedback from faculty Thursday on an initiative commissioned early last year known as the Institute of World Languages — which works to promote language learning and instruction at the University.

An open forum for students on Oct. 24 will give students the opportunity to explain how they believe language learning at the University can be improved.

IWL Director Miao-fen Tseng, an associate professor of Chinese, said the Institute aims to improve research and collaboration across language programs and provide more educational resources to students.

“We want to know exactly what [students] need and what IWL can do to enrich their learning experiences in world languages and cultures, based on which we will generate strategic plans to best accomplish our goals to prepare students to be linguistically proficient, culturally competent and thoughtful global citizens,” Tseng said in an email.

The IWL Committee was formed in the fall of 2012 by Italian Prof. Cristina Della Coletta, former associate dean for the arts and humanities, and consists of faculty members influential in world languages and culture studies at the University. Two student representatives, third-year College student Parisa Sadeghi and graduate student Joanne Britland, were more recently given spots on the committee.

“The IWL, at its core, wants to cater to the needs of students,” Sadeghi said. “It's not the sort of organization that students can just join, but we are hoping students will contribute to the IWL's development.”

Since spring 2013, the IWL has worked to devise strategies to increase student and faculty participation — including launching the IWL film and lecture series this spring.

“The forum is more than crucial as we want to hear voices from faculty and different interested parties — a process that I [would] like IWL to go through and to invite, include and inspire our colleagues,” Tseng said.

IWL is also planning to host a roundtable for spring 2015 on foreign language teaching, a speaker series, a film series and a one-day workshop or forum.

“As IWL continues to grow, we want to hear from different parties and constituents: faculty, students, administrators, and anyone who is passionate about world languages and cultures,” Tseng said. “Their voices will help us prioritize tasks and determine short-term and long-term goals for building a vibrant world language community.”

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