Didier Bertrand and Enrica J. Ardemagni, School of Liberal Arts
Principal Investigator: Didier Bertrand, Associate Professor of French, Department of World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts
Co-principal Investigator: Enrica J. Ardemagni, Professor of Spanish,Department of World Languages and Cultures, School of Liberal Arts
Project Title: French-Spanish Proposal for Online First-Year Language Sequence
Funding Level: $10,000
Abstract:
The two main challenges of online-course delivery in Foreign Language (FL) learning have always been 1) how to implement the interactive component necessary for oral communication between students and instructors following the current approaches used in American classroom settings, in which oral production and comprehension are highly emphasized; and 2) retention (an issue that extends to all academic disciplines.) Technological developments in recent years have allowed us to bridge the gap between online-course delivery and effective FL teaching and learning. This proposal means to examine both issues in the First-Year Language sequence of courses in French and Spanish at IUPUI, and propose a plan for successful delivery that will be assessed against the criteria regular sections taught on campus are using.
Unlike the hybrid courses we currently offer, these courses, including their assessment, will be conducted entirely online. The focus of this project will be to develop remote assessment methods and to integrate them into the online courses.