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Foreign Language
Mission Statement
The mission of the Foreign Language Department is for every girl to acquire a working facility within the language in which she can understand and express herself clearly and effectively within the range of her experiences and needs; and to develop a recognition of the universality of human experience, and an understanding of the people whose language is studied through insights into their values and behavior patterns.
The Foreign Language Department of Mount Carmel Academy is comprised of ten teachers. Classes are made up of 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade students. We offer the following classes: Spanish I, Spanish I Honors, Spanish II, Spanish II Honors, Spanish III, Spanish III Honors, Spanish IV Honors, Spanish V Honors, Spanish V AP, French I, French I Honors, French II, French II Honors, French III, French III Honors, French IV Honors, French V Honors, Latin I Honors, Latin II Honors, Latin III Honors, Latin IV Honors and Latin V Honors.
We believe in and strive to incorporate the Communicative Method of language instruction into our classroom. To learn how to use a second language, a student must not only be given constant exposure to the language, but must also be offered every opportunity to use it in real-life communicative situations. The typical Mount Carmel Academy language classroom, whether it be Spanish, French or Latin, will be focused on maximizing use of the target language, mastering grammar and instilling appreciation for the cultures associated with the target language.
While our primary instructional goal is to maximize the use of the target language in the classroom, we do allow the use of the primary language in moderation. There is, however, a thin line between moderate use and overuse of English in a foreign language classroom. If meaningful progress in the target language is to be made, the teacher must make every attempt to make that language the main language of the classroom. It is exceedingly difficult to make a value judgment as to when English is appropriate and when it is not. Therefore, English should only be used when absolutely necessary, as a last resort, and this philosophy must be adhered to from the very start of the semester.
We recognize the vital part that grammar plays in the ability of a student to learn a new language. We know that most of the principles of grammar can be learned outside of the classroom environment. On the other hand, it has been our experience, both as teachers and students, that the grammar units presented in beginning language texts do not always explain new concepts adequately. It is the teacher's responsibility to fill in the gaps, and make every effort to ensure comprehension. When needed, several minutes can be diverted to a discussion of grammar, and whenever possible, the conversation should be conducted in the target language. However, at times a more protracted analysis of harder grammatical concepts may be necessary, and English may be the more appropriate language in which to hold discussions.
An important component of the language classroom is culture. We feel that it is very important to make cultural activities a priority, next to the actual teaching of the language. Most students who decide to major in language do so not because of the written and spoken words themselves, but rather because of the culture that comes as an inherent part of the language experience. We believe that the cultural component is critical in creating life-long learners and in incorporating values to our curriculum. Examples of such activities include a travel agency project were students plan and design an itinerary for a client traveling to a Spanish speaking country, and a project where students create a power point that encourages programs to study abroad.
Our department focuses on group activities and pair work more than any other type of exercise. These activities are meant to be carried out in the target language. We constantly prompt for comprehension checks, and encourage our students to let us know if they do not understand a particular grammatical concept. The classroom should provide the student with as close to an immersion experience as possible. The language lab will assist the teacher in monitoring the students' level of proficiency. We believe in incorporating alternative assessment techniques into the curriculum and spend a great deal of time researching and developing assessments that encourage communication in the target language. Students take a pre and post assessment to measure their base knowledge and growth.
Our department also believes in cross-curriculum activities. One such activity is a project we do with the Art department. The Spanish four students create a self- portrait after studying Frida Kahlo's art work. They are taught basic art techniques by the art teacher which enables them to create their own self-portraits. We know that these activities emphasize fundamental application skills that the student will need for critical thinking.
The Foreign Language Department sees technology as an integral part of our instructional strategies. We believe as 21st century teachers that technology is our bridge to engaging 21st century learners. Some technological resources include the following: Starboards, student response systems, wikis, gcasts, voicethread, edublogs, Photostory 3, and flip cameras. The department has created a wiki (www.fldeptmca.pbwiki.com) to allow teachers to access any pertinent information related to foreign language at Mount Carmel Academy.
Our students are required to fill out a teacher evaluation form at the end of the first semester and then again at the end of the year. We realized that by asking our students for their feedback in the middle of the year and not just at the end, we are able to incorporate changes immediately. Many of our changes in assessments and teaching techniques are the direct result of feedback we obtain from our students.
Hurricane Katrina has resulted in many changes in our department. We have had a change in department members and we adjusted our curriculum to suit the needs of students affected by the hurricane. The hurricane forced our department to evaluate the material that we know to be essential from the material that was superfluous.
We believe that it is the teacher's responsibility to make their students comfortable in the learning environment. A supportive environment must be fostered so that students feel free to approach their instructor with any question or problem. Each student must be made to feel like her participation counts for something more than a grade. If the teacher demonstrates genuine interest in the students, it is usually met with a positive, reciprocating attitude. In a nutshell, we see ourselves as salespeople. The best salespeople are passionate about their product, able to effectively convey the benefits of that product and always cognizant of treating their customers with respect. That's what we strive to do.
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