Foreign Language 398

FORL 398
Foreign Languages and Literatures Internship

1. Catalog Entry

FORL 398
Foreign Languages and Literatures Internship

Credit hours (1-6)
Prerequisites: This course is mainly designed for students majoring and/or minoring in foreign languages (limit to sophomores on up).  Students must register for academic credit and their cumulative grade point average should be at least 2.0 as well as their major grade point average should be at least 2.5.

Foreign Languages students’ participation in an intensive immersion experience in the target language of their major.

2. Detailed Description of Course

Specially designed for students majoring and/or minoring in foreign languages, the internship will provide students:
    1) With short-and-long term programs of study;
    2) With the opportunity to communicate in the target language within a given community;
    3) With the hands-on experience dealing with cultural differences by practicing a foreign
        language;
    4) With the opportunity to work with private and government organizations that require foreign
        languages skills both for business purposes and for their basic needs across the nation or
        abroad; and
    5) With experience to understand more about how immigrants affect the local communities in the
        USA.  For example, how immigrants have impacted cities where the intersection between
        different cultures and languages has been crucial.

3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course

The FORL Internship will include a field placement in a private or public agency, regular contact with the Faculty Advisor, and a periodic meeting with the Internship Coordinator. The student will work with a designated Agency Supervisor, will receive an overview of the agency’s objectives, and will complete assigned tasks within the agency. Students will contact the Faculty Advisor to discuss concerns. The Faculty Advisor will assign readings, assignments, and appropriate projects for the specific site placement to provide opportunities to relate theory and practice, in the language of the major. The Internship Coordinator will periodically contact interns to discuss the Internship experience by email or phone.

4. Goals and Objectives of the Course

    1) Practice foreign language with foreign language speakers in a specific setting.
    2) Practice foreign language with clients in a specific setting.
    3) Recognize the individual, group, and/or organizational processes within a specific setting.
        (There are multiple opportunities for Nursing and Criminal Justice in Spanish).
    4) Apply research and teaching methods for foreign languages and literature.
    5) Acquaint students with the facts of professional norms and appropriate behavior with regard
        to work assignments.
    6) Make students aware of personal values and perceptions as it relates to other individuals and
        groups in practice settings.
    7) Develop student’s critical thinking and oral and written communication skills.
    8) Develop a better understanding of foreign languages communities living in the USA and/or
        abroad.
    9) Complete the Internship Application Directions (See FORL Internship Manual).

5. Assessment Measures

Students will be evaluated according to:
    1) Quantity and quality of work
    2) Initiative
    3) Dependability
    4) Interaction with people
    5) Job knowledge
    6) Knowledge and/or improvement of the target language skills

In order to assess these points:
    1) The Faculty Advisor working together with both the Internship Coordinator and the Agency
        Supervisor will assign readings and assignments to be completed by the student during the
        internship.
    2) The student working together with the Agency Supervisor will do an appropriate project
        relating theory and practice for the specific site during the internship duration.
    3) According to the student’s level of proficiency in the foreign language, the Faculty Advisor will
        assign writing assessments in the foreign language of the major:
            a. A Journal will be assigned to students pursuing beginning and intermediate levels of
                proficiency in the target language.
            b. A Final Project will be assigned to students pursuing intermediate and advance levels of
                proficiency in the target language.
    4) At the end of the internship, students will write a statement about their experience and then
        record it and submit it to the Faculty Advisor in order to demonstrate the speaking proficiency
        improvement after the immersion period in the target language of the major.

6. Other Course Information

None

Review and Approval

September 2, 2014