Foreign Language Institute July 20-26, 2003

In the summer of 2003, Austin College will present a unique immersion experience for high school foreign language teachers in Texas. The Austin College Summer Foreign Language Institute offers teachers an opportunity to refresh their language skills and develop new cultural and technology resources for their students. Up to six (6) teachers in each language -- French, German, Latin, Spanish -- will participate in the one-week, residential Institute with three native speakers and faculty from Austin College's Department of Classical and Modern Languages.

Each day's schedule includes culture and literature workshops in the morning, technology workshops in the afternoon, and additional cultural activities in the evening. Activities are conducted in small groups according to language. Most meals will be taken together, but each language group will have one night to prepare traditional food from one or more of the countries where the language is spoken. Participants speak their target language at all times, except during the technology workshops. The atmosphere is informal and highly collegial.

Eligibility Requirements Current, full-time high school teacher of French, German, Latin or Spanish in Texas. Planning to teach in the fall of 2003. Access to computer and Internet resources of your school for you to develop materials and for your students to complete assignments. Letter from principal supporting your attendance and providing assurance that your students will have access to computers for foreign language course work in the fall.

Participants will lodge in the new Jordan Family Language House. All workshops and events will take place in the classrooms and common rooms located in the House. This unique complex houses foreign language students at Austin College during the regular school year and was designed with language and culture immersion as its raison d'être. It is divided into four sections, one for each language, consisting of bedroom suites and a commons area. There is a kitchen where participants can create the culinary specialties of their countries. Two high-tech classrooms, a computer development room, and a residential computing facility support the educational activities of the House. State-of-the-art technology in the classrooms and total language immersion in the House offer an exceptional experience for participants and faculty. All fees, including single room charges and board for the workshop week are funded by a generous grant from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation in Ft. Worth, Texas. Travel to and from Sherman must be arranged by the participants.

Click on this link to download the 2003 Institute application materials in PDF format. (Download Adobe Acrobat Reader for free)

More information and preliminary activity/workshop schedules will be available at this site in the spring semester of 2003. We will also have information about the number of continuing professional education hours available to teachers to maintain standard certification.

For more information, please contact the Director, Dr. Robert Cape (rcape@austincollege.edu)