Foreign Students as Assistants in Modern Foreign Language Departments

Abstract

Among the placements of foreign students by the Institute of International Education, a growing category is that of language assistants or informants. A number of universities before the war gave fellowships to French-, Spanish-, German-, Italian-, and Portuguese-speaking students in return for assistance in language classes. The Army's experience in language teaching demonstrated on a large scale the importance of constant practice in hearing and speaking a language, and new teaching methods based on Army experience are being widely adopted. Since the war more and more colleges and universities have been using students from abroad in their language departments. The services of native language assistants are occasionally used for grading papers and other of the more routine work commonly assigned to graduate assistants, but they are, of course, especially prized because of the services they can offer in conversation classes. These may be large formal classes, but are more frequently small informal groups for practice in conversation and pronunciation. The assistant also acts as an informant, giving the students an insight into his country and its culture. In addition to actual teaching, foreign students often act as heads or assistant heads of foreign language houses, where these are a part of the campus life, preside at foreign language tables in the dining halls, or help with language club programs. Native language assistants are ideal to complement permanent faculty personnel. University and college budgets frequently do not permit a large enough staff of full-time professors and instructors for maximum opportunities for conversational work. Half-time foreign language assistants can serve this purpose at a very reasonable cost, which appeals to deans and college presidents, while the American student's interest is stimulated by having a native French or Brazilian or Chilean instructor. In addition the foreign student himself is able to spend half-time or more on graduate studies and is given the opportunity of a year in the United States. Language assistants from abroad may be in almost any field of study, except possibly those which require long hours of laboratory work. Foreign students must carry twelve semester hours of studies, or the equivalent, to maintain their status as students on 4 (e) visas, so the amount of time available as assistants will be influenced somewhat by their course of study. Ordinarily little