Townhouses immerse Spanish speakers

The Foreign Language Department is teaming up with Resident Life to potentially create “living and learning communities” within the townhouses as early as next fall, and Spanish speaking students will participate in a course designed to immerse the students in the Hispanic culture.

According to Andrea Lemire, assistant professor of Spanish and coordinator for the Foreign Language Department, these “living and learning communities,” as Lemire called it, will be very beneficial to the students as well as the IWU community. The students who live in the townhouses will enroll in courses, the requirements of which are still under construction.

Some of the benefits of this program will be that the students will speak more Spanish, interact non-stop with other speakers, potentially make cultural meals and reach out to Hispanics.

Another benefit is the opportunity for students preparing for or returning from study-abroad programs. Being a part of the living and learning community will help in the transition process both before and after the students’ trip.

Brandon Hill, Associate Vice President for Residence Life, believes that if Residence Life sees an interest from students that this program is very likely to happen. Residence Life’s role in the program would be on the administrative side. They would hold the space and coordinate getting the students into place.

Hill has seen the benefit of this kind of program at other institutions.

“I think it is very valuable,” said Hill. “Students learn how to live their lives holistically and be a life long learner. They recognize that the place where you live can also be a place where you learn. There is a purpose behind the community that they live in.”

According to Hill, student development is really driving this concept because of repeated proof, through research, that these kinds of experiences create better learning environments.

“Whether it is GPA or one’s ability to graduate or life change, in these kinds of intentional units, all the scores go up,” said Hill.

Hill explained that because of the benefits it has on the community, student development people at other institutions are pushing for this type of program.

“What’s exciting is that it is the faculty at IWU that are passionate about the concept already and our job can just be to help get the logistical work done for them,” said Hill. “I’m absolutely thrilled with the possibility of partnering with them.”

Lemire shares Hill’s excitement, and while there are still many details to work out, she is hopeful that the program can begin by fall of 2010.

Consider these Related Articles:

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 8:00 AM and is filed under News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.