USD’s language programs look to attract more students through ‘renewed focus’

As the world gets seemingly smaller through the ease of global communication, several changes in the languages department at the University of South Dakota this year aim to broaden students’ horizons past those of the rural Midwest.

What was once known as the Department of Languages, Linguistics and Philosophy has been renamed to the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics. The philosophy branch was moved to the Department of History. The changes were made to create a more concise purpose for the department, said Matt Moen, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition, several in-depth courses have been added, new instructors have been hired and Russian is now available on campus.

The language department is also under new management, as Laura Vidler replaced István Gombocz as the chair of the language department.

“I was excited to come to USD because of the depth and breadth of the language program,” said Vidler in an email. “Our language clubs are very active, many of our students study abroad and our alumni are successful in business, teaching, public service and graduate school.”

Currently, courses in Spanish, French, Russian, Lakota, Latin and German are offered. Only Spanish, French and German are available as majors to students.

Arabic was removed last year due to low enrollment, despite being listed by the U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship Program (CLS) as one of the 13 most important languages. Students are still able learn Arabic through partnerships with other universities.

The CLS provides low-cost study abroad opportunities to students who show an interest in studying certain cultures, according to its website. CLS’s programs are not just limited to undergraduate and graduate students, but professionals can also enter a program.

CLS’s mission is to encourage Americans to be able to use more than one language, and to improve relations between U.S. citizens and people in other countries.

At USD, about 50 students are majoring in a foreign language, Vidler said.

Senior Bailey Kilpatrick, who is studying Russian, said there is nothing about the Russian program she would want to change despite some overall concerns about the department.

“(For the) foreign language department specifically, I wish that there was more importance given,” Kilpatrick said. “It’s not an easy subject to learn and definitely harder to master.”

Of the six languages at USD, only Lakota originates from a continent other than Europe. Russian is the only language at USD that is on CLS’s list of critical languages.

[notification type=”grey” title=”U.S. Department of State’s Critical Language Scholarship Program critical languages”]Arabic, Azerbaijani, Bangla, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Punjabi, Russian, Turkish and Urdu.​[/notification]

Russian

Russian was last offered at USD in 2007. Ilmira Dulyanova taught the language on campus between 2004 and 2007. The program was cut when she returned to Uzbekistan as part of her Fulbright program.

Fulbrighters, as they are called, stay in a host country for a set amount of time while working on their studies and research projects.

USD contacted Dulyanova and invited her to return to teach Russian again this year, which she accepted.

Dulyanova wrote in an email that she is thrilled to again have the opportunity to teach others about her rich native culture, and whether or not a degree in Russian will be offered “depends on the students’ interest in the Russian studies.”

There are 15 students enrolled this semester in the first-year Russian course, Dulyanova said.

Kilpatrick said the program is on the right track as far as fulfilling her academic needs.

“I like the opportunity that USD has given us to take such an interesting language,” she said.

Spanish

With 300 students enrolled this semester, Spanish is the most popular language being offered at USD. Of those students, 30 are Spanish majors, said Angela Helmer, associate professor of Spanish.

In recent years, USD has focused on strengthening the Spanish program, Helmer said. A new instructor, Alexandru Lefter, is teaching first-year Spanish classes, and the learning environment itself has been altered.

Students have the option of taking new Spanish courses on a variety of subjects, including Latin American culture, phonetics, writing and Hispanic linguistics, Helmer said.

Helmer added that first-year students are learning through a newly-introduced “flipped-classroom” method. Students study the content before they show up for each class session and then practice the content in class.

This method is designed to help students interact more with their instructors and peers, as well as give them opportunities to use the language directly in the classroom, Helmer said.

Senior Jesse Van Maanen said she has had a positive experience with the Spanish program, and there is nothing in particular she would change.

“Angela Helmer is definitely a wonderful asset to the program,” Van Maanen said. “She always takes time for students.”

German

István Gombocz, professor of German, is working to expand the German program to give students a more rounded learning experience.

Two weeks ago, Gombocz applied to allow second-year German courses to count towards fulfilling the globalization graduation requirement set by the South Dakota Board of Regents. Currently, only first-year courses are counted for the globalization credit.

“Our catchphrase should be — if we did have one — ‘small but strong’,” Gombocz said. “Given our size, we are not doing bad at all.”

Gombocz said he wishes to see relations between USD’s German program and those at South Dakota State University and Northern State University be strengthened.

“We have more to share than they realize,” he said.

Senior Sydnie Dunn, who is majoring in German, said there are things she would like to see changed with the program. Due to a lack of on-site instructors, she said, to obtain a major students have to take online or Digital Dakota Network courses instead of learning the material directly in a classroom.

“The teachers that we have are really awesome and really able, but because the department is so small, it’s lacking,” Dunn said, clarifying it’s not at the fault of the professors. “I just wish that Dr. Gombocz had the help to be able to offer higher-level German classes on campus.”

Moving toward global student success

The inclusion of languages depends largely on student enrollment, Vidler said.

“We are also very interested in reflecting student interest, global developments and demographic shifts,” she said. “Economic factors do creep in, however, and students vote with their feet.”

Students can contact the language department and suggest new language programs, allowing USD to determine which programs are most likely to hold interest.

“The recent restructuring and renaming of the department has provided us with a renewed focus and energy,” Vidler said. “We are working together to provide the best language and linguistics program in the state.”

(Patrick Morrison, a University of South Dakota graduate student, holds up a matryoshka doll during a Russian language class Monday in the Delzell Education Center. Malachi Petersen / The Volante)