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2004 |
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Admission to both programs is limited; early application is therefore encouraged. Student
wins Spanish Scholarships Teacher wins College Award AKRON,
April 2004: Japanese teacher Sharley Chang received the 2004 Chair’s
Notable Achievement Award for Adjunct Faculty Service. Sharley’s
dedication and effectiveness are evident not only in her consistently
outstanding teaching evaluation scores (4.8-5.0 on the IDEA form) and
laudatory student comments, but also in her generous willingness regularly
to conduct extra study sessions, supervise individual readings, and
provide unremunerated small group instruction at the advanced level.
Student Wins Maison Française de Cleveland Prize
ACTFL OPI Certification received by three faculty AKRON, March 8, 2004
- Thanks
to an ITL grant awarded to Dr. Christopher Eustis, Chair of
the Department of Modern Languages, the department received the
necessary
funds to send Dr. Parizad Dejbord-Sawan, Dr. Paul Toth and Dr. María
Zanetta for training during summer 2002. Following their training,
in order to become certified by ACTFL as an official tester, each faculty
member had to conduct two rounds of oral interviews for a total of some
60 hours, in which they had to record a minimum of eight oral interviews
with subjects representing different levels of proficiency. The
interviews generally lasted one-half hour and then had to be evaluated
by Drs. Toth, Dejbord Beginning spring semester 2004, all French and Spanish majors, double majors, and teaching licensure candidates are required to do an oral proficiency assessment EXIT interview with one of the department’s OPI faculty examiners, before the end of the semester in which they plan to graduate. Interviewees receive from the department an official letter documenting the level of proficiency achieved on the ACTFL OPI Scale. "Association Faverges-Akron" comes to Akron AKRON, January 2004- "Association Faverges-Akron" president Yvette Millot and her husband Bernard came to Akron in January at the invitation of the Department of Modern Languages. The Department, by this invitation, expressed thanks to this couple and the non-profit association who have tirelessly worked with us to assure the success of the Department's Summer Program in the Alps, which has run almost yearly since 1987.
On this, their first trip outside of Europe, the Millots were received at the home of one of their former UA student guests, Becca Barnum, who is now an Akron City schoolteacher. During the ten days of their visit, the Millots withstood the polar weather conditions of the unusually cold winter with good grace, visiting with many Program alumni and their parents, even setting out to see Niagara Falls one very frozen day thanks to the efforts of one of last summer's students. The Millots, despite the cold weather, were charmed by the warmth of their reception and promise to return in milder weather. A complete account of their visit (in French) is posted here and an article about their trip, published in the Dauphiné Libéré newspaper in February, can be viewed by clicking here. The overwhelming response by Program alumni was deeply moving to the Millots and confirms the importance of their study abroad experience in the lives of our students, at least three of whom are currently living in France, and many more of whom now live all over the United States.
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and
Zanetta to determine the level of proficiency according to the ACTFL
scale. It generally is necessary to conduct more than eight interviews
in order to get a sufficient number of suitable samples. The sample
interviews were sent to expert ACTFL-certified tester trainers, who
then determined if they had followed the proper procedures
in conducting the interview and also ascertain if they had made a correct
determination of the subject’s proficiency level. The entire
process was extremely intensive, time consuming, and exhausting
for each of the participating faculty members. It is an honor
for the Department and the University of Akron that the three Spanish
faculty members have completed all of the required interviews
and are now all certified by ACTFL . 
Of
the some 130 students who participated in the Faverges Program since
its inception, nearly half responded to a fund-raising effort to help
to pay for the Millots' trip; over two dozen, from programs as long
ago as 1987, took time out of their busy schedules to attend a Department-hosted
reception in the Martin Center and an evening party held in their honor.
At the reception, the Millots presented the Department with two beautiful
books about Savoie, the region around Faverges: one was a gift from
the Association, and the other a gift from the municipality of Faverges
which has always been very supportive of the Program.