1. Form Following Function The Evolution of the Center for Language Studies at Brigham Young University Ray Clifford 10 November 2012

2. A Brief History 1981: Recognized the need for a Center to teach “special” languages identified in a College of Humanities report, titled “A Comprehensive Language Program for Brigham Young University”. 1994: Submitted official proposal to create the Center to the Academic Vice President. 1999: The official founding of the Center.

3. A Brief History 2000. Taught the first Center-sponsored language classes – classes in 5 low enrollment languages and 5 in major languages. 2004. Recruited a full-time director. 2005. Obtained a $5 million endowment. 2005. Center took over operation of the “Language Houses” for the language departments.

4. A Brief History 2006. Director accepted appointment as Associate Dean as an additional duty. 2006. Reclassified part-time secretary position into full-time program manager position. 2007. Formed a college-wide Language Acquisition Research Colloquium. 2008. Given responsibility (and funding) for the American Sign Language program which needed a new home.

5. A Brief History 2008. Center designated as the “home” of the College MA degree in 2 nd Language Teaching. 2009. Received formal approval of an expanded mission statement for the Center. 2009. Formally delineated responsibilities between the Center and the Language Departments regarding the teaching of major and non-major languages.

6. A Brief History 2010. Gained approval for +Humanities program and a competency-based Language Certificate for all BYU students. 2011. Increased upper-division enrollments by implementing the Language Certificate program in our 10 major languages. 2012. Used the Center for Language Studies as a model to create a college Humanities Center with funded research fellows.

7. Growth: 1999 – 2012 Personnel. – Faculty FTE lines: 0 => 3 – “Shared” FTE faculty: 1 => 18 – Adjunct (PT) faculty: ≈ 7 => ≈ 50 Dedicated space. – 100 sq ft => 4,000 sq ft – A department office suite and multiple offices.

8. Multiple Missions Instruction. Assessment. Research.

9. Instruction General education classes in 50 languages. Advanced (300 level) language classes in 40 of those languages. Teacher education courses and professional development workshops. Credentialing courses for dual immersion teachers. MA degree program in Second Language Teaching.

10. Courses in 62 Languages are taught on a regular basis: AfrikaansCroatian* Hebrew* Latvian*Serbian* Albanian*Czech*Hiligaynon* Lithuanian* Slovenian* Arabic*Danish* (Ilonggo) Malagasy* Spanish* Armenian*Dutch*Hindi Malay*Swahili ASL*ESLHmong* Mongolian* Swedish* BasqueEstonian*Hungarian* Navajo Tagalog* Bulgarian* Finnish*Icelandic* Norwegian*Tahitian* Cambodian*French* Indonesian* Persian Thai* Cebuano*Georgian*Italian* Polish* Tongan* Chinese*German* Japanese* Portuguese*Turkish* (Cantonese) Greek* K’iche Romanian* Vietnamese* Chinese*Guarani*Korean* Russian* Ukrainian* (Mandarin) Hawaiian Latin* Samoan* Welsh *We offer advanced-level classes in these languages We will offer advanced Malay and Turkish in 2013 Major Languages 10

11. Assessment College assessment workshops to help all departments with accreditation requirements. – What? – So what? – Now what? Flagship language program outcomes. Diagnostic “ability profiles” of graduating language majors and curricular implications. Language Certificate option for all students regardless of their major area of study.

12. Research Internally funded. – Language gain in study abroad programs. – Fluency gains of students living in campus foreign language housing. – Language proficiency gains as result of curricular innovation (Russian debate class). Externally funded. – Computer rating of speaking proficiency. – Validation of multi-stage, computer-adaptive reading proficiency tests.

13. Creating a Central Role for the Center An expanded mission statement that supports – Programs across the university. – The College of Humanities’ campus-wide +Humanities initiative. And a strategy for “moving the elephant”. – Take the time needed to build trust. – Feed it whenever you can. – Exert patient, but consistent pressure. – When the elephant shifts it weight, it will move in the direction you want it to move.