Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy
Encyclopedia
The Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) is a summer language immersion program for pre-college students. Founded in 2008 by Middlebury College
and its graduate school, the Monterey Institute of International Studies
, MMLA convenes on college campuses in the United States. Languages taught at MMLA include Arabic, French
, German
, Italian
, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish
.
MMLA organizes its curricular calendar into four weeks, each assigned a theme by MMLA faculty. Following these themes, faculty cover one lesson unit each regular day. There are nineteen total lesson units in a summer at each Language Academy. The curriculum that faculty use is a program designed by MMLA in 2010. MMLA asserts that this program is based around the student workbook, designed, edited, and translated by MMLA staff in 2011.
is most often recognized for an undergraduate liberal arts program on its Vermont campus. In 1915, the College established the first Language School, the School of German. In an attempt to maintain an immersion environment, faculty at this summer program asked that students and colleagues commit to a "Language Pledge" to communicate exclusively in their target language. The Schools offer instruction in Arabic
, Chinese, French
, German
, Hebrew
, Italian
, Japanese
, Portugese
, Russian
, and Spanish
. Currently, Middlebury College’s Language Schools run programs on the original Vermont campus, as well as at Mills College
in Oakland, California
.
and its graduate school, the Monterey Institute of International Studies
opened MMLA with the intent of hosting a Language Schools program for pre-college students. The summer program has often highlighted its use of the Middlebury Language Pledge and maintains that the Pledge helps create an educational community and promotes a language immersion
environment. MMLA opened in 2008, hosted by the campuses of St. Michael’s College, Vermont and Menlo College
, California. These locations taught Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish. During the summer of 2009, MMLA moved its locations to Green Mountain College
, Vermont and Bard College
, Massachusetts. During the summer of 2010, MMLA opened a German program, reopened its location at Green Mountain College, and opened new locations at Oberlin College
, Ohio, and Pomona College
, California. MMLA has continually announced new locations for the summer of 2011.
, Poultney, Vermont
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Roger Williams University
, Bristol, Rhode Island
Languages: Italian, French, Spanish
Swarthmore College
, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Wofford College
, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Languages: French, German, Spanish
Lewis University
, Romeoville, Illinois
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Oberlin College
, Oberlin, Ohio
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish
Pomona College
, Claremont, California
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
University of California, Santa Cruz
, Santa Cruz, California
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Middlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
and its graduate school, the Monterey Institute of International Studies
Monterey Institute of International Studies
The Monterey Institute of International Studies is a graduate school of Middlebury College, located in Monterey, California, United States...
, MMLA convenes on college campuses in the United States. Languages taught at MMLA include Arabic, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Mandarin Chinese, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Curriculum
MMLA requires students to take a Standards Based Assessment of Proficiency (STAMP) test, administered at the beginning of the summer. MMLA faculty use this test to place students into proficiency levels. There are five proficiency levels in Chinese, German, French, and Spanish academies, and three proficiency levels in the Arabic and Italian academies. The STAMP test is also administered at the conclusion of MMLA’s summer program. MMLA uses these two STAMP tests to measure student progress and submit a metric to the regular school-year teachers of MMLA students.MMLA organizes its curricular calendar into four weeks, each assigned a theme by MMLA faculty. Following these themes, faculty cover one lesson unit each regular day. There are nineteen total lesson units in a summer at each Language Academy. The curriculum that faculty use is a program designed by MMLA in 2010. MMLA asserts that this program is based around the student workbook, designed, edited, and translated by MMLA staff in 2011.
Middlebury College Language Schools
Founded in 1800 in Middlebury, Vermont, Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
is most often recognized for an undergraduate liberal arts program on its Vermont campus. In 1915, the College established the first Language School, the School of German. In an attempt to maintain an immersion environment, faculty at this summer program asked that students and colleagues commit to a "Language Pledge" to communicate exclusively in their target language. The Schools offer instruction in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, Chinese, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
, Portugese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
. Currently, Middlebury College’s Language Schools run programs on the original Vermont campus, as well as at Mills College
Mills College
Mills College is an independent liberal arts women's college founded in 1852 that offers bachelor's degrees to women and graduate degrees and certificates to women and men. Located in Oakland, California, Mills was the first women's college west of the Rockies. The institution was initially founded...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
.
Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy
Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury College
Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, USA. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts,...
and its graduate school, the Monterey Institute of International Studies
Monterey Institute of International Studies
The Monterey Institute of International Studies is a graduate school of Middlebury College, located in Monterey, California, United States...
opened MMLA with the intent of hosting a Language Schools program for pre-college students. The summer program has often highlighted its use of the Middlebury Language Pledge and maintains that the Pledge helps create an educational community and promotes a language immersion
Language immersion
Language immersion is a method of teaching a second language in which the target language is used as the means of instruction. Unlike more traditional language courses, where the target language is simply the subject material, language immersion uses the target language as a teaching tool,...
environment. MMLA opened in 2008, hosted by the campuses of St. Michael’s College, Vermont and Menlo College
Menlo College
Menlo College, often referred to as Menlo, is a private, four-year baccalaureate college specializing in business located in the Silicon Valley town of Atherton, California.-Campus:...
, California. These locations taught Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish. During the summer of 2009, MMLA moved its locations to Green Mountain College
Green Mountain College
Green Mountain College is a coeducational private environmental liberal arts college located in Poultney, Vermont, in the USA.Green Mountain is located in the Vermont countryside, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks.The College has a core set of courses...
, Vermont and Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, Massachusetts. During the summer of 2010, MMLA opened a German program, reopened its location at Green Mountain College, and opened new locations at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, Ohio, and Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, California. MMLA has continually announced new locations for the summer of 2011.
Current Locations
Green Mountain CollegeGreen Mountain College
Green Mountain College is a coeducational private environmental liberal arts college located in Poultney, Vermont, in the USA.Green Mountain is located in the Vermont countryside, at the foot of the Taconic Mountains between the Green Mountains and Adirondacks.The College has a core set of courses...
, Poultney, Vermont
Poultney, Vermont
Poultney is a village in Rutland County of the U.S. state of Vermont. The village is entirely within the town of Poultney. The population was 1,612 at the 2010 census...
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University
Roger Williams University, commonly abbreviated as RWU, is a private, coeducational American liberal arts university located on in Bristol, Rhode Island, above Mt. Hope Bay. Founded in 1956, it was named for theologian and Rhode Island cofounder Roger Williams...
, Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a town in and the historic county seat of Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,954 at the 2010 census. Bristol, a deepwater seaport, is named after Bristol, England....
Languages: Italian, French, Spanish
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
, Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Swarthmore is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Swarthmore was originally named Westdale in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to Swarthmore after the establishment of Swarthmore College...
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Wofford College
Wofford College
Established in 1854 and related to the United Methodist Church, Wofford College is an independent, Phi Beta Kappa liberal arts college of 1,525 students located in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. The historic campus is recognized as a national arboretum and features “The...
, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...
Languages: French, German, Spanish
Lewis University
Lewis University
Lewis University is a private Roman Catholic and Lasallian university located in Romeoville, Illinois, United States . The enrollment is currently around 6,800 students...
, Romeoville, Illinois
Romeoville, Illinois
Romeoville is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. The population was 21,153 at the 2000 census. As of 2006 the population has grown to 36,837. It is located in the southwest suburban area of Chicago near the newly constructed I-355 extension south from the Stevenson Expressway to I-80...
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin, Ohio
Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, to the south and west of Cleveland. Oberlin is perhaps best known for being the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students...
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish
Pomona College
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private, residential, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. Founded in 1887 in Pomona, California by a group of Congregationalists, the college moved to Claremont in 1889 to the site of a hotel, retaining its name. The school enrolls 1,548 students.The founding member...
, Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of California, Santa Cruz
The University of California, Santa Cruz, also known as UC Santa Cruz or UCSC, is a public, collegiate university; one of ten campuses in the University of California...
, Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
Languages: Chinese, French, Spanish