Middlebury College Language Schools
Encyclopedia
The Middlebury College
Language Schools, started with the establishment of the School of German in 1915, offer intensive undergraduate and graduate-level instruction in 10 languages during six-, seven-, or eight-week summer sessions. The Schools enroll about 1,350 students every summer. The Schools all use an immersion
-based approach to language instruction and acquisition. All students in the Language Schools must sign and abide by Middlebury's "Language Pledge," a pledge to use their target language exclusively during the duration of their time at the School.
Undergraduate instruction, available both to undergraduate students as well as government employees and individuals from professional backgrounds, is offered in Arabic
, Chinese, French
, German
, Hebrew
, Italian
, Japanese
, Portugese
, Russian
, and Spanish
. Additionally, graduate-level instruction is offered in Chinese, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. The Language Schools also offer a Doctor of Modern Languages
(D.M.L.) degree, currently unique to Middlebury.
was established, becoming the first of Middlebury's Language Schools was founded. The most recent School, the Brandeis University
-Middlebury
School of Hebrew
, was established in the summer of 2008.
Middlebury's Language Schools have historically been conducted at the College's campus in Middlebury, Vermont. In the summer of 2009 the College opened a satellite campus at Mills College
in Oakland, California
to accommodate growth in the enrollments in several of the schools. For the summer of 2011, Middlebury at Mills will offer Arabic, French, Japanese, and Spanish instruction. Students in French and Spanish may opt to study at either the Middlebury or Mills campuses.
In 2010, an advanced Arabic class was responsible for a controversial rap video satirizing the school and emphasizing the difficulties in thinking fully in a foreign language. English subtitles are available here.
-based approach to language instruction and acquisition. The Schools also stress cultural instruction in addition to pure language instruction. Students in all of the Language Schools are required to sign the "Language Pledge." The Pledge, which has been in continuous use since the 1920s and is a registered trademark of Middlebury College reads:
The focus on immersion learning and the exclusive use of the target language allows the Schools to offer the equivalent of a year of language instruction in either six-, seven-, or eight-week summer sessions. The length of sessions corresponds to relative difficulty of the language.
(D.M.L.) degree. Unique to Middlebury, the D.M.L. prepares teacher-scholars in two modern foreign languages, helping them develop as teachers of second-language acquisition, literature, linguistics, and language pedagogy.
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,...
Language Schools, started with the establishment of the School of German in 1915, offer intensive undergraduate and graduate-level instruction in 10 languages during six-, seven-, or eight-week summer sessions. The Schools enroll about 1,350 students every summer. The Schools all use an 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,...
-based approach to language instruction and acquisition. All students in the Language Schools must sign and abide by Middlebury's "Language Pledge," a pledge to use their target language exclusively during the duration of their time at the School.
Undergraduate instruction, available both to undergraduate students as well as government employees and individuals from professional backgrounds, is offered 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...
. Additionally, graduate-level instruction is offered in Chinese, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. The Language Schools also offer a Doctor of Modern Languages
Doctor of Modern Languages
The Doctor of Modern Languages degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. It is similar to the Ph.D. and the Doctor of Arts degree in Foreign Languages....
(D.M.L.) degree, currently unique to Middlebury.
Founding and Expansion
In 1915, the School of GermanGerman 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....
was established, becoming the first of Middlebury's Language Schools was founded. The most recent School, the Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
-Middlebury
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,...
School of 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...
, was established in the summer of 2008.
Middlebury's Language Schools have historically been conducted at the College's campus in Middlebury, Vermont. In the summer of 2009 the College opened a satellite campus 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...
to accommodate growth in the enrollments in several of the schools. For the summer of 2011, Middlebury at Mills will offer Arabic, French, Japanese, and Spanish instruction. Students in French and Spanish may opt to study at either the Middlebury or Mills campuses.
In 2010, an advanced Arabic class was responsible for a controversial rap video satirizing the school and emphasizing the difficulties in thinking fully in a foreign language. English subtitles are available here.
Language Instruction
All of the ten Middlebury College Language Schools use an immersionLanguage 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,...
-based approach to language instruction and acquisition. The Schools also stress cultural instruction in addition to pure language instruction. Students in all of the Language Schools are required to sign the "Language Pledge." The Pledge, which has been in continuous use since the 1920s and is a registered trademark of Middlebury College reads:
"In signing this Language Pledge, I agree to use ______________ as my only language of communication while attending the Middlebury Language Schools. I understand that failure to comply with this Pledge may result in my expulsion from the School without credit or refund."
The focus on immersion learning and the exclusive use of the target language allows the Schools to offer the equivalent of a year of language instruction in either six-, seven-, or eight-week summer sessions. The length of sessions corresponds to relative difficulty of the language.
Graduate Study
Six of Middlebury's summer schools — Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish — offer graduate programs in addition to the undergraduate component. These are completed during six-week summer sessions, with an option of combining the sessions with overseas study. The graduate degree most often conferred is the Master of Arts. The MA in German requires one summer on the Middlebury campus. A second summer is required for the MA in Russian, Chinese, and Mediterranean Studies; it is optional for the MA in French, Italian, and Spanish.Doctor of Modern Languages (D.M.L.)
Middlebury offers a Doctor of Modern LanguagesDoctor of Modern Languages
The Doctor of Modern Languages degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. It is similar to the Ph.D. and the Doctor of Arts degree in Foreign Languages....
(D.M.L.) degree. Unique to Middlebury, the D.M.L. prepares teacher-scholars in two modern foreign languages, helping them develop as teachers of second-language acquisition, literature, linguistics, and language pedagogy.
See also
- Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury CollegeMiddlebury 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,...
- Language schoolLanguage schoolA language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...
- Mills CollegeMills CollegeMills 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...
- Doctor of Modern LanguagesDoctor of Modern LanguagesThe Doctor of Modern Languages degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. It is similar to the Ph.D. and the Doctor of Arts degree in Foreign Languages....