f , 1: 22-t

LANGUAGES
FOR INTERNATIONAL
PROFESSIONS:
A PILOT
PROJECT
lN THE spfing ol 1981lhree faculty membersof !h
Departmenlol Foreignl-anguagesat Arizona State
Unnehir x o s e rh e$, i h h e .h d i ,ra 1 ..e o Irode.i sn
Gail Guntemann and
a newprogramfor studenlsinterested
in beginningrhe
Debonh N. Losse
p d rto I rh e rrp re p d rd r' on
of
d
l
a
n
g
L
d
8
d
e
.
tor
i
n' t ud)
containingall theCrmmar oflhe language
and
lernational prolesrions.rThis new program,enritled cou.ses,
all fealures
rolghly equalvalue.(2) situalional
l-ansuages
tor lnlernationalProfessions
Prcject(LIPP), assigning
wai to provideanahernativetotherguld fouHemester or phrasebook malerials,which providenenorizable
for givensiiualions,and (3) textsior specilic
basicsequence,
whichwasatlemptingto meettheneeds sentences
careers,
such
as ndicine,busine$,or police.None of
oi allstudents,includinglansuagemajors,
sludentswirh
specialprofe$ional goals,and thosewhoseonly puF thesemet LIPPsoak, whichare1odelelopgeneralco6proficiencyin the languageas well as the
posewasto meetlanguage
requiremenls.
A proposalwas mLrnicalive
w.itten requestinggrant funds ftod the Forergn abil'ty to functionin socialandwork relatedsituations
ukinc inlo accouni
Languaceand InlernalionalStudiesProsranofrbe U.S. common!o avarietyofprofessions,
Depar!ftentofEducalion to designand implementthe the culturalconventionslhar detrninefieclivecomnew programin fiv languages-Chines,
French,Ge.
The conceptualbasisfor lhe desienof rhe materials
man, Japanese,
and Spanish.Two lrofessorslor each
of the languaeeswere to prpa.ecou6e syllabi and sas providdby an adaplationfor Americanacadcmrc
marerialsfor a rwo yearsequence
ro be telescoped
into programsol the luncrionalnorional project lor lhe
oneyearbymeansoflvo-hour classes
four daysa week Councilof Europe,whichhasbeenattemptingto define
(five days for the Asian lansuaeet.: The srant was and meetthe communicarive
needsof Europeanswho
a*arded, and pilot couBeswereconducledin French must (oss linguislicboundariesfor travelor work.r
and Spanishduringthe198283academicterm.
Couses The lislingot tunctional,nolional,or linguisricfeatures
for the'1hrsholdlevel" in sever3llancuages
has pro
are currenllyunder way in all five languases.
A r i/ ona SE reI n i v e ^ y , i n rd d ,r,o nro ,r . mr..ron videda nodel lor the speciticationol coftnunicative
the
asa research
institulion,hasbeencbargedwith building needsol other languacelearners.Neve.lheless,
consis!of qtensile listsof
ro fe * ro n ddl re d se: ncrnee,rne,!hresholdlryelspecifications
t o, e\ , elle n .ei n ' e \e rd p
l
that learners
business,
sciences,
and so on. The lansuagedepa.tment functions,nolions,and linguisricexponents
three
wasawa.erhat manystudentsin languageclasses
cane couldb qpctedlocommandafterapproximately
from theseprofe$ional schooh,alrhoughaltemptsto yearsof sludy (van Ek and Alcxande.).Our students
and theyareAnericansplanningto *ork
establishties fo. collaboratincin the desienof inter arebeginners,
disciplinarydes.eeprosramshad not mel wilh success. in manypdrs of rheworld-Furthermorqthe funclionalnolional approachin itselt doesnot providea means
T hr ous hLIPP rh ed e p " rrm e nhro p e dro e n l nrrhei n
nor
terestand suppon of colleagues
acrossthe campusby ol ryingtogetberrhe elementsof communicalion,a
or reaching
betlermeeringthe needsolsrudenlsand facuty whose doesit takeinto accoun!learningprocesses
metbodolocies(Brumfit). For thesereasonsthe LIPP
wo.k involvesoveBeasservice.
rhetunc
pro
Ieam$otl ed toserher
to .pecrl Jandsequence
Toidenlifylhe communicative
needsofAmerican
ftalch themwith thesramnalicd and
fessionalsliving and workins in other counlries,team tionalobjeclives,
membeB interviewedrepresentatives
of international lexical feaiures of the languages,devise learnrne
business,bankins. and sovernmentasencieswho had nateriah and activilies,acreeon a uniform format for
servedabroad.Fromrheseinierviews
and othersources, le$ons, and desicnan approprialetestingprogram.
ln carryingout thesetasks,teammemberefollowed
a list ofimportant functions,altitudes,and culluralinseveralprinciplesand procedures.Firs!, to p.ovide
lormat,onsas compiled,and the specificsoalsand ob
jectivesof the courseswere defined. New nareriak materiahquickly lor lhe pilot projec! (sinceonly one
differinssisnificantlyfro6 distine lertbookshad to be month of summerwork sas providedfor under the
gran!),it wasdecidedthat a basicgrammartext sould
be adoptedand !ha! teammenbn *ould concn1ra1e
Designof lhe Malriah
Theautho6arc, rcspe.1irelf.Aseciale PrcJe$otofSpunlsh
A surveyrevealedthal cufenlly availablenatenars and oI ForeEnbryuaqe Edu&lion and AssaciarePralessor
arolthree types:(1)texlsdesisnedfor generalpurpose oJ Ften.h at A loha State UniveBit,
ADFL BuLLErrN,16, No. 1. SEITEMBER
1984

3l

Ctt?- 2
on hatchingthegrammarpoinlswith functionsand on sponsoredtraining progrms.
wrilins dialoguesand conmunicariveexercises
lor practice Srudenlswouldbuy tbe basicgrammaltdt and lhe
Tne Pilol Project in l'rnch nnd Spanish
photocopiedmanual.Afler the first year,
accompanying
completenareriah$re!o bewriuenandtesrcdin subsc
Constrain$oi lime, sel by ihe granr propoial and
quent classes,thus obviaiing the need for a separal grantingagency,necessitaEd
the launchinsof rhe pilor
c r am m d -e \,. a o m p l e e e \rb o o l . a F o$ bc.ne D ,oi p.rrr\r r$o rorrh. atre hereamti hr mer,o be8 : r
prcpaledin Frenchand Slanish.
writing the marerials.Once the materialshad been
Functions,graftmar poinls, and vocabularywere dqelopcd-stiUan ongoingprocess therean facedthe
slected,
matched,and sequenced
accordingto rheirdif- problemofadvenisingclasses
to a poFntial clienleleof
ficulty and lheir useiulne$for beeitrnenpreparinglor over forty thousandstuden$. Brochuresstressingthe
inrernationalprole5sions.
Teammembe6studiedbooks lunctionaldesignot the counesa.d the professional
and arricles,identiliedby a library searchdealincwith conrextwrprin!d, distriburcd,and posted in the
iunclional nolionalapproaches,
languags
io! specific variouscouegesof rh univerity. Incomins freshmen
purposcs,and inlensiveprogruns.Workshops
{ere con- *cre informed of the p.ogram in their orienlahon
ducredon learningtbeorn teachinsmelhodolosies,
and packet.The sludentne*spapercatriedan anicle on lhe
rhe implicationsof lunctionalnotionaland orhercon' p!o' ecr.al rfoug\ ' he a i cl edppearcdroo l are o in
currentconceplsin cou6edesisn.The rem rhenworked lluenceiall enrollment.Students*ho wereenrolledin
logetherto integrateand sequence
the essenlial
material. the traditionalbesinningclasesot Frenchand Spanish
At the endoflhe first yearoi thesrantfunher guidance wereinformedofthe projed on rhe first day oiclasses,
for.eadjustineobjeclives
md restructuring
materialswas md thosewho wereenthusiasdc
abourihe praclicalgoals
pfovidedby the publicationof lhe ACTFL Provisional of the coursewerepermittedto lransferinro rhe pilo!
Proiicie.cy Guidelines.r
To providesuificientcomnunicalivepraciicewith the
The pilot projecr took place in the acadenic year
grammarand functions,il wasagreedthat the l 9E 2.E l .5r-dent,rere rel e.redon rhebari i oi an in.
essentjal
nalerial would b spreadout oyer tbe two semesters terviesdesignedto determineholivalion, prolessional
(whichin the regular,nonintensive
prosramwouldcon goah, academicrecord,and rime commitnient.While
sritutelao yea6).Durine rh firs! yarthe struclureof studentshad ro be beginnes in the target language
the materialswasdictatedby the basicterri for subse- prefcfeDce
wasgiven10sludenlswith previouslanguage
qucnlrcvisions,
several
concepts
arebeingincorporated: trainins. A few hishly motivaled studcntswilh no
1. Much oi rhe materialconftonly includedin text previousexperience
in foreigr languages
wereadmittedbooksibr besinnemis desisnated
asre.eptivematerial, In seneral,thesestudentshad moredifficulty in acqutr
produ.ed IngrrreIarcerl dncuace
thal js,to be comprchcnded
bul not necessarily
bLr rere \eIoul anJ con .re n
by learnes.For daftple, beginners
arlypicallyunable
r o c on, r o l ,e n d ipr ' o n o u nto rn \j \u c ha d e monnraU \e\ Since teamteachingwirh an dperienced, nativeand posesivesi turlhermorq theseforms may not be speakingteachingassistanlwasan essential
component
essentialfor
corlnunicadonar this]evel.Otheremples
of the project,sreatcarewasiakenin the scleclionof
are tbe rororDs and los iorns of verbsin Spanish the reachinsassistants.
The iwo chosen,one in French
(assuminstha! thc countryto whicb rhe srudenrs*ill
and one in Spanish,we.ekDownior lheir eDthu$asm
be assisnedis not known).
and previoussucce$in molivatingstudcnts.Exlreniely
2. Materialcanbespnabd;thal is.becimetscanlearn inponant is the willinsnessol the assislantto devotc
verybasicwayslo carryout a function,e\pandingtherr time both ro coune design and planning with the
reperloiresat a latcr slageto achievea hieherlevelof cooperatingfaculty memberand to cultuml actiliries
sophislication. Beginners can learn ro introduce oulside the classroom,
themselvesor orhers with lidited srammar and
al a* .i /e sa, l i mi red,o $en y rudenr.. P ,or e'
vocabularnshercasadvancedsludenrsshouldbe able gujdeljnes
xplicillyencour3ge
teamte3chingro be car
I o pr e. ( nrp (o p l ea p p ro p ri d te.n
l Ja v d j e rJo i.i rudri on\. ried ou! in the lollowins *aysi demonslratinscullura]
Finally,the lestjngproeran includesoralp.oficiency poinlsrhroughimproljsalionanddialogueaded out by
I nr er \ F s .d . q e l .a . a .h re v e me re
n r r!. 8 d \i . i erv.e$ bothinstructors
bfo.etheci6sj splittingup rhesludenls
teslingp.ocedures
havebeendemonstrated
fo! rheream into pairsor lriads 1lJlree the instructorsto circulale
in the workshop,and it is planncdthat for eachot rhe aroDndtheclass;and dividinsthc classinto rvogroups
three"comftonly laught" languages,
at lealtonefaculty fo. discusion,wirh eachgroupnonilored by oneofthe
{ i l l p a n i .i p 3 ,ei n rn A a T II o o 5 .. enfl rer,rB
m em ber
worklhop and return to carnpusto train the orhers.
TeacheFdirected
activitieswere1()constituteonly a
Allhough ihe ACTFL projecr does nor yet include small po.tion of da$ rime Once the basicltruclurs
Chineseand Japanese
repfesenhrives
oftheselanguages had beninroducedvithinrheir funclionalandculrural
areseekingopportuni!iesto parlicipatein Covernment contextsirheinnrucrorproviddthe studentswith con-

32

,
tdtualizedactiviries
10cMblethemro generate
theirown
fu1ure Pllns
ltuations and dialoguesin authcnticpersonalized
com
municarion.Ellorls weremade ro linit corecrio. ro
At presentonly thc lirst t\lo yearsof LIPP arebeing
thosceros thal activelyimpcdecomnuni.arion.Mosl implemented.
Senispecjalized
andindi!idualiTcd
cou6es
clas! timc was deroted lo srnrll group activiriescm
are cnvisioDedfor the lh;d scmesterof nldyj ro tcad
phasizlnglhe useolrhe languageto satisfybasicneeds: jnlo ad!anccdcou6esin.one!pondenceand docunengr ee, . n8p( o p l c . J ,ti rc fo n to rm J r' o n :e \ r' F* i nr Ialion alreadyottefedin lhe departmenl.The derignoi
salisfa.tion,doubt,lack of comprehensjon,disappor.r-Ihird seftestercounesaDd rnateriahuill requireus ro
nenti and requestlng
srvices.
lUanyof rhe\elunctions /l ) i J-nrj b rl e mo F.p..,r /coneed.r.,hi l -enrdl or
r dnl hjehc h < l rro .Ird e n -fe ' r(..,J
D rore\i on oroI
uoenr..rl rd\e.\o rokr!and.i -o In 1rui ,.tron Deedsas reportedin recen!aniclesby Harlow er ty ior providins necessary
iin.ucrion! and (l) enher
al. and Lucasand Lucas.wbereverpossiblcstudents rclool by mansol fu.rhcr study and possiblyintenr
weregiventhcvocabularyand sr.ucturesneeddto mlK shipsor ideDtifypotentialadjunnfacultyo. colleasucs
about their own careenand goak.
fiom otherprolesionalcolleges
who couldreachat leasr
O r d d, h, e L e m e nrer r. s i \e r i r d rJ rU J n,o qri , en lhe mosr rechnicalsubjectnatre. in rhc languages.
tens ai the endofeach lessonand oral proficiencytesrs
s iv enar he! n d rtc d ,h .e n e n e (r..e oo n rh eD a i .,pd.
tion of bolh instructofs.One inslruclor inlcrviesed
Recommend!tions
studeniswhiletheothc.took notesonthesludents'abilities10usethe larguagaccuElely.Ratingswe.ea$igned
For thosedeparlmcntsconsideringnbarkins on a
larerby thc insrrucrorsrogerher,
usingTheACTFLPro
sinilar undenaking,we wouldxdd the iollowingrecom
It was.lee from thestudcntJcourse*aluationscunr
pleledat the end ofeach sernester
that thestudenrsoorn
perceivdand apprcciatedthe funcrionaldesisnof dre
lrogrm. Theynoredlhat theyhad fdmore opportunity
to initiate communicationthan they had had in norc
traditionallaneuage
classes.
Withoutqceptiontheywere
enthusiasticabout the acriviriesand the cmphasison
cultural conrexts.Some studenk requestedthat elen
moretimc bespemon srudyinsculturaldifferences
and
in experiencing
intcrculturalcoftmunicarion.Sruden!s
quickly becafte acquaintedvilh lhe soah ot rhe
funclional notional syllabusand *irici2ed insrances
wheretheyjudsedthal tbegoalswrcnot follo*ed,such
asin the useofclas time.A]mos! everystudenrwould
recommend
the procramto motivaredIanguagc
learnen
who plannedto studyabroad.In fact,sixoflhe rwenly
French sludentsare spendingthe acadcmicyear of
198384 in Franceand afe ir an excellen!positionto
judse the efiicacyol ihc pilot project.Orhersludnrs
cu(endy enfolledin thnd'yearcourseson the.ampus
have reported that they feel belter preparcd than
clasnates *ho lollored lhe resulal prosmm for the fits!
' I hen( w pr c g ra mh a . b ,o u ts l.a
-r m p u s -" rdarren.
e
on
to the studyof foreisnldguasesand !o rheDeparrment
of ForeignLanguaees.
Academicadftinistato.s (om
\ er er c l
p
ro
fe
s i o n apl ro s rm. d r rheuni verd
d
- ollee e .
sity havecontacredthe depetmentalchair to applaud
lhe initiationota pfofessionally
orienledlanguageprosram. Sludentsin ensineering,business,journalism,
premdicine,
and so on who miehl neverbavesrudied
a foreignlanguaeehavesuccesiulty.ompleredthepro
aram, and so6e havesicned up ior more advanced

ll

l. rharthe teachinC
a$isknts and pa.licipatingfa.ul
Iy begivenintensive
trainirg beforereaching
iD rhe
programand rha! they be com'ni ed ro rhe proeram\ soals and procedufcs
2. thal thc tcachingas!isranlsbc relievedolallolhcr
redchi rj ,( pon.i bl i r e. .ur.i dc rhe nrp .r\e
L that ampletime be set asidelor the two insr.ucro.s involvedin reanreachjrg to plan eachday\
lcsso. and activities
4. thal prior ro registrarionsludenrsbe intormeool
the amounl of time rheysill Deedto spendon
studyoutsidecla$ and iD exkacunicularacri!(res
and that a Iinil be seron tbe nunber oi abserces
allowedbefore automatic wirhd.awal hom rhe
5. that a substantialcommnmenrol sulporr be oblained from the u.iversiryadministrariona1 the
ourseroi rhc pfojed.

Conclusion
The appealof a lansuasep.oject bri.ging rosthr
insfuclors ftom five diiferenr lansuasesro work
cooperatively
is evidenr.Tlo yearj experienc
on rhe
alllhe teammedbersthardcspite
lroject hasconvinced
the partjculd p.obleds inlolved in teachingeachrndividual hnguage,rhe processof motilatinc srudenls
lo learna languaseand makinglhem ieel comfonable
u. ng rhe l anguageN thc !dme.l n a l el d { herc i n
rerlanguage
rivalry is commonj!hecooperarive
venrur
provesan excitinsandrNardins qperiene borh for lhe
individualsjnvolvedand tor fie depanmen!asa whole

(t/:
NOTES
rBesides
and Michael
the authos, kurel Rodd(Japanesc)
Flys took pad in {riting thc granl proposal
:Orher rean rembeb are EugeniaTLrand Garv Tipton
(Chinese),Mhiam Morsan (Frcnch),Certrud Schubackand
and ltlesa
walne Senner(Gsman),Esuko Reiman(Japanese),

2t

Com
Lucas,Judnb N., and Jaine Lucas."Studen.Perceiled
municalionNeeds:Infrastructuftof rheFundionalNoiional
Syllabls-SpanGhPoinror Vies." Forekn LtnguageAn
,,& l6 (1983):l?9-86

APPENDIX
'ror a d et ai"d ou. I neor Ln. r ondl_nor r o n. rdpl l c J i o n '
lo syllabusdestn, seeJ. A. van Ek. The proccs iollo*td bv
rhere ad , nipn , 1nglr 0c r ionanor ' or al - o ncepr . ro rl e de i S o
oi the cou{es G oudinedby Gail Cuntermannand June K

Evnpl5

tt Fuh.liansJtun tntenietsrnh

tnternotiohal Prc'

Makina appo,ntment.
Shosingsynpathyand *illi.8nc$ ro helpretpresrnEstm'
Darhyfor a dealh i rhc fanily.
on pfomo.ons, etc
Extendingconerarulations
Crcctins peoplear the door of office or hone
Respondinsto invnanons.
Decidingin which lansuaeeto iunclion.
Stari.g clearlyrhe purposcof an apFo'ntment.

4Theseelemensincludeal lcas the senins wnhin which

andthetr
intedcrionlaks placeithepanicipants
comnunicarive
roles,relationships,
adnudcs,puryosesiand perceplio.silhe
iuncrionsbeinscadiedourl andrhc linguislicerponenbio be
the
enployed.Thethresholdlael speciii.alionsInr separalelv
iunctions,noiions,and linruistic elenenrs
'lh e p s did; ine ha\ e been. r ir r enor 4 e " r o 'o r e i s n
language
educatodand atc basedon lhen own dpertke con
of US govcrnbinedwirh ertensileresearchand expericnce
nert ascnciesrhat lrlin peisonnellor oveaeasscrviceThev
are availablelrom the Ameri.an Councilon rhe Teachingof
ForeienLlneuases(ACTFI), Box 408,HaslinEson Hudson,

ceninS helpriinding soneoneto erplsrnhow ro acr or 8et

Expressing
!ratrtude.
Reldin8 ireel signson aniral in a .e* cny
Ceti.g a houseisellinstesonal eflecbon bein8ransle ed

WORKSCITED

1 \d|pb

o t U 0 , r p d I t t 't o r

- n d L 'a n n a 'P a i 4 r

Planninga *eek\ workr naking economicturecans

Com
Brunfir, Chrisropherl. Frcn Dciinins lo DesieDins:
nunicativeSpecificatio.sveBusComnunicarivcMethod
o lob J r l r or eis n I ar gur S^ I e". o' r g ln f n e f a t e B a
bn4uaEe S|llobus and Cantnuni.alire A?ptoo.hPs 10
leochiq: Pveeding. aJo EutopeonAhtedcdn Setniro. Fd
Kun E. Mnuer Srzltus i, S..a..l Lt\raEe A.qrisitian 1
(1980):1 9.
Ek, J. /\. \an The ThteshaldLretih o EuropeanUnn Credil
slnen Jor Madern LqneuaEe lzatnihs b! Adrtx
Councilfor Cullural CoopeEtion,Councilof
Srrasboure:

Expre$ingararirude,praise,complainG
associttc$ho will pick
Dcscribineyou(elfto a business
you uF ar rhe atrpoil
Ourlinins a fcpon ol rhe pan y.aas work.
Erplaining$herepeoplewereand shai rheyweredolng
$hen lhe bos ried ro call or shen an emergcncv
Prctcritevs. imperfe.tvs. pEsent!erfe.r:
Pre!e.tinsd oralrsunaoipae posilionsandeducahon
ro a potenlialemployerin a job in'errieq

and L. c. Alcmnder ar e Thftshald lzvel lot Modetn

IaUuaEe lzdtninE in S.hoals.Lnndon: bngman, 1977
Cunrermann,Cail, and Junc( Phlttirs.FunctiohalNotional
co4 pl. Aaorh4E lhp I I k\t..o{. I rnclcce ir Fduc"
t.o'. l lPo- J dnof r a , " ur ' l- ingr v ', Da : ( . n 'e r l o 4
plicd Linguisti.s.1932
Harlow,Linda,w. Flinr Smith,andAlan Cariinkel studenr
Percenrd Comsunication NeedsrInfra(rudut ol thc
FunctionalNorionalSyllabus' FareicnblSuoEe Annals13
(1930):ll-22

-i

Apologizinetor nrbordinate\anivinglale on an erand

Explainins.ccds (e.s.,ior fur.ishins a home)
Expessnrgpleasurewhen lhinss are do.e riShr
Ertressingu4ency in makrngan anrcrntnrenr
I nting ieps ior caiiying out a lask

honed by the Mid-Allanlic Slalic Confercnce,will be

held ar the visra lnternationalHolel, Nw York Citn
l -4N o.enber l q84 Io, ddd;ri onal i lon drron \ r : e
The SixteenlhAn.ual Conventionof th American or .r' ' A A A S s,l ' E Tn.:nJ.ommon..S ' " ni ordUr 'q.
Associationfor the Adlancementot Slalic SIudr.s, Sla.iord, CA 94305irel. 41549r 9668.

AAASSConvention

l4