Facilities and Technology
Located on the second floor of Chapman Hall are the audiovisual and multimedia computer laboratories of the Department of World Languages and the office of the director, Mrs. Barbara W. Crider. The audiovisual laboratory has thirty listening booths that also offer the students the opportunity to record their lab programs. Students at the beginning and intermediate levels participate in structured sessions lead by student lab assistants. Analog audio and video tapes along with various digitized sound and video files are used along with DVD´s in an interactive environment as students explore the culture and gain further experience in understanding and reproducing the target language.
During structured sessions in the computer laboratory, students do vocabulary and grammar drills, test their reading and listening comprehension, write compositions, and use the internet to read authentic texts and to do a variety of research activities.
Scheduled lab sessions take place from 8:00 a.m until 3:10 p.m. Monday and Wednesdays, from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 8:00 until 2:00 p.m. on Fridays during the fall and spring terms. Outside of these hours, the computer lab is available for independent use by all students until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and in the afternoon on Friday until 5:00 p.m. Both labs are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. The multimedia lab is operated and maintained by University Computer Services and serves as a general access, university lab when not in use by the department.
Language students at all levels are free to use the audiovisual and computer labs for review, independent video viewing, or for completion of class assignments during a monitored open lab session on Mondays from 3:15 until 6:00 p.m.
World Languages and Cultures Computer Lab
Software available for teaching multiple languages
- Rosetta Stone I and II – An immersion approach to listening and reading, listening, reading, pronunciation, and dictation available in 12 languages: French, Spanish, German, Russian, Swahili, Arabic, Japanese, Italian, Thai, Portuguese, Chinese, Hindi.
- Critical Language Series in Portuguese and Chinese
- Accent (writing assistant program)
- Berlitz Interpreter (dictionary in various languages)
- Adobe Reader
- Quick Time Player
AV resources available for teaching multiple languages
Esprit audiovisual system manufactured by ASC technologies capable of multiple activities such as:
- Listening comprehension through the use of digitized WAV and MP3 sound files present for all languages taught
- Pairing exercises for spontaneous interactions among class members
- Introduction to target language culture and further listening comprehension through the use of digitized WMV video clips providing independent, self-paced review
- Oral exercises for increased oral proficiency and individual evaluation
The Esprit laboratory system has an additional 3 Dell computers for instructional use by the faculty and student staff.
The Language Lab also has four Apple Macintosh systems, used for running the latest version Arabic instructional software.
The offices and classrooms for the Department of World Languages and Cultures are housed on the first floor of Chapman and Burns Halls. All classrooms are equipped with TV/VCRs, overhead and computer projectors, internet connection, and capability for receiving international satellite programs such as SCOLA. Classrooms are designed for interactive learning and are enhanced by language-specific cultural regalia.
