Debating -- the manipulation of language -- is one of his "greatest strengths," but, in the eighth week of his Spanish II course, a student in the Class of 1998 found himself struggling to earn a D.
The two-year member of Dartmouth's Forensic Union, who wished to remain anonymous, was attending drill and class, and even doing additional workbook exercises, but he was having problems hearing the exact pronunciation of words in drill and keeping up with the rapid-fire pace of the instructor's questions.
This was not the first time the student had struggled to learn a language at Dartmouth -- he had dropped Chinese 1 in the seventh week of class, dropped Spanish 1 in the eighth week and barely passed the class the second time he took it.
After four terms of struggle and lost time toward working on his economics major, the student was diagnosed with a learning disability and his language requirement waived. But he was not discouraged -- he is now learning Chinese with a tutor at a more comfortable pace.
"One method doesn't work for me. I'm sure there are other methods," he said. "People learn in different ways."
This senior is not the only student who cannot keep up with Dartmouth's fast-paced language program. Between 30 and 35 students are granted language requirement waivers in each 12 month period, Chair of the Language Waiver Committee Richard Sheldon said.
But the root of these students' problems and what Dartmouth should do to improve its language program is cause for debate at the College.
The Rassias Method
Language professors and administrators are questioning whether the Rassias method or the time pressure of the Dartmouth Plan causes these students' problems, or whether these students would have difficulties in any language-learning situation.
Some of the students who are granted language waivers were diagnosed with learning disabilities in high school, but many discover these problems only when they try to learn languages with the primarily oral Rassias Method, said Nancy Pompian, student disabilities coordinator in the Academic Skills Center.
"It's this method that flushes them out," she said.
Pompian said students who are visual learners or who have serious hearing problems may have a level of proficiency in drill and oral work in "contrast to their written work."
She said these students may have learned to read, speak and write later than average children and may also have difficulty learning Latin and other languages, since reading and auditory learning are closely linked.
French Professor John Rassias, who developed his Rassias Method for the Peace Corps and modified it for Dartmouth students, said these students would have difficulty learning languages using any method.
"[The Rassias Method] appeals to the emotions," he said. "It appeals to the fun people like to have."
Rassias said he realizes learning disabilities are serious problems, but said professors and students can work together to make it easier for students to learn with the method.
Rassias said one strategy for teaching students who have hearing problems is to call on them towards the end of a recitation rotation.
He mentioned one student with a hearing aid who succeeded in his language class by sitting "right smack in the front row" and "tuning in on everything."
"If a student has troubles learning and one day comes up with something, it's a distinct triumph," he said. "That makes such a vast difference."
Making modifications
Other language professors at the College said they have also taken steps to adjust their diverse teaching styles to suit the needs of learning disabled students.
Senior Lecturer in the Spanish Department Myrna Velez said learning disabled students or students having problems in her Spanish 1 and 2 courses are allowed to work with language lab tapes alone in their rooms or dorms instead of in the language lab, and said some students use signals in class and drill to determine when they will be called on.
"Some students with disabilities get so nervous [in class] they get physically ill," she explained.
Velez said that, before each exam, she makes available to all her students a practice test that "has the key elements of the exam," an option she started for her learning disabled students.
German Professor Bruce Duncan, who teaches with a combination of several methods, said he tries to arrange tutoring for learning disabled students and gives any student the option of taking untimed exams.
Students in introductory German classes also learn from "computerized drills," computer programs that will not allow students to continue if they have entered an incorrect answer to a question, he said.
Hua-yuan Mowry, chair of the Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures Department, said she uses the "spirit" of the Rassias method to make her classes as "efficient and interesting as possible."
She said she offers students having difficulty in her introductory language courses the option of going to extra office hours and, if the problem is serious enough, may refer students to the experts in the Academic Skills Center.
Although she does not usually encourage students to drop the course if they are having difficulty, she said she would expect students having extreme difficulty in the course who were taking it to fulfill the language requirement would not continue in Chinese.
"I would assume if a student comes to our classroom to fulfill the language requirement and clearly cannot do it, he would drop the course and go to some other more familiar language," she said.
More than extra help
Pompian said extra help may not be enough for some learning disabled students. She suggested a three-or-four-term, "more visually-oriented teaching method" for students interested in taking languages who had difficulty learning with the fast-paced Rassias method.
Pompian noted, however, that the D-Plan could make three or four terms of consecutive language learning difficult to achieve, and said it would be vital to have a continuous course for these students.
Barbara Loomis '99, who spoke to five learning disabled students while doing research for a paper she wrote in a "Second Language: Teaching and Learning Theory and Practice" course, offered some other suggestions as to how to improve Dartmouth's language program -- especially the Rassias method's morning drills.
"Students who had hearing problems at some point in their life and often rely on lip reading to understand the spoken word have trouble with the 'cue, snap, point, look' order because they often cannot see the mouth of the driller when the cue is delivered," Loomis wrote.
Loomis brainstormed with the students, and compiled suggestions as to how teaching assistants could improve drill. These included reviewing concepts before each morning exercise and tossing a ball to students instead of snapping and pointing.
She wrote that the ball would take some of the pressure off students by reducing the Rassias method's sense of urgency.
Another option for students having difficulty learning languages is to pursue a language waiver.
Students with waivers are given the option of not taking language courses at the College. If they do decide to take introductory language classes, they are allowed to use the non-recording option two additional times for those courses, according to the Organizations, Regulations and Courses book.
The decision to grant a waiver is based on the results of a battery of learning disabilities tests, a letter from the student explaining their difficulty learning languages and a letter from the last person who taught the student a language, Sheldon said.
Students who suspect they have learning disabilities are pre-screened by the Academic Skills Center, then given a list of specialists who can test them for disabilities, Pompian said.
Most of the students tested are sophomores who are either avoiding Dartmouth's language requirement or have had trouble learning with Dartmouth's program and have been referred by their professors, she said.
But Velez said the time it takes to diagnose a learning disability proved too long for one student in an introductory language class. By the time the student received the results of her learning disability test, which revealed she had a very limited short term memory, she had already completed her Spanish class with a grade of B-.
Despite this student's triumph, which was due partly to daily meetings with the professor, Velez said completing a language course can be more harmful than advantageous for a learning disabled student.
"I wish we could [test students] so they wouldn't have to go through one full term," she said. "Most people do lose heart. I think that's natural."
