Roughly 150 educators and foreign language teaching assistants from around the world gathered recently in San Diego to share the ideas, teaching skills and culturally enriching experiences they encountered at universities and colleges across the United States.
As part of the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) program “” sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs “” educators and teaching assistants from more than 37 countries “” from the Philippines to Tanzania “” convened Jan. 31 to Feb. 4 for a workshop at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina on Harbor Island.
The student-educators came to the conference to share their cultures as well as to learn from their peers’ experiences as Fulbright teaching assistants at American universities.
Over recent years, the amount of funding for the FLTA program has increased as the U.S. has been meeting the growing need for foreign language instruction, according to Institute of International Education Assistant Director Edward Monks.
“Americans need to learn foreign languages in order for us to be able to compete in the global economy. And, obviously, with the current world situation, in order to understand each other better, we need to understand their languages and cultures. So this program is critical to achieve that goal,” Monks said.
This year, Fulbright brought more than 300 teaching assistants to the U.S. to participate in the program. All participants are from foreign countries, between the ages of 21 and 29, have completed a bachelor’s degree or equivalent and are fluent in English with training or experience teaching English. Assistants teach their native language at their respective universities while engaging in a cultural exchange with students “” an exchange that works both ways.
In an effort to break cultural barriers and expand American students’ awareness of a global marketplace, the program brings students a firsthand experience to learning foreign languages through professional educators who are native speakers.
High school teacher and FLTA Maria Victoria W. Bicbic said her experience has been gratifying. Bicbic is currently teaching her native language of the Philippines, Tagalog, at Northern Illinois University. Bicbic likes being an FLTA because she is able to connect with students and dispel some common misconceptions Americans have about the Philippines and vice versa. She said many people around the world believe that it is easy to be successful without a lot of hard work in the United States and is just simply not true.
“For me, in my quest to help others “” especially teachers to be effective in their teaching “” I would like to believe that this experience is going to help me develop future teachers who will not only break myths but also straighten things out and help propagate a stronger relationship with our neighboring countries and the United States,” Bicbic said.
Because of its emphasis on international relations, the FLTA program allows a lot of time for fun. Students get to mingle and acquaint themselves with not just the language but the culture of the locale where they reside.
In the program, the educators play the role of teacher, student and friend to college students in campus communities, Monks said.
FLTA and full-time interpreter Marina Pashkova said that the program is a great chance to play games and organize activities that teach about Russian culture. Pashkova, who is from Russia, teaches English and Russian and has worked with international security organizations. She is currently teaching with the Fulbright program at the College of Wooster in Ohio. She said that once conversations move past stereotypical impressions about cold weather, communism and the Cold War, she is able to bring different aspects of the Russian culture to light.
“I feel more like a student who has an opportunity to teach. Most of the time is spent with students, and they keep asking me about Russia all the time,” Pashkova said. “That’s how I’m fulfilling my goal even when I’m having fun at lunch with students, or at a party, or when we watch movies together.”
Educating oneself about a culture is an essential part to learning its language. Making this concept fun and interactive is embodied by the language assistants and evidenced by student reaction to the courses, said FLTA and aspiring poet Zablon Mgonja. Mgonja is teaching Tanzanian culture and Swahili at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.
He said that the number of students enrolled in his classes has increased since last semester and they are more enthusiastic about learning about Tanzania. One of his classes on Tanzanian culture increased from seven students in the fall to 17 in the spring. But Mgonja said he was surprised to see that many of his students knew little about the East African country.
“You’ll find a student asking you, ‘You’re coming from Africa? What’s the capital of Africa?'” Mgonja said. “But when you start talking to them about Africa, you tell them about how it’s a continent with 54 countries and all this, they become so interested.”
Mgonja wishes to convey to his students that Africa is full of diversity; each country has different cultures and languages with unique, attractive qualities, he said.
However, Mgonja’s students were not the only ones surprised, he said. The friendliness of the American people, Mgonja said, was one thing that he didn’t expect.
Since Mgonja doesn’t drive, people have been going out of their way to give him rides from place to place. This, he said, he didn’t expect in large part because of the stereotype that Americans are too busy for others. Since this is Mgonja’s first time to the United States, his learning about American culture has proved essential to teaching his classes while overcoming cultural barriers, he said.
“If you only have a concept of your people and your culture, it’s not easy to understand that there are people somewhere that have a different lifestyle and have different things all together,” Mgonja said. “But when [students] learn things about Africa and we learn things about America, it’s good, because we expand our sphere of knowledge and the way we view the world.”
Following the recent conference in San Diego, FLTAs return to their host universities ready for the spring semester with an understanding of how to be better teachers, students and cultural ambassadors, Monks said.
The program, begun in 1968, has been administered by the Institute of International Education (IIE), a nonprofit organization that manages more than 250 international educational programs for the U.S. Government and other large private entities.
For more information, visit www.flta.fulbrightonline.org.