| LANGUAGE
ADJUSTMENT REPORTS SINCE SUMMER 2002 |
| WORLDWIDE & COUNTRY
STATISTICAL REPORT-INTENSIVE LANGUAGE STUDY |
Among
648 NMSU students who have studied
languages intensively
abroad, 42-6.5% experienced
what they felt
was a serious language adjustment problems. These
problems occurred in 11 (61.1%) of the 18 countries
in which they had studied. The data show
that intensive language programs are
very effective in teaching
languages and
that few students experience serious
problems in adjusting
to learning
in
an intensive environment. The 18 countries
in which students have studied language intensively
are listed below by highest to lowest percentage
(# of incidents/#
of participants)
of reported
language adjustment incidents at language institutes:
|
Country/Language
|
Language
Study Incidents
|
| SPANISH |
(572)
|
(034)
|
(005.9%)
|
Argentina
|
011
|
0
02
|
018.2%
|
Chile
|
0
08
|
0
01
|
012.5%
|
| Costa
Rica |
176
|
0
07
|
004.0%
|
| Ecuador |
011
|
0
01
|
009.1%
|
| Guatemala |
021
|
0
02
|
009.5%
|
| Mexico |
229
|
018
|
007.9%
|
| Panama |
0
01
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
| Peru |
0
05
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
| Spain |
110
|
0
13
|
002.8%
|
| PORTUGUESE |
|
|
|
| Brazil |
015
|
0
04
|
026.7%
|
|
Country/Language
|
Language
Study Incidents
|
| FRENCH |
|
|
|
| France |
019
|
0
02
|
010.5%
|
| GERMAN |
(025)
|
(010)
|
(000.0%)
|
| Austria |
0
06
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
| Germany |
019
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
|
Country/Language
|
Language
Study Incidents
|
| JAPANESE |
|
|
|
| Japan |
0
08
|
0
01
|
0 12.5%
|
| OTHER |
|
|
|
| Morocco (Arabic) |
0
02
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
| China (Chinese) |
0
04
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
| Italy (Italian) |
0
02
|
0
01
|
050.0%
|
| Russia (Russian) |
0
01
|
0
00
|
000.0%
|
|
| DESCRIPTIONS
OF LANGUAGE STUDY ISSUES (NOTE:
NOT ALL WERE REPORTED ABOVE AS SERIOUS PROBLEMS) |
The
language adjustment incidents experienced by
NMSU students studying abroad are summarized
by type of category below, with abbreviated quotes
from the students' descriptions:
|
| SPANISH |
|
Argentina: • ...just
a difficult adjustment to speak Spanish all the
time. • Some teachers were not patient
with me at first, but I adjusted. • Had
some problems with dialectical differences between
Spanish in New Mexico and Spanish in Buenos Aires. • The
book used was bad.
Chile: • Chileans
use a much different vocabulary but
it helped me in the long run.
Costa Rica: • I
wanted only morning classes due to
having children with me, but they
wanted me
to take afternoon classes. • Adjusting
to their accent. • The use
of different verbs and pronouns. •...
placement test not accurate representation
of student levels. Not all instructions
were clear. • If tired from
traveling and taking placement test,
may be
misplaced. May be hard to move to
different level.
Ecuador: • Had an instructor with
an attitude problem in Quito. • Didn't know the
technical terms in Spanish for calculus and economics,
so general
knowledge of Spanish not enough for academic study.
Guatemala: • ...
learning to adjust to a teacher that
can’t give an explanation in English
because they don’t speak it. • The
first month was rough, but afterward
I was able to use what I learned.
Mexico: • Anxiety
level was quite high. • Placed
in lower level class and didn't feel
I
was learning much until placed in
higher class. • Frustrated
with not being able to say what I wanted because I didn't
know
Spanish
well. • Illness
made it hard to study. • I didn't know English
grammar, so learning Spanish grammar was hard. • English
is spoken in Zacatecas, and some students didn't use
spanish
outside of class. • Just because the first family
wasn't helpful and that was frustrating when trying to
learn Spanish. • The
exam had material that was not covered in the classes •...
instructors should have focused on my weakness which
is verb conjugations.•... need more materials
on site....• Some
teachers were beginners and very young. •... felt
that a couple of students in my class were holding up
our academic
progress due to tardiness and understanding. • The
books needed to be more able to teach you if you wanted
to learn by yourself. • At
the beginning it was hard studying in Spanish, but by
the end my Spanish improved a lot. • The terminology
used in economics in Spanish was relatively foreign to
me.
Spain:• Spaniards
replace the "c" sound with the "th",
and also use different words for everyday items. • As
a native speaker (Mexican) had to make adjustments to
my vocabulary. • Grading
is different in Spain. Also, changing classes was tough. • I
had a problem with one of my instructors. • I tested
into a higher class that turned out to be too high, but
they did transfer me into a lower one. • Grading
is different in Spain. Also, changing classes was tough. • I
had a problem with one of my instructors. • I tested
into a higher class that turned out to be too high, but they
did transfer me into a lower one. • Adequate for
study
in Mexico, but the Spanish in Spain is more advanced,
plus at this school they speak Valenciano, too, which
is hard
to understand even for native speakers of Spanish. |
| FRENCH |
France: • ...listening
translation class was difficult. • No one
should try all classes in French unless they
have had at least 2 300 level courses at home
taught all in French. (Even so, many profs will
try to accommodate exchange students, especially
if they have several in their class).
Switzerland: • French
aspect not problematic, but written German
was very difficult.
|
| GERMAN |
Germany: • No
description of problem provided.
Switzerland: • French
aspect not problematic, but written German
was very difficult.
|
| JAPANESE |
Japan: •
Level of kanji was not high enough to read most
handouts at Chukyo. • The
language program teaches too much that is unnecessary
for student life; grammar is ok, but vocabulary
was inadequate.• I needed at least two
years and should have put more efforts into Japanese
learning. • Two years of study at NMSU
is not adequate to study at Chukyo.
|
| CHINESE |
| China: • Just
at first, learning the writing of system in Chinese
just takes time! |
| ARABIC: |
Morocco: • Placement
exams were based on the school curriculum,
which was much different from my knowledge
of Arabic
|
