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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
Mar. 25, 2004

Language Lab deemed outdated; faculty, students raise concerns

The language lab, located in Webb Hall, is aging and in need of upgrades, faculty say. (Plourde photo)

By John Higgins
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

There are constantly new developments in computer-related fields, and it is no wonder that these continuous developments in technology have caused other fields to become obsolete.

Just over 10 years ago, one of the Norwich departments was equipped with state-of-the-art technology. But 10 years to the Norwich language lab may as well be many more.

However, it seems as though developments in computer technology have compelled a large number of other universities and schools to install computer-generated language labs, making the Norwich University Language lab look like an outdated relic.

NU Spanish Professor David Robertson said, "In about 1992 or 1993, we had new language equipment installed, and it was state-of-the-art at the time, and it was almost error-free in terms of performing on a regular basis."

Professor Frances S. Chevalier, Norwich Associate Professor of French and Chair of Modern Languages, said, "The equipment is getting old, and we have a few stations that don't work, and to have a technician come out and fix those [would mean that] they charge quite a bit, because they come from Massachusetts. Generally, they come about once every two years, so they have been pretty reliable."

"Since that time," Robertson said, "we have added other components to the lab, but they aren't tied specifically to the lab, itself. We have added other capabilities; for example, we have added video capability, both VCR and DVD.

"We have typical audio equipment, being able to listen to tapes and record their responses and listen to their responses," Robertson said.

Chevalier added that "right now, we pretty much have to plan things out by rows, because we are limited.

"We can only show two different videos at one time, and we can only have so many configurations," Chevalier said. "It is definitely outdated."

Robertson explained that, "If there are a number of different assignments going on at once, if French has both beginning and intermediate, and Spanish also has students watching video, it causes problems."

Chevalier said that she thinks almost all other universities "now have some type of computer station, and that is definitely something that we are lacking at this point."

However, Chevalier added that she thinks "there is a tendency in the field right now to wait and see, because they are thinking that in the future the students will be able to get this on their own computers."

Jamie Hamilton, a 22-year-old psychology major from Groton Mass., said, "New computers would be good for the language lab, because a lot of majors require their students to take a year of a foreign language. Therefore students from almost every department have to take two semesters of a foreign language;" that means they all have to go to the language lab twice a week.

"That's a lot of students, let alone the ones who are going to major or minor in Spanish, French, or German," Hamilton said, adding that, "Even though the equipment is out of date a little, and I have heard that some of them are not working right, I think it is effective."

But Robertson added that "I think it would be hard to do that, given the confined area of the space we have. Given the room that it is located in right now, it is going to be very difficult to make any changes in the near future. It would be nice to have a larger area that would allow us to do more with the lab than we presently are," Robertson said.

"The next logical step," Chevalier said, "is to digitize the lab; get a server for the lab that would allow us to offer a variety of media and a menu at each station."

"Computers would allow for lots of different possibilities in terms of programs -- video programs, in particular, allowing students to work in a more realistic situation, being able to view scenes from Spain, or France, or Germany and to respond to them," Robertson said.

Chevalier said that her "dream is to have a server that would be getting satellite."

With satellite programs and personal computers, "We could have DVD or CD, and the students would have a menu at every station from which to select whatever language and whatever programs they want," she explained.

"We could also use it for film viewing," Chevalier said. "Lets say somebody is doing a film course for English, or something; they could view it here, instead.

"If there were a number of students that needed to watch a video, and they were all in different courses, they would have their own monitors to view whatever they needed," Chevalier said.

Patrick Flaharty listens through headphones during language study in the lab. (Plourde photo)

Robertson explained that he has "seen programs that would be excellent in terms of helping students to be able to see things, understand them better, and to create their own language to describe what they see."

"Generally, the reason that you have a visual is, it fluctuates, your ability to connect with the sound and to reproduce the sound with meaning; visuals help assimilate meaning faster," Chevalier said. "You don't want it to distract too much, either. It gives you a cultural component, so you have this rich visual medium with audio."

Because under the current setup you, "Just sit back and listen, you definitely have to be paying attention," Chevalier said. "It's not one of those things that you can just sit there and zone out."

Hamilton said that even though she thinks the equipment in the language lab is a little outdated, and some of the machines are broken, they are still effective. "I think that with new computers, the foreign program would just get better and better."

Robertson added that, "Originally, when Kreitzberg library was built, there was a fourth pod that was supposed to be dedicated to the language lab.

"There was a lot of room available, and it would have allowed us to reconfigure the lab in a different way than it is now, one that would more easily allow group and pair work in the language lab," Robertson said. "It would have allowed for more capabilities.

That plan, however, "Was too expensive," Robertson said. "I think the capital campaign was running short on money, and in order to completely fund the construction of the building, they needed to make some changes, and one of the changes was to block that pod. Unfortunately, we were not able to do it.

"We got a grant of over $100,000 to fund new equipment and the visionary idea we had for the lab," Robertson said, adding that, "we were able to purchase the equipment that we have and install it, but we were not able to configure the lab in a way that we wanted to.

"Had we been able to do what we wanted to do when Kreitzberg was first built, we would have had one of the best language facilities, you know not only in the state but in the nation." Robertson said. "The architects' plans are still there. I doubt they will follow through with it."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.