Photos by Lee Pellegrini
Sixty years ago, Boston College hailed a new addition to the University鈥檚 academic resources, the Modern Language tape library, which had just opened in Lyons Hall 313. Its features included 36 individual booths, each with tape recorder, microphone, and earphones; a three-channel console for faculty members to lead group exercises; and a large, widely diversified collection of instructional tapes in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese.
Benedetto Fabrizi, the library鈥檚 director, was effusive about its benefits to students. 鈥淭he mastery of a language is gained infinitely faster through oral work, which, when acquired, leads to a more thorough facility in reading and writing the language,鈥� he told The Heights. 鈥淭he profit gained from one hour鈥檚 constant work with a tape recorder can amount to that gained from a number of classes, where the student has relatively few chances to exercise himself orally.鈥�
Flash forward to 2019. In February, Karen Daggett, a part-time faculty member in Romance Languages and Literatures, sat in Lyons 313鈥攏ow called the Language Laboratory鈥攑reparing for an oral exercise that would likely have seemed incredible to Fabrizi: 蝌蚪直播 undergraduates in her Spanish class interacting via Skype with students from ITESO (Instituto Technol贸gico y de EstudiosSuperiores de Occidente), a Jesuit university in Guadalajara,聽Mexico. During these sessions, the 蝌蚪直播 students receive help in their conversational Spanish from the ITESO students, who in turn are aided in their English by their 蝌蚪直播 counterparts.聽
Daggett鈥檚 assessment of the impact of this Virtual Dual Immersion (VDI) session on the students was as upbeat as Fabrizi鈥檚 comments from 60 years ago: 鈥淭he 蝌蚪直播 students walk in nervous, and walk out pumped up. Before, they couldn鈥檛 imagine speaking conversational Spanish for such an extended time, especially with people they鈥檝e never met. And then, they become the ones who give the help. It鈥檚 an incredibly enlightening and empowering experience for them.鈥�
That the Language Lab鈥檚 resources and facilities have evolved dramatically since 1959 isn鈥檛 exactly a revelation鈥攕ix decades of educational technology advances will do that. But what鈥檚 also changed is the nature of the lab鈥檚 mission, and its centrality to the University鈥檚 academic and formational mission. As part of the commitment to global engagement inscribed in its Strategic Plan, 蝌蚪直播 envisions an 鈥渋nternationalized鈥� campus with increased opportunities for students, faculty, alumni, and others in the University community to spend time abroad, whether for long-term study and research or short-term experiences, such as immersion or service programs.
In this light, administrators say, the more 蝌蚪直播 can do to prepare people for encountering different languages and cultures, the better鈥攁nd that鈥檚 where the Language Lab comes in.
鈥淔luency in more than one language is a significant advantage for our students and alumni,鈥� said Vice Provost for Global Engagement Alberto Godenzi. 鈥淢ultilingualism builds bridges to other cultures and traditions. And it makes it easier for students to find internships and jobs in the global marketplace. Boston College鈥檚 Language Lab is a tremendous asset for students aspiring to learn and master a foreign language.鈥�
Cynthia Bravo joined the Language Lab as supervisor in 1978 and has been director since 1983.
鈥淭he Language Lab has come a long way since the days of sit, listen, and repeat,鈥� said Cynthia Bravo, who joined the lab as supervisor in 1978 and has been director since 1983. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not just the technology we now have available. Our outreach extends beyond language departments to other departments or non-academic areas of the University that might have a need for our services and resources鈥攁ll in the spirit of encouraging multicultural exploration.鈥�
The lab鈥檚 offerings include audio CDs with self-instructional programs in more than 30 languages, among them Tagalog, Urdu, Punjabi, Czech, Pashto, and Mandarin Chinese; international news broadcasts and other television programming accessible through 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 subscription to SCOLA Web Services (a SCOLA app is available for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices); and DiLL (Digital Language Lab) for Macs, enabling students to listen to audio and make recordings, engage in self-practice, and interact with the instructor and classmates. Digitized audio programs from the lab鈥檚 collection are available on the 蝌蚪直播 network 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via the Canvas course management tool to students officially enrolled in courses using these programs as curricular material.
Supporting language classes is still the lab鈥檚 major task, but its resources have been used for other purposes: by Connell School of Nursing students in need of medical Spanish for their service trip to Nicaragua, for example; for supporting events or programs of the Office of International Students and Scholars, Office of International Programs, and the Volunteer and Service Learning Center; and by a visiting scholar from abroad looking to improve his English pronunciation.
The VDI project, which began in 2010, is a partnership between the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and its Latin American version, AUSJAL (the Spanish acronym for Association of Universities Entrusted to the Society of Jesus in Latin America). VDI is a milestone not just because of the technology involved, said Bravo, but that it brings into play some key, basic aspects of personal communication.
鈥淚t鈥檚 human nature: You like to see to whom you鈥檙e talking. And when you see them speak, you see their gestures, their facial expressions, body language, the way their lips move when they enunciate鈥攙isual cues that help your understanding of language. Moreover, VDI is where people are now, especially the college-age generation: They鈥檙e used to Facetime or other apps that have video as well as audio. It feels familiar.鈥�
Economics major Matthew Cerny 鈥�21 wanted to continue his Spanish studies from high school upon entering 蝌蚪直播 (鈥淚 think it鈥檚 vital to have, at the very least, enough knowledge and confidence in another language to hold a basic conversation鈥�). He had been nervous in anticipation of his VDI session, but after he and his conversation partner, Carlos, had talked for a few minutes the anxiety fell away: In addition to going through the planned conversational exercises, the pair talked about favorite soccer teams and dream vacation spots, among other things.
As much as Cerny enjoyed making a friend thousands of miles away, there were other important benefits to the session, he said: 鈥淚t gave me so much more confidence in my Spanish-speaking abilities, and that confidence has helped me in the classroom. Often times, the classroom in a Spanish course can be stifling, as you become afraid of mistakes leading to bad grades. With the VDI program, there were no grades and no costly mistakes: just a casual conversation which allows you to open up and speak freely.
鈥淭o hear a Mexican student, the same age as me, compliment me on my Spanish is better encouragement than any A on an exam.鈥�
鈥淚 learned a lot from my conversation partner, whether discussing the topics we were assigned, and simply talking about ourselves,鈥� said Philip Acinapuro 鈥�22, a finance major in the Carroll School of Management. 鈥淲e had a blast talking about our common love of the music of The Doors.鈥�
Bravo said the informality of the VDI sessions belie all the preparation that takes place weeks, if not months, beforehand: accounting for time, class schedule and academic calendar differences between Boston and the partner institution, determining how many students will take part, and how their respective levels of language facility match up. On the day a session takes place, she noted, the computer stations all have to be up and running, logged in and connected before the students enter the lab, so there鈥檚 no time lost for the interaction.
For all the state-of-technology resources, Daggett鈥攚ho calls the lab 鈥渙ne of 蝌蚪直播鈥檚 best-kept secrets鈥濃�攕ays the Language Lab鈥檚 sheer volume of materials can yield unexpected treasures. 鈥淪ome of the items from the past are gems. I found a little mystery thriller from the 1970s, a book with an audio component鈥攊t鈥檚 so corny, but it really works. And that鈥檚 what鈥檚 important: finding the things that help your students learn.鈥�
鈥擲ean Smith | University Communications | March 2019