The mission of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) is to enable students to develop the communication and analytical skills that will deepen their understanding of languages and cultures in their uniqueness and diversity, and to invite reflection on the literary traditions, societies, and cultural productions represented by the eight disciplines of the department: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.

MLL offers language, literature, culture and cinema courses. Though literature and culture courses are typically taught in the target languages, MLL also offers a range of courses taught in English, along with select courses focused on creative writing, the practice of translation, second-language acquisition, and community-engaged learning. In addition, the MLL curriculum often supports interdisciplinary programs, including Asian and Middle East Studies, International Studies, Islamic Civilizations and Cultures, Latinx Studies, and Women and Gender Studies.

Aligned with the mission of Kenyon College, MLL considers competency in at least one foreign language to be a foundational component of a liberal arts education for many reasons. Among these, language study:

  • Allows for the study of cultural production in the target language across many disciplines.
  • Increases understanding of one’s own first language and of language in general.
  • Provides insight into other cultures and cultural differences in a global context.
  • Fosters a skill set and experiences leading to professional programs and careers.
  • Requires learning strategies that reinforce structured learning more broadly.

Learning Goals

MLL has developed a curriculum that promotes the intellectual growth of students through the following interrelated goals:

  1. Develop students' language proficiency and their appreciation of the cultural heritage and literary traditions represented by the disciplines in our department;
  2. Enhance cultural awareness, inter-cultural sensitivity, and global perspective through the exploration of cultural values embedded in linguistic and extra-linguistic codes;
  3. Develop close-reading skills of literary texts in the target language, as well as the ability to analyze and interpret literature and other cultural artifacts, such as film.
  4. Develop critical thinking and research skills in order to promote the rigorous formulation and effective communication of ideas, orally and in writing, both in the target language and in English;
  5. Provide connections between the traditional disciplines of the Humanities, Fine Arts and Social Sciences as they relate to our fields.

Measures

  1. The language proficiency exam (STAMP) and Capstone Interview components of the Senior Capstone provide direct results of students’ linguistic and analytic proficiency (goals 1 and 3). The initial Senior Capstone prospectus and annotated bibliography demonstrate the ability to conceptualize, analyze secondary materials, and plan an extensive independent project (goals 2, 3 and 4) and can be evaluated on its own or in relation to the final digital portfolio of the Capstone. Assessment targets the various components of the Capstone digital portfolio (prospectus, bibliography, first draft, final draft, supplemental materials), in which students demonstrate analytical and argumentation skills, advanced research skills, knowledge of the field(s), and capacity to learn, and produce sustained projects, largely independently (goals, 2, 3, and 4).
  2. CAPE testing as a placement exam is a useful guide in assessing language proficiency (goal 1) especially in light of scores for incoming students obtained at the start of the four-year experience. The STAMP (Standards-based Measure of Proficiency) is then given to outgoing MLL majors and minors across the eight languages of the department during the senior year.
  3. Student performance throughout the KILM training and observations by the faculty and KILM Director through the semester provide evidence of students’ increasing abilities to learn collaboratively as well as independently (goal 4), as well as models for increasing language proficiency at the beginning and intermediate levels (goal 1). Through KILM Director reports, faculty observations, and meetings with ATs, we measure how student teachers gain in language proficiency (goal 1), analytical skills with respect to pedagogy or reading texts with their AT classes (goal 3), abilities to work independently (implement teaching plans, writing concise and useful AT reports for their professor) and collectively with their students (goal 4), and cultural and self-awareness (goal 4). AT evaluations written by students in Intensive Introductory and Intermediate language courses provide indirect measures of AT performance and of students’ perceptions of their own learning, in addition to regular student evaluations of professorial instruction.

Feedback

1. During each academic year, there are meetings to evaluate what we have learned about student engagement in the KILM program, and methods of improving student performance through our training of ATs. Feedback from daily AT reports are used on a daily basis by each instructor for course articulation and planning.

2. At the end of each academic year, the department meets to discuss the curriculum of our department and student performance in a range of classes:

  • In the context of the GEAR discussion, we evaluate ways that our evolving pedagogical techniques will help our students’ papers and oral presentations meet the literacy goals of the department and the College, including more frequent short assignments; changing the focus of guided group work; refining our feedback to students, etc.;
  • In the context of the DOAR discussion, we interpret patterns in student research skills and synthetic writing in more advanced courses, with a view toward better understanding how to help students achieve more sophisticated levels of analysis, research, and reflection;
  • In the context of the MLL Capstone discussion, we reassess the criteria and results in order to improve mentoring and foster independent learning in our majors by organizing, synthesizing, and understanding implications of their studies of theories, texts, and historical and contemporary human interactions. The annotated bibliography of the prospectus and multiple drafts encourage rigor in research skills, and we schedule mandatory meetings and workshops for all seniors with LBIS and the Career Development Office, so that they understand and develop their digital portfolios with the goal of applying the Capstone experience after graduation;
  • CAPE and similar testing instruments, like STAMP, are periodically evaluated both to see how our teaching can improve students’ results, and to ensure that the test mechanisms remain valuable in changing pedagogical circumstances;

3. As part of our commitment to international education and cultural immersion, we engage regularly with the Center for Global Engagement, so that we might more effectively assist students in choosing programs that best suit their academic aims, not only for development of linguistic and cross-cultural proficiency but also for professional and personal growth after graduation.

Updated fall 2019