Department Mission:

The Department of Modern and Classical Languages offers a challenging and supportive curriculum that leads to a deeper understanding of the languages and cultures studied, providing a foundation on which students can more efficiently develop communicative competency. Employing a variety of  teaching approaches, the department encourages students to think critically about the relationship between symbol and meaning, to recognize the relationship between language, culture, and world vision, and to gain a more profound appreciation of their own language and cultural heritage.

Department Goals:

 The Department of Modern and Classical Languages will:

• Emphasize movement towards language proficiency through the active participation of each of its students, using a variety of teaching methods that address a wide range of individual needs.
• Expect that students who have completed three years of study will recognize and comprehend many of the basic components of speech and will be able to communicate in the target language with elementary vocabulary.
• Promote critical thinking and problem solving through individual and group activities that stress speaking and writing skills and listening and reading comprehension.
• Utilize the rich multi-cultural experiences of its faculty members to ensure greater cultural awareness by its students.
• Co-ordinate assessment practices with teaching approaches and clearly specify how student performance, progress and achievement will be assessed in each language course.
• Offer a variety of courses so that students at each language level have an equal opportunity to pursue their language education.
• Promote immersion experiences such School Year Abroad, Indiana University Honors Program for High School Students, Concordia Language Villages, and summer study opportunities.
• Encourage its faculty to spend time abroad in the culture of the language they teach, visit and observe other language programs, subscribe to professional journals, attend language conferences, and pursue other professional development opportunities that directly support the Academy's and the department's missions.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of its program on a continual basis.