SLAT
Handbook
2005-2006
A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
A1. Mission Statement
The mission of the Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Second Language
Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) is: (1) to provide rigorous and
high quality graduate-level training for researchers, teachers,
curriculum specialists, and administrators at all levels of instruction
who are concerned with aspects of second language acquisition,
learning, and teaching; (2) to facilitate scholarly communication
and collaboration among faculty with different disciplinary traditions
and identities at the University of Arizona who have expertise
and interests in language acquisition, learning, and/or teaching;
(3) to enhance the quality of undergraduate foreign language education
at the U of A and other institutions; and (4) to provide outreach
support to the community, state, and beyond in relation to social
needs and policy issues concerning language learning and multilingualism.
The SLAT Program is central to the University mission in providing
a graduate education program that meets designated criteria for
excellence and can demonstrate promise for national and international
distinction; in possessing faculty who have achieved national
and international distinction for teaching, scholarship, and service
activities; in providing services which are of particular relevance
to regional multilingual settings; and in stimulating and coordinating
interdisciplinary activities which are contributing to new knowledge
in an emergent field and innovative developments in practical
application.
A2.
History and Rationale
SLAT received approval
from the Arizona Board of Regents in Fall 1990, and admitted its
first doctoral students in Spring 1991. It is organized as an
interdisciplinary committee, which currently has a membership
of over sixty faculty with primary appointments in fifteen different
departments in the Colleges of Humanities, Science, Social and
Behavioral Sciences, and Education.
Specialists in SLAT
are in demand at the state and national levels, as the number
of non-English speaking students increases in the United States.
According to some estimates about 18 percent of all school-age
children in the U.S. came from non-English speaking homes, with
major concentrations in the Southwest. These demographics demand
an augmentation in research and development in the area of second
language acquisition in order to solve the many complex problems
which English language learners face.
Recent statistics
also indicate an increase in foreign language enrollments at the
elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels in the U.S. The
renewed interest in foreign language learning places additional
responsibilities on institutions of higher education to gain an
optimal understanding of second language acquisition processes
and the implications for classroom instruction. A survey of Modern
Language Association’s Job Information Lists indicates that
approximately twenty percent of all positions currently available
in foreign language areas in U.S. universities require specialization
in Second Language Acquisition or Language Pedagogy.
At the international
level, there is steadily increasing professionalization of the
field of second language research and teaching. There is thus
also increasing demand for highly trained experts at universities
abroad that wish to develop graduate programs in this field. About
46% of the students currently enrolled in SLAT are from other
countries.
The decision to
organize SLAT as an interdisciplinary committee rather than within
departmental bounds was made for reasons of program quality, efficiency,
and coordination. First, understanding of the processes and practices
of second language acquisition involves consideration of the interrelationships
of language, learner (cognitive, affective, and social), and instructional
variables. Psychologists, sociolinguists, theoretical linguists,
psycholinguists, applied linguists, anthropologists, and educational
researchers have all been making contributions toward building
an emerging theory of language acquisition. The conduct of research
and the training of new scholars can thus best be implemented
in a structure that minimizes administrative and disciplinary
barriers. Second, at the time SLAT was proposed, several departments
at the U of A already employed nationally and internationally
recognized scholars who conduct research, teach, and publish in
this and related areas. The establishment of this interdisciplinary
committee brought existing resources into a cohesive program that
has become one of the leading doctoral programs in the field.
Third, the establishment of SLAT provided integrative ties for
basic undergraduate language instruction on this campus, which
is administered across the College of Humanities (e.g., English,
Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Latin), the
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Arabic, Persian, Native
American Languages), and the College of Education (American Sign
Language). SLAT faculty members include the coordinators for instruction
of all of these languages, who now have enhanced channels and
opportunities for communication, collaboration, and innovative
development. The participation of SLAT doctoral students as graduate
teaching assistants in various basic language programs is also
contributing to the quality of undergraduate education by providing
more experienced and more highly trained instructors than were
previously available, and by substantially increasing the integration
of instruction with current theory and research.
