Haidee V Eugenio

heugenio@guampdn.com

The University of Guam is reducing the number of required language courses from two to one for general education, but some faculty and their supporters are asking campus leadership to retain the current requirement to help achieve a language proficiency level for students.

Dr. Toyoko Kang, a language faculty member at the university, said Monday that having a shorter period for learning a language will negatively impact students’ ability to properly use and gain perspective about the language.

An online petition has been launched, asking university President Robert Underwood and university Senior Vice President Anita Enriquez to maintain the current requirement of two language courses. The signature drive, according to the petitioners, promotes and advances language learning on campus.

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“Students and faculty of the University of Guam learn, teach and serve in order to preserve the essential strengths of the region’s cultures and natural resources and to use those strengths to cope with current and future challenges,” the petitioners wrote. “The preservation and revitalization of the Chamorro language and the learning of foreign languages are critical for the future development of the people of the Mariana Islands and the broader Micronesian region.”

As of Tuesday, the petition had garnered 636 signatures, or 364 short of the target 1,000 signatures. The petition is available at www.change.org/p/uog-language-drive.

Kang said they intend to turn in the petition to Underwood and Enriquez by the middle of January.

Besides Chamorro, the other languages offered at the University of Guam for general education are Japanese, Tagalog, Chinese, French and Spanish, Kang said.

Kang said while some students are born to Chamorro families, for example, the parents themselves do not speak Chamorro so there is a greater opportunity to learn the indigenous language at the university.

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Jonas Macapinlac, director of Integrated Marketing Communications at the university, said Monday night that the curriculum change has been a lengthy process and is normally one of the most difficult ones in universities.

"The president will not select one feature of the general education requirements to change. The issue has been discussed and vetted and while it is not acceptable to everyone, it is the product of a faculty effort," Macapinlac said in response to questions about the petition.

Curriculum decisions in universities, he said, are part of the process of faculty governance. At the University of Guam, the Faculty Senate passed a framework which is now in the hands of the university to implement and add to in individual programs if they so wish. The university is allowing the process to continue, Macapinlac said.

Macapinlac said general education provides a general overview of multiple disciplines and develops critical thinking skills. Just because one language course is being required does not mean students can't take more than one on their own or that specific degree programs can't make more language courses required, he said.

"Any program that wishes to require more than one course (or even several more) is free to do so. General education is meant to provide a broad introduction to a range of knowledge. It is not meant to provide in depth knowledge in any single discipline. The original proposal was to eliminate both language courses and one has been restored as a result of discussion amongst the faculty. The language course could be Tagalog, Chamorro, Japanese or what ever language is taught at the University," Macapinlac added.

He said the Faculty Senate's General Education Committee is working with individual programs to ensure adoption of the new General Education framework which will appear in the catalogue for the next academic year.

"It is likely that some programs will require more language courses and still be within the guidelines of the new framework," he added.

While the University of Guam is going to reduce the language requirement for general education, from two language courses to one language course, the number of minimum credit hours for graduation remains the same.

“The language programs, especially the Chamoru language programs, at UOG are integral to a higher education and promote the conservation of our language and cultural authenticity of our island. It is a part of the distinguishing character of the University that makes it the University of Guam,” wrote one of the petitioners, Maria Cristobal, of Hagåtña.

Another petitioner, Gerhard Schwab, a professor of social work at the University of Guam, said, “To understand and to become leaders in today's rapidly changing world, young people of Guam need to become fluent in three languages; both official languages of Guam (Chamoru and English) and one foreign language of choice.”

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