Teacher Network Established
What do a small-town family physician, a high school Spanish teacher, a Procter and Gamble brand manager, the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, a Presbyterian minister, and the fleet manager of a Soviet/American joint-venture fish-buying company have in common? The answer is that they were all at one time or another apprentice teachers of foreign language(s) at Dartmouth College.
Every year since 1967, when the College adopted the Rassias method of language in- struction, 30 to 40 experienced, highly qual- ified, expertly trained apprentice teachers graduate from Dartmouth. Rassias method ATs are an integral part of Dartmouth language courses. They assist the faculty by drilling undergraduates in the language of their expertise on a daily basis. Language Outreach (LORE), under the direction of Professor John Rassias, has recently established a network to contact and coordinate these very special alumni/alumnae.
The Network of Alumni Apprentice Teachers (NAAT) has been created to bring alumni ATs together, to help these alumni retain their linguistic training, and to inform others of the Rassias method. Language Outreach is already planning the first mini-reunion of Alumni Apprentice Teachers. On June 15, 1985, Professor Rassias held a reception for all reuning ATs in the Drake Room of the Hanover Inn. And, in the near future, LORE hopes to sponsor refresher courses for alumni ATs at Dartmouth.
At the end of November, 450 questionnaires were sent to alumni ATs, asking what they have been doing and how they have used their language training. Some 190 responses have come from across the country and around the world. To date, the state boasting the highest concentration of alumni ATs is New York with 37. Massachusetts is second with 28. Outside the United States ATs reside in Belgium, England, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, and Taiwan.
LORE found that 52 percent of the respondents are currently involved in language-related activities. Lauren Austin Breneman '81 is the vice consul "for the U.S. State Department in Mexico, speaking Spanish on the job about 80 percent of the day." David M. Cutler '77, a family physician in Town Creek, Ala., reported that his current language-related activity is "trying to understand the local Alabama dialect." The Reverend Robert A. Keefer '79 "preaches and counsels in Spanish regularly." He writes that "two of his three churches are hispanic; one of them holds service entirely in Spanish." Sam Dixon '81 is "translating a Natalia Ginzbury novel from Italian to English." Cindy Gimbert '78 is the "education director at the Chinese American Civic Association's adult education center in Boston, providing training for more than 350 Indochinese refugees and Chinese immigrants." Bill Glass '75 is on the senior audit staff for Arthur Anderson & Co. in Geneva, Switzerland.
Jennifer B. Clough 'BO also wrote that she is involved in a language-related activity. She says, "I'm yacking in French to my wonderful daughter in hopes of her learning both English and French as a child." Jim McMillan '83 is now the logistics coordinator of AFS International/Intercultural programs, "arranging exchange programs for students and adults on a worldwide scale." And, David Dobrowolski '77 reports that in addition to teaching Spanish and ESL, having a wife from Spain makes most activities "language-related."
The potential influence of Dartmouth's Alumni Apprentice Teacher Network is not, however, limited to the western world. Alumni ATs have also studied Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. Other less common languages studied are Greek, Hebrew, Romanian, and, if you can believe it, Aramaic and Creole.
If you are an alumni AT who did not receive a questionnaire, please write to Alumni Network/ Language Outreach, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755.
