Academics

New Maymester course on language, cultural diversity offered at Hazleton

HAZLETON, Pa.— A new College of Education course has been added to the upcoming Maymester schedule: CI280/CI496/WLED444: Language, Culture, & Learning in Hazleton.

This two-week, three-credit course will run from May 11–24. Students will experience linguistic and cultural diversity in a new immigrant destination in Hazleton, which has the fastest-growing Latino population in Pennsylvania. Students also will gain valuable knowledge and experience by tutoring and mentoring English language learners (ELLs) and working closely with classroom teachers.

The course's innovative program offers students the opportunity to engage with pre-K–12 ELLs and their teachers in public school classrooms and in community-based after-school settings. Students also will organize and participate in a community service project in the Hazleton community and participate in seminars with Penn State professors focused on linguistic and cultural diversity and effective teaching of ELLs.

Students will earn up to 40 diversity hours and complete three credits of course requirements or electives. This course can fulfill the CI280 course requirement, meet the WLED444 requirement toward an English as a Second Language (ESL) certification or serve as an elective for any Penn State major.

To gain access to the program you must obtain three clearances to register. Securing clearances can take six to eight weeks. Visit the Curriculum and Instruction Field Experience (CIFE) Office website for more details: http://www.ed.psu.edu/educ/cife/clearances-information.

Program costs include Penn State tuition for a three-credit Summer 2014 course plus a $350 course fee.

Space is limited. Students are asked to pre-register by March 28 by submitting a completed application to Megan Hopkins in 157 Chambers Building.

For more information and to access the application, visit the course's website at http://personal.psu.edu/agp3/maymester/HazletonMaymester.html or contact Hopkins, the professor in charge of the course or the course's teaching assistant, Andrea Pfaff Kolb.

Last Updated March 31, 2014

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