While working at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill I managed the Languages Across the Curriculum (LAC) program, which enabled students to use their world language skills in a variety of disciplines outside traditional foreign language departments. We offered LAC options in nine languages (Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, and Turkish) for 64 different courses spanning 22 academic fields. I was in charge of recruiting, training, and overseeing all LAC instructors--graduate students or faculty members tasked with teaching subject matter outside my own area of expertise, using languages I cannot speak with confidence. More than 60% of these instructors were non-native English speakers.​

 

To prepare the LAC instructors, I offered two annual introductory training sessions and facilitated a best-practices workshop for instructors to exchange ideas and share experiences. I created an Instructional Manual composed of background information on LAC in the US, program goals and learning objectives, instructional expectations, enrollment and classroom policies, and important contacts. I also maintained a website of past course materials (syllabi, lesson plans, assignments) and resources on effective teaching strategies, tips on selecting and scaffolding course content, and ideas for interactive activities to facilitate comprehension and promote discussion. At the beginning of each semester, I met with each instructor individually to answer questions and recommend ways to infuse their own unique experiences, academic interests, and cultural perspectives into their classroom teaching. Because I was usually not an expert in either the content or the language, I saw my role as that of a facilitator and coach.

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​I was also actively involved in the national Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum Consortium and conducted regular presentations and workshops across the US and abroad. Since the need for instructional resources extended beyond my own campus, I focused on ways to expand the impact of my work. I developed and implemented a Graduate Certificate in LAC Instruction—the only formal training program for LAC instructors nationwide. The certificate was designed to demonstrate interdisciplinary multilingual teaching expertise and required completion of a foreign language pedagogy course, a course on teaching a discipline outside languages and literatures, and a graduate-level course on Teaching Languages Across the Curriculum, which I created and taught annually for six years. This course covered the history and development of the CLAC movement, case studies of programs at different postsecondary institutions, and an overview of teaching methods. Students were required to complete a research project or instructional resources, create a syllabus and sample lesson plan, and prepare a teaching philosophy for use on the job market. I believe I succeeded in establishing the program’s national reputation, while creating a model for defining pedagogical standards and qualification criteria for LAC instructors nationwide.