Summer Intensive Language Program
Every summer for over 50 years, the Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP) at the Monterey Institute of International Studies has offered foreign language students an intensive and supportive environment that creates opportunities to gain a solid foundation or improve overall proficiency in a language.
2010 Summer Program Languages
Program Dates: Tuesday, June 15 through Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Applications for Summer 2010 are currently being accepted
Registration deadline is April 30, 2010
*Please note that classes are subject to cancellation due to low enrollment. Students will be notified of any such cancellations by or before the application deadline date (April 30, 2010).
About the Program
The Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP) provides a highly intensive language learning environment for motivated foreign language students. Beginning, intermediate and advanced level programs comprise 40 days of instruction (180 hours) during the 8-week session. Classes run 4.5 hours per day, from 9:00AM to 12:00PM and 1:00PM to 2:30PM, with an hour for lunch between sessions. In addition to in-class study, students are assigned between 2 to 4 hours of homework every day to review as well as preview material that will be covered in the next day's class.
All of our language classes emphasize language acquisition in a cultural context and have a strong focus on communication. To ensure that language learning continues outside of the classroom and apart from homework assignments, students have access to tutors who can help with questions or will set up conversation tables to practice language acquired in classes.
It is possible to receive up to 12 semester units of undergraduate credit for the program, and Monterey Institute students can potentially satisfy 4 units of graduate-level language requirements. Levels are assessed in accordance with the proficiency guidelines of the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
Course Curriculum
The program offers a well-rounded curriculum that allows students to acquire and strengthen reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, develop lexical and cultural knowledge of the target language, and develop fluency though an integrated skills-based and content-based approach to learning.
The three morning hours make up the Core Component where students focus on structural and lexical acquisition and competency through communicative student-centered tasks. This core component is supported by a textbook to help students follow the course curriculum and to further strengthen their skills through self-study out of class. Supplementary materials accompany the text to provide varied and interesting course content.
The afternoon sessions make up the Fluency Component, which offers the student a more topic-driven approach to learning aimed at improving fluency. Content areas relevant to the target culture are introduced as a means to promote discussion and stimulate project-based learning at all levels. Textbooks are not used in the Fluency Component but rather a variety of authentic real-life resources are employed to encourage a holistic understanding of the target language and culture. Critical thinking in the target language is emphasized in this part of the curriculum.
Cultural Appreciation
In order to enable students to learn more about the language and the culture of their target language, SILP provides students with a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. These activities, which often include field trips, give students the chance to experience the culture and practice the language in an authentic setting.
The Monterey Institute of International Studies provides a truly international setting in that our students, faculty, and staff come from all over the world and speak many different languages. Our SILP instructors are extremely motivated and committed to their students and seek to instill in their students an appreciation of the target language and culture.
Life after SILP
We believe that the true measure of our success lies in the number of students who continue studying their target language after they graduate from our summer program. SILP participants use the language skills acquired during their summer study in a number of ways: they return for additional study at the Monterey Institute, go abroad to deepen their understanding of language and culture in study abroad programs, use the language to advance in their professions, or fulfill language requirements at their educational institutions. One thing all SILP students have in common is that they walk away with a new-found or deepened understanding of language and appreciation of culture.
For more information about each of the programs offered, please see the language program descriptions.