Persian Summer Language Institute

The University of Texas at Austin Difference

UT Austin's Persian Summer Institute offers an intensive Persian language program for all levels. In addition to the intensive Beginning level courses, this ten-week program focuses on the development of Advanced Persian language skills through courses on history, politics, culture, and media conducted entirely in Persian. This innovative, content-based program aims to push students toward Advanced and Superior proficiency in Persian through a combination of proficiency-based communicative language instruction and discipline-based content courses.

All courses will be closely coordinated and will have parallel formats and approaches. The materials for each course will include authentic textual, audio, and video sources, and will include spoken and written assignments in Persian, and class time will be devoted to discussion of the materials in Persian to facilitate active control of the language. Close reading and listening will help students develop accuracy of comprehension, and guided writing assignments and feedback will provide students with the opportunity to express themselves at increasingly complex levels. The focus on language acquisition will dictate the progress of the course and its pedagogical foundation, and the disciplinary element will be woven into that pedagogy.

Schedule and Structure of the Program

The program is ten weeks in length (May 28-August 3, 2012), and includes over 150 contact hours. This consists of three-four contact hours per day, including such activities as group discussions, one-on-one discussion meetings, oral presentations, media activities, student presentations, and a writing lab. Each course will run for five weeks, and the Conversation, Reading, and Writing course, consisting of supervised supplemental work for the other two courses, and will span the entire ten weeks of the program. This program qualifies for the Summer FLAS fellowship, which requires 140 contact hours (120 for the Advanced level).

Three Levels of Instruction

There will be three levels of instruction, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced, and students will be divided based on their proficiency levels (using the ACTFL scale) upon entering the program, as well as other academic criteria and pedagogical issues. The Beginning level will target students who are true beginners in the language, and aims to bring them to the Intermediate level by the end of summer. The Intermediate level will target students who are currently at the Intermediate level on the ACTFL scale, and who are working to reach the Advanced level. The Advanced level will target students who are already at the Advanced level, but who are trying to move to a higher Advanced level or toward the Superior level. In previous years, 87% of the students who completed this program improved by at least one level on the ACTFL scale, as measured by Oral Proficiency Interviews (including: one level=52%, two levels=30%, and three levels=4%).

Beginning Level Courses:

Intermediate Level Courses:

Advanced Level Courses:

Staff

• Kamran Scot Aghaie, Institute Director
  Associate Professor, Iranian and Islamic History, UT Austin
  Coordinator of the Advanced Level 

• Blake Atwood
  Lecturer, Persian, University of Pennsylvania
  Coordinator of the Intermediate Level

• Anousha Shahsavari
  Instructor, Persian, UT Austin
  Coordinator of the Beginning Level

What Will it Cost?

The tuition for the program will be $3,800, excluding travel, room and board, and other living expenses. Offering 200 contact hours, this program qualifies for the Summer FLAS Fellowship at all levels. Contact your home institution for details on applying for the FLAS Fellowship.

How do I Apply?

The application may be downloaded from the link in the right sidebar.  You may also visit the Middle Eastern Studies Office at WMB 6.122 on the UT campus. The priority application deadline is March 1, 2012. Please contact us at utsummerinstitutes@austin.utexas.edu.