After two years of negotiations, the Department of Languages and Culture Studies has established a Memorandum of Understanding with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools that will allow us to place students with teachers in several of the language immersion programs in the area as well as in other language classes: Independence High School, Waddell Language Academy, Collinswood Language Academy, South Mecklenburg High School among others. We will be able to offer internships in all of the majors (French, German, Japanese, and Spanish) as well as some of the minors (Chinese, Arabic).
The internship (LACS 4410: Professional Internship) consists of 120 hours of work in the target language as directed by the language instructor. This means helping with remediation, participating in pair and group work, giving cultural presentations, chaperoning field trips, and planning or participating in other activities where the intern can serve as a language model. This internship is NOT designed as student teaching for education or licensure. It is a three-hour, upper-level course that will count toward a language major or minor and offer opportunities to use the language with students and teachers in the public-school system.
In addition to the 120 hours, students will post a weekly journal and a log of their hours. At the end of the semester, students will be expected to write a reflective paper about their experience and give an oral presentation to a language class or a language club. The journals and papers are in English and the presentation can be in either or mixed as appropriate. Interns should be taking or have completed all 3000-level language courses before applying for the internship.
The purpose of the internship is both to give additional opportunities to our students to use the language they are studying and to expose them to the professional world of work. Our university students are expected to set a good example for public school students, to dress for the job, to be punctual and courteous, to respect all school rules and student privacy, and to encourage public school students in their study of the foreign language that the intern loves.
Next Steps
Consult with your advisor to see if an internship is right for you. See the following list for the advisor in your language of study:
- Arabic - Dr. Noha Ghali
- Chinese - Tianran Liu
- French - Dr. Mary LaMarca
- German - Angela Jakeway
- Japanese - Chikako Mori
- Spanish - Dr. Paloma Fernandez
- Spanish - Lorena Delgadillo
Please consider registering for Spring 2020. Once you have confirmed your participation, please download and complete the following form: Internship Proposal Form