THE IMPLEMENTATION OF QUESTION AND ANSWER TECHNIQUE TO TEACH THE TENTH GRADE STUDENTS IN WRITING RECOUNT TEXT IN MA MA'ARIF NU DRIYOREJO GRESIK Firasari Fajarwati English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Surabaya firsa.soetikno@yahoo.com Drs. H. Aswandi M.pd English Department, Faculty of Languages and Arts, State University of Surabaya Abstract As a productive skill, writing has an important role to help the students to be able to communicate especially in indirect communication. The teacher must be creative in teaching of writing. Question and answer technique is suggested to be used as a technique in teaching writing. The teacher used recount text. In this study, the research questions consist of two questions; they are (1) how is the implementation of question and answer technique to teach the tenth grade students' writing skill of recount text in MA Ma'arif Gresik? (2) how is the students' responses after the implementation of question and answer technique? A teacher can use questions whether it is oral or written questions. It is to stimulate thinking and light the way to productive learning and retention of content material (Vacca, 1981: 159). Questions encourage students to think. Thinking can arise the students' interest and questions can also be used to evaluate. As the result of this function, it is believed that questions can direct someone's choice of ideas and activities, and can transform the often different topics from a scattered survey of the subject, problem, or theme into logical, coordinated for attaining knowledge. Based on the reason above, the researcher conducts this research about the implementation of question and answer technique to develop the tenth grade students' writing ability to write recount text in MA Ma'arif NU Driyorejo, Gresik, especially in X-1 class. The research design of this study is descriptive qualitative. The purpose of research design is to describe the activities of the teacher and the students in teaching and learning process during the implementation of question and answer technique in writing class. To collect the data, the researcher observes the implementation of question and answer technique in teaching and learning process. Then, she got the result of students' writing in every meeting. And the last, she collect the students' responses from questionnaire. After that, she analyzes all data in every meeting based on phenomenon that happen in teaching and learning process. The result of data analyzed, it can be seen that the students of X-1 had done the assignments well in every meeting. In each meeting, the students improve their writing ability. Applying question and answer technique in writing class can make the students improve their writing, especially in writing recount text. It can be seen from the students' responses the questionnaire. Almost all students said that they can improve their ability and it can motivate them to learn a foreign language, especially in writing class. It can be concluded that question and answer technique can be recommended as one of an alternative techniques in teaching writing. Because it can help the students develop their writing ability and can reduce boring situation in teaching and learning process. Keywords: Writing, Question and Answer Technique, Recount Text, Tenth Grade INTRODUCTION One way of learning foreign language is through writing. Not many centuries ago, writing was a skill in educational or religious institutions. Nowadays, written language has many functions in everyday life. They are particularly for action, information and entertainment. Sokolik (2003: 88) in Practical English Language Teaching states that writing is both physical and mental act. Nunan (2003: 88) writes out the definition of writing as a series of contrast: It is both physical and mental act. Physical act deals with committing words or ideas to some medium. Whereas mental act deals with the ability to invent ideas, express them, and how to organize them into a good writing which is clear to the reader. Its purpose is both to express and impress. Writing has a purpose to express ideas or feeling to the readers in order that the readers will be impressed with a writer's thought. It is both a process and product. In writing, there are some processes that are involved including collecting ideas, organizing, drafting, editing, and reading. Those will be very helpful in producing a good writing product. The last definition brings us to the explanation of the writing process. Langan (2005: 64) explains that there are three main steps which can help a writer create a good composition: Pre-writing In this stage, a writer will be able to think on a paper and to gradually discover what ideas that will be developed. Langan explains further that there are five techniques that will help a writer to develop ideas; they are: (1) free writing, which is a brainstorming activity in which a writer can write out every phrase or sentence that come up into mind about possible topics, (2) questioning, which can be an effective way of getting a writer to think about a topic from a number of different angles, which includes What? Why? Where? When? Who? and How? This technique is the one which is studied by the researcher, (3) making a list, in which the writer collects the ideas and details related to the subjects and makes it as a list without trying to sort the major details from minor ones, (4) clustering, which is also known as diagramming or mapping to show the relationship among ideas and detail that occur, (5) making an outline, in which the writer thinks carefully about the point that she will make. Drafting This is the part where the writer starts writing the complete thought that has been collected composition, including the introductory, the body, and the conclusion. Revising Here, the writer begins to revise the composition that has already been made. This stage can be done by rewriting, building on what has already been done, in order to make it stronger. Furthermore, writing is an important part of people's life for communication. Kelly (1999: 84) states that writing which forever defines communication in the written words is the important form of communication because it can be a solution when spoken communication is not possible. Byrne (1990: 1) supports that writing is one of language skill, which is used for medium of communication, especially indirect communication. People usually use indirect communication because of some problems; for instance: distance, time, activity, etc. by using indirect communication, they can still deliver their message. The Indonesian government gives attention to teach writing by making the English curriculum properly. The curriculum clearly states writing is one skill of learning English (BNSP, 2006: 164). Moreover, writing is a basic language skill of learning English which is important. The students need writing skill to convey their ideas in writing reports, scientific writing, short stories, etc. in the educational field. Unfortunately, many students are not interested in writing because, according to them, writing is difficult. The difficulty comes from the limited time for such an assignment that takes a continuous thinking process. However, it is still an important skill that a learner needs to master. Bramer (1981: 4) states that writing will continue to be an important part of a student's life, especially in college course and in many careers and profession. It is a skill which can make someone be recognized by the society , the schools, and objective language studies. One genre of texts taught in senior high school is recount text. The social function of recount text is to retell an activity, situation, or event in the past. Language features used in recount text is past tenses, action verbs, adverb of past time. The researcher believes that teaching writing is far more difficult than mastering the writing skill itself. Healon (1991: w135) states that writing skill is complex and sometimes difficult to teach, requiring not only of grammatical and theoretical devices, but also it has conceptual and judgment elements. Based on this problem, the researcher suggested this question and answer technique which could improve the students' ability in writing. Dealing with teaching and learning process, a technique is essential. A technique that is needed in a writing class is the one that can ease and helps the students to produce a composition. The researcher believed that the best way to stimulate ideas of the students who are learning to make a composition is by giving questions. Questions are used as an indicator of people doubt, which has occurred in his reasoning. Some people can express their thought easily, but some others cannot. It is because each person has different experience. Another influence comes from the person's psychological state. We can always find a case in a classroom where there are some students who keep the questions for themselves for fear of decision. Questions and answers are essential components of teaching and learning. Asking a good question will help the teacher to motivate students' curiosity about the topic, and it will help the teacher assesses how well they understand the materials. When constructing sentences, the students were given a series of questions. The complete answers of the questions are then constructed in a certain way to make a well-organized recount composition. RESEARCH METHOD This research is a descriptive qualitative research. This design is used to examine the events or the phenomena that happened in teaching and learning process, especially to get the data about the implementation of question and answer technique to develop student's writing. The subjects of the study were the teacher and the tenth grade students of MA Ma'arif NU Driyorejo, Gresik. The teacher is Agus Setiono, S. Pd. And there were 30 students of class X-1. The researcher will use three instruments in this study; they are (1) observation checklist, which contains some indicators, such as the teaching and learning process, the topic, and the question and answer technique, (2) field notes, which is a brief note made by researcher to observe the teaching and learning process, and (3) questionnaire, which is useful for the researcher to gather the students' responses. The data gathered from the teaching and learning process in the subject's classroom. The data will be collected through non-participant observation. Therefore, the researcher will only observe and make documentation out of the teaching and learning activities. The data will be interpreted in a descriptive manner in which the researcher describes the information which are collected with the instruments. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION After analyzing all the data, the researcher presents the result and also the discussion which is based on the theories which the researcher was elaborated previously. The Implementation of Question and Answer Technique In the first and second meeting, the teacher started the class with opening session by greeting the students. The teacher then asked the students' feeling that day. He also checked the attendance list and asked the students to prepare the lesson. The teacher asked the students about their knowledge of kinds of texts, especially recount text. Then he continued to ask the students' prior knowledge and related information about recount text. In the first meeting, the students could not answer the teacher's questions completely, so the teacher needed to explain. The teacher explained everything about recount text; the definition, the generic structure, and the language use. In the second meeting, the teacher only reminded them at a glance because they had enough explanation on the first meeting. In the teaching and learning process, only in the first meeting the teacher introduced the technique used. Because it was the first time they applied this technique. He introduced the concept of question and answer technique in writing recount text. The teacher explained the procedure of the technique deliberately and the students paid attention. He also gave the example of how to elaborate the answers on whiteboard. In both meeting, the teacher gave the students question and answer paper. He asked the students to answer the questions on the paper and then elaborated the answer to make a recount text. The teacher asked the students to finish the task on time. The teacher controls the students' interaction in the teaching and learning process. He asked the students to do the task by themselves. He walked around and asked the students to do the task quietly. He also helped students who had difficulties. In the first and second meeting, the students had done all the steps of question and answer technique. However, in the first meeting, some students still find difficulties in writing recount text. It can be seen from the students who could not use time effectively. The teacher asked to submit their work, but some students had not finished yet. But in the second meeting, they could use time more effectively. Most of them got interested in writing recount texts based on their experiences. After the students submitted their works, the teacher corrected them. The teacher then showed their mistakes in their assignments. He also gave some corrections to the students. The teacher explained the students' mistakes in details. It means that he gives feedback to the students. The students paid attention to the teacher's explanation about their mistakes. They took some notes on their notebooks. From the data of the observation, it is obvious that the implementation of question and answer technique was very effective to teach writing recount text. It helps to motivate the students and bring and interest in teaching and learning process. Question and answer technique became a better way that provided a wide opportunity for the teacher and the students to interact each other in an enjoyable learning situation. The Students' Responses The students' responses towards the implementation of question and answer technique were positive from the result of the questionnaire. The percentage of the students who likes learning English is more than 50%.most of the students enjoy writing recount text by using question and answer technique. More than half of the students did not find any difficulties in writing recount text by using question and answer technique. They also did not find any difficulties in using vocabulary and language feature. The result of questionnaire showed that the application of question and answer technique was appropriate to overcome the students' difficulties in writing recount text. Based on the explanation above, it is clear that the students' ability had progressed in writing recount text. Most of the students could create a better composition than their previous composition. It showed that this technique is effective in improving the students' skill in expressing their ideas into written form. CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Conclusion In general, the implementation of question and answer technique in teaching writing in every meeting was quite good. The students could enhance their language skill. This technique is the efficient way to learn about writing, especially in writing recount text. By using this technique, the students have the same opportunities to improve their writing and develop their ideas to write a recount text. It can be concluded that question and answer technique could bring interest to the students in composing a recount text. The response of the students toward the implementation of question and answer technique in teaching writing recount text was positive. The result of the questionnaire shows that most of the students are interested in this technique. They said that this technique was unique that it can reduce their boredom in the normal monotonous classroom activities. Most of the students admitted that they find themselves improving their ability in writing recount text. Suggestion After interpreting and analyzing all the data, the researcher has suggestions for several groups of readers who have similar interest. Using a variety of technique in teaching a foreign language will increase the students' interest in learning. It will also motivate them more to be actively involved in classroom activities. 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The present study documents a language educator's reflection on two transitions that mirror current curricular changes in undergraduate language programs in the United States. The first chronicles her personal pedagogical transformation from a general-purposes Spanish language professor and her adjustment to teaching as a visiting professor in a Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) language-learning environment at the United States Air Force Academy. The second reports the evolution over several decades of the Spanish language program at University of Alabama at Birmingham from a traditional general Spanish-language program to a multipurpose program. The study suggests that SSP and liberal arts values are not mutually exclusive, and it explores what Spanish for General Purposes (SGP) can learn from SSP. Spanish programs that find common ground and hybridize to respond to multiple demands of today's Spanish learners are likely to be the most successful in the future. ; To cite the digital version, add its Reference URL (found by following the link in the header above the digital file). ; A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 88 The Unexpected Spanish for Specific Purposes Professor: A Tale of Two Institutions Sheri Spaine Long United States Air Force Academy University of Alabama at Birmingham Abstract: The present study documents a language educator's reflection on two transitions that mirror current curricular changes in undergraduate language programs in the United States. The first chronicles her personal pedagogical transformation from a general-purposes Spanish language professor and her adjustment to teaching as a visiting professor in a Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) language-learning environment at the United States Air Force Academy. The second reports the evolution over several decades of the Spanish language program at University of Alabama at Birmingham from a traditional general Spanish-language program to a multipurpose program. The study suggests that SSP and liberal arts values are not mutually exclusive, and it explores what Spanish for General Purposes (SGP) can learn from SSP. Spanish programs that find common ground and hybridize to respond to multiple demands of today's Spanish learners are likely to be the most successful in the future. Keywords: language learning curriculum, liberal arts, medical Spanish, military language learning, Spanish for General Purposes (SGP), Spanish instruction, Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP), United States Air Force Academy, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Introduction This academic year, I dubbed myself the unexpected Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) professor because specialized career-focused instruction became part of my pedagogical repertoire. Working in a SSP language-learning environment has made me take stock of what mainstream language educators can gain from exposure to the philosophy and instructional techniques of languages for specific purposes. I am serving currently as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Spanish at the United States Air Force Academy. I am a permanent Professor of Spanish at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). In this reflective paper, I chronicle two transitions. First, I share observations about my transition from general purposes language instruction to the more focused language-learning setting at the United States Air Force Academy. Language learning at the United States Air Force Academy exemplifies the definition of a Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP) program because it is dedicated to the goal of educating future Air Force officer-leaders with a global perspective. Secondly, I narrate from an administrative/ administrator's point of view UAB's evolution from a traditional Spanish curriculum to a dual-purpose program that includes a SSP certificate. I conclude that both the United States Air Force Academy and UAB Spanish language programs provide unique insights into the curricular changes and challenges in language teaching that have emerged during the last several decades in higher education. My experiences in these respective undergraduate Spanish programs show that signature language curricula have been and can be developed to serve diverse missions of learners and institutions and that intellectual and practical needs simultaneously helped mold these A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 89 programs. The United States Air Force Academy and UAB Spanish language programs are traditional and nontraditional at the same time. I posit they will resemble our future hybridized Spanish language programs. For purposes of this paper, I understand hybridized to mean multipurpose programs that have SSP components and a liberal arts foundation. The subfield of SSP can be defined as a practice that gives language learners access to the Spanish that they need to accomplish their own academic or occupational goals (Sánchez-López, 2013). It is necessary to locate SSP within the domain of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) in order to recognize that SSP is not a departure from current theory or practices in foreign language education. The counterpoint to SSP is Spanish for General Purposes (SGP). SGP is a broad descriptor for the teaching and learning of Spanish in ways that can be exploratory in nature. It is language teaching and learning that is likely not to have a singular career focus. Along with the concept of language learning for cultural breadth, traditionally SGP has been ensconced within the notion of liberal arts education. After almost 20 years of teaching principally undergraduate SGP at UAB, I relocated to Colorado Springs to experience anew the teaching and learning of Spanish in a different context. The learning environment that I envisioned at the service academy would be focused on the specific Air Force mission within undergraduate higher education. By contrast, I am the product of a liberal arts education that was not singularly focused on a specific career. For the last several decades, I have taught students with a variety of goals, both professional and personal. The teaching and learning environment with which I am the most familiar is rooted in the model of a liberal education that has historically framed SGP programs across the United States over the last 75 years. Goals of the liberal arts education include such attributes as thinking critically, possessing broad analytical skills, learning how to learn, thinking independently, seeing all sides of an issue, communicating clearly (orally and in writing), exercising self-control for the sake of broader loyalties, showing self-assurance in leadership ability, and participating in and enjoying (cross-)cultural experience (Blaich, Bost, Chan, & Lynch, 2010). By reviewing some attributes commonly found in definitions of a liberal arts education, I highlight the cornerstone of numerous undergraduate programs in higher education. My goal is not to produce a comprehensive list of its characteristics. In fact, one finds variations in the definition of the liberal arts education tailored to suit institutional realities and needs. The elements that I emphasize in the present discussion are particular characteristics, such as analytical and critical thinking, leadership development, civic responsibility and cultural breadth, which are especially relevant to how these two Spanish language programs evolved at both the United States Air Force Academy and UAB. Although critical thinking may not be one of the characteristics that spring to mind within military education given the realities of obedience, discipline and hierarchy, critical thinking is an essential characteristic of military officers that must make decisions in complex situations. The teaching/learning of the ability to analyze critically is key in military service academies and in civilian institutions, such as UAB. UAB and arrived at the United States Air Force Academy in summer 2011. Because of the courses that I had been asked to design and teach, I knew that the United States Air Force Academy's curriculum was not about technical instruction as in Spanish for Military Purposes. In fact, my fall courses had mainstream course titles that one might find in any Spanish program: Literature and Film of Spain and Latin American Civilization and Culture. My military supervisors told me that I was invited here to bring a different perspective and pedagogy into the classroom. As my first semester unfolded, I set out to learn from diverse A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 90 pupils and faculty members and to absorb and adapt to the differences before me. The United States Air Force Academy's mission fits neatly on a sign that everyone reads upon entering the military installation: "Developing Leaders of Character." The United States Air Force Academy (2011) is an undergraduate institution, awarding the BS degree as part of its mission to inspire and develop officers with knowledge, character and discipline. Undergraduates are referred to as cadets, and this underscores both the military and academic focus of the learners. After a few weeks at the United States Air Force Academy, I realized that I had landed in a one-of-a-kind educational setting. The institution subscribes to and emphasizes many of the key core values that I associate with a liberal arts education while additionally providing technical training. As Pennington (2012) pointed out in her recent commentary in The Chronicle of Higher Education, we need to acknowledge that preparing for work and pursuing a liberal arts education are not mutually exclusive. Considering liberal arts principles and professional training as polar opposites is a deeply ingrained notion by many individuals in higher education and in society at large. This belief needs to change because of the type of complex preparation that today's students will need to flourish in the future. Below is the complete list of shared outcomes of the Unites States Air Force Academy. Even with a cursory examination, one finds intertwined traditional liberals arts concepts and elements associated with technical education for engineers, scientists and warriors: Shared United States Air Force Academy Outcomes (2011) Commission leaders of character who embody the Air Force core values. . . . . .committed to Societal, Professional, and Individual Responsibilities Ethical Reasoning and Action Respect for Human Dignity Service to the Nation Lifelong Development and Contributions Intercultural Competence and Involvement . . .empowered by integrated Intellectual and Warrior Skills Quantitative and Information Literacy Oral and Written Communication Critical Thinking Decision Making Stamina Courage Discipline Teamwork . . .grounded in essential Knowledge of the Profession of Arms and the Human & Physical Worlds Heritage and Application of Air, Space, and Cyberspace Power National Security and Full Spectrum of Joint and Coalition Warfare A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 91 Civic, Cultural and International Environments Ethics and the Foundations of Character Principles of Science and the Scientific Method Principles of Engineering and the Application of Technology Source: http://www.usafa.edu/df/usafaoutcomes.cfm?catname=Dean%20of%20Faculty Values such as critical thinking, ethics and ethical reasoning, respect for human dignity, lifelong development and contributions, intercultural competence, and oral and written communication are integral to a liberal arts education and are the foundation of cadet education. The first phrase that frames the entire list—"Commission leaders of character who embody the Air Force core values. . ."—is key to my contention that the United States Air Force Academy's type of SSP is the teaching and learning of languages in the broader context of leadership education. The direct relationship between what one associates with well-informed leaders and liberal arts values emphasizes the importance of nurturing future leaders (whether cadets or college students) that are civically and globally astute. Leadership development clearly underpins both liberal arts values and those of the United States Air Force Academy. Like many undergraduate institutions in the United States, Spanish is widely taught at the United States Air Force Academy. According to Diane K. Johnson, an institutional statistician, there are a total of more than 500 cadets (out of a total cadet enrollment of over 4,000) that are in Spanish classes (introductory through advanced) in spring semester 2012. There are also cadets enrolled in 7 other languages that are labeled strategic or enduring. Notably, there is no language major at the United States Air Force Academy. However, there is a Foreign Area Studies major. Also, cadets can declare a minor in a language. There were 327 cadets with minor in languages at the time of this spring semester 2012 snapshot. The specific mission statement of the United States Air Force Academy's Department of Foreign Languages is: "To develop leaders of character with a global perspective through world-class language and culture education." Language and culture are embedded in the concept of the kind of global perspective that a 21st-century leader must possess. From Washington DC to Wall Street, there is agreement that future leaders internationally—both military and civilian—need to be multilingual and culturally adept to be able to navigate and lead in the 21st century (Education for global leadership, 2006). According to Lt. Col. Western (2011), it is imperative that our military comprehend that maintaining world leadership and security requires a broad understanding of other languages, cultures and thought processes. Although the Department of Defense's report (2012) on "Sustaining United States Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense" does not directly address language and cultural expertise, many of theses priorities rely on knowledge from military leaders with considerable language and cultural acumen. Historically, the language department has always had a dual purpose that has consisted of SSP focusing on developing future Air Force officers, while providing many elements of a liberal arts education. From the following list, you will see a sampling of the generic course titles. They are not a departure from what one might find at other institutions: Basic Spanish I & Basic Spanish II (Spanish 131–132), Intermediate Spanish A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 92 I & Intermediate Spanish II (Spanish 221–222), Advanced Spanish I & Advanced Spanish II (Spanish 321–322), Civilization and Culture (Spanish 365), Current Events in the Spanish-Speaking World (Spanish 371), Introduction to Peninsular Literature (Spanish 376), Introduction to Latin American Literature (Spanish 377), Advanced Spanish Readings (Spanish 491), and Special Topics (Spanish 495). The course titles do not offer clues as to how these classes might differ from the average civilian college or university classes with similar names. In my experience teaching and/or observing these classes, differences do stand out because language learners at the United States Air Force Academy focus on application of language as a skill combined with cultural and historical knowledge. The cadets also seek intellectual breadth through the analysis of multiple perspectives particularly found in intermediate- to upper-level Spanish language classes. In the first six months in residence at the United States Air Force Academy, I observed that cadets are more intellectually broad than I assumed at the outset. Cadets read about literature and culture, analyzed film, and even wrote poetry in Spanish with gusto. They do perform in the classroom with a defined career in mind. The focus on the military profession and leadership changes the daily routine in the language classroom. By emphasizing deliberate leadership and language teaching and/or learning opportunities, crosspollination enhances the classroom exper-ience and improves institutional learning outcomes. Form cannot be divorced from function in language learning, so the synthesis of leadership development and language/cultural learning occurs. Recent studies from interdisciplinary research with the neurosciences and education show that fusion between disciplines can provide effective pathways to learning (Coyle, Hood, & Marsh, 2010). Teaching Spanish at the United States Air Force Academy altered my preparations and delivery. Because of SSP, I adapted to differences that are administrative, operational, pedagogical, experiential and conceptual. First, I experienced the surface-level administrative transformations from SGP to the special brand of SSP at this institution. I learned about: Classroom rituals that include military protocols, such as calling the class to attention in Spanish, inspecting students' regulation dress and upholding other classroom standards in the target language; References to Air Force traditions and military rank in the target language; And, lock down, active shooter and natural disaster drills that might happen during class time in the target language. Additionally, there were different details in course design that reshaped my pedagogical filter. During an examination of all Spanish language course syllabi at the United States Air Force Academy, I noticed that the communities standard from the 5Cs in the Standards for Foreign Language Learning (1999) is often replaced with a different C that stands for Careers. The focus on the professional use of Spanish is starkly emphasized through this substitution. On an operational level in the classroom, staying abreast of current events in the Spanish-speaking world and being able to interpret them—such as changes in government officials, political and economic transitions in the target culture—take on greater importance while teaching at the United States Air Force Academy. For example, when A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 93 learners know that they might be assigned to carry out tasks in any Latin American country in the future, the learners understandably pay more attention to geographical details, how economic conditions impact political situations, how longstanding historical realities affect the current mood, and so on. The language-learning environment carries with it a cachet of practical information, and it also supplies complex situations and problem-solving scenarios on which future Air Force decision makers can cut their teeth. Language practice includes creating a number of hypothetical SSP situations in which cadets participate in order to foreshadow their leadership roles, such as role-play opportunities that are relevant to Air Force operations. For example, cadets might be asked what they would do and say as a United States Air Attaché or an intelligence officer stationed in Latin America. On the conceptual level, I am currently organizing and creating a seminar that is titled War in the Arts, Literature and Film in Spain and Latin America. It is a themed-humanities seminar that offers a rich lexical environment and an opportunity to focus on the profession of war, ethics, conflict and peacekeeping in the context of film, art and print texts of the Spanish-speaking world. Considering, for example, the representation of the warrior in a literary work provides an opportunity to discuss ethics and strategies and to analyze the representation of leaders across cultures. At the United States Air Force Academy, I have participated in preparing cadets to go on semester-long exchanges to foreign military academies. Some of this is done through wayside teaching at our Spanish conversation table, emphasizing the type of current and relevant social, linguistic, and cultural information that a cadet might need to function abroad in a variety of contexts and represent the United States. One way to prepare for going abroad has been to encourage and mentor cadets to volunteer for selection to host visiting military dignitaries, such as ranking delegations from the Colombian and Mexican Air Force. To prepare cadets, instructors share with them tips about how to interact appropriately and to display leadership through social intelligence and knowledge of protocol in the target language and culture. As a follow up, debriefing after these events is essential to discuss perceptions and observations and to develop cross-cultural competence. Much like teaching and interacting with SGP students, there are immediate needs, and then, there is the important long-range goal of encouraging life-long learning in Spanish. In the context of the United States Air Force, there are programs that make this objective more concrete than what is generally experienced by students in civilian colleges and universities. To take advantage of what the Air Force has to offer, I have also learned about LEAP (Language Enabled Airman Program), which provides for structured life-long language learning for specific purposes in the Air Force. According to the Air Force Culture and Language Center ("Air force culture," 2012), LEAP is designed to sustain, enhance and utilize the existing language skills and talents of Airmen in the program. The stated goal of LEAP is to develop a core group of Airmen across specialties and careers possessing the capability to communicate in one or more foreign languages. To become a participant in LEAP, Airmen must already possess moderate to high levels of proficiency in a foreign language. Individuals that apply and are accepted into the LEAP program receive regular training both face to face and online in the target language as well as have immersion opportunities at intervals during their careers. Working to encourage and help cadets apply for LEAP is another SSP goal at the United States Air Force. A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 94 These are an overview of my unexpected SSP experiences at the Air Force Academy. My transformation from SGP to SSP started with learning and applying new vocabulary that focuses on cadets' professional needs. Later, I began to think of my learners as future leaders that will need to perform and apply knowledge to make judgments about the Spanish-speaking individuals and groups. This motivated me to reorganize courses and reconceive of them with a keener eye toward performance and to explore ways to get cadets to think beyond their immediate milieu. With the overlay of leadership development and military culture, this teaching experience has driven me to operate in a more interdisciplinary fashion than before. I experienced first hand a teaching and learning climate that offers a unique hybrid of liberal arts and technical education in a military context. Perhaps the best lesson that SSP teaches is to constantly question the relevance of what you are doing in the classroom: to whom is it relevant and for what purpose? Within the Department of Foreign Languages at the United States Air Force Academy, the SSP focus on career preparation in language instruction and the liberal arts connection with leadership evolved simultaneously. This dual focus of the curriculum contrasts the reality in most civilian language departments where there was one general focus and departments are being (or have been retrofitted) to include new curricula and/or tracks. Many civilian language departments are currently transitioning from SGP programs and integrating more SSP language options. In the late 1980s and on into the 1990s, Spanish for Business and Medical Spanish courses appeared. The integration of professional courses happened in response to societal needs (Doyle, 2010). The Department of Foreign Languages at the United States Air Force Academy offers a rare, fully integrated model of the curricular common ground of career-focused language learning with an underpinning of liberal arts breadth. Conversely, civilian language programs have transitioned to dual-purpose or multipurpose programs for different reasons. In many cases, motives for transitioning programs have been to maintain relevance and enrollments. The latter was clearly the case with the Spanish language program at UAB in the 1990s. This two-fold reality raises the palpable issue of how best to organize these dual-purpose programs from both a curricular and an administrative point of view. Undergraduate language departments and programs have to meet the needs of both their general and specific constituencies. There is a general consensus in the language discipline that multiple paths to the language major, as advocated by the Modern Language Association in the report "Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World" (2007), will be a necessity for the future survival of undergraduate language programs. With curricular reform underway, how do traditional language programs best transition from general purposes programs to hybridized programs that also house languages for specific purposes? Another obvious driver of dual-purpose Spanish language programs is the limited support for language teaching and learning. As programs transform, we need to be mindful of the realities that face most undergraduate language programs: 1) limited financial resources to support language programs, 2) staffing limitations because of faculty back-ground and adaptability, 3) reward systems that favor faculty members who work in the more established subdisciplines in the language field, and 4) multifoci and/or shifting interests of undergraduate students. Because of these conditions, exploring ways that resources can be shared intentionally and constructively will be essential to benefit general A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 95 and specific purposes language programs at the same time. The UAB Spanish language program learned to share resources and evolved into a multipurpose program. The UAB Spanish language program transitioned from SGP to include SSP gradually over several decades. This transformation aligns the department with the institution's vision and mission, which is outlined below: The UAB Vision UAB's vision is to be an internationally renowned research university—a first choice for education and health care. The UAB Mission UAB's mission is to be a research university and academic health center that dis- covers, teaches and applies knowledge for the intellectual, cultural, social and eco- nomic benefit of Birmingham, the state and beyond. Source: http://www.uab.edu/plan/ Reflecting the mission and vision at UAB, these statements clearly present the dual role of the institution: it is both medical and educational. When I joined the faculty 20 years ago, we spoke of the medical side and the academic side of campus in a way that implied a scant relationship between the two. Therefore, the undergraduate curriculum in the language department in the early years of my appointment had no relationship with the health sciences. This separation slowly eroded over the years. When I was hired in 1992, the curriculum for the UAB undergraduate language major would best be described as traditional: language and literature. UAB students studied languages for a variety of reasons, ranging from enrichment to the fulfillment of the compulsory language requirement. We had a multiquarter language requirement that was rescinded in the mid-1990s as a result of the politics between the state's community colleges and the universities. Currently, UAB has no foreign language requirement. Almost 650 students were enrolled in Spanish in spring 2012 out of an undergraduate population of close to 12,000 students ("UAB student profile," 2011). Ironically, the lack of a language requirement in the undergraduate curriculum set the department on a path toward popularizing SSP. At that time, the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures began to turn its attention to providing courses that the students demanded. As a result in the mid-1990s, UAB offered its first medical Spanish classes for undergraduate students. From that time on, I became interested increasingly in SSP for reasons that had to do with the institution's human capital both faculty and student. Also from 2002–2009, I served as chairperson of the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. I took an administrator's interest in growing and integrating a SSP program into the existing general Spanish program. The medical Spanish courses were a good match for the interests of our student body. Approximately 40% of the freshmen that enroll at UAB declare that they are on the premedicine track. Many students are attracted to our campus because UAB houses an internationally known School of Medicine, although many freshmen abandon the premedicine track for other health-related fields. A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 96 Student interest grew in professionally focused language courses and key faculty members invested in SSP as well. In 2001, our first applied linguist in Spanish was hired in the language department. She shared her vision of starting a SSP program by offering a few courses to appeal to pre-professionals. She became the director of the nascent SSP program. Over the years, the SSP program became so popular that it evolved into a more defined and elaborate SSP certificate program ("UAB Spanish for specific purposes program," 2012) that had 62 students enrolled in the program in spring 2012. It was the first undergraduate certificate program on the UAB campus. As the program grew, the SSP Director was successful in convincing existing junior faculty to take professional development seminars in SSP and develop additional SSP courses, such as Intermediate Spanish for the Professions, Advanced Business Spanish and Advanced Spanish for Health Professionals. In 2007, we hired a Spanish instructor to develop and expand the medical Spanish courses in the undergraduate curriculum under the umbrella of SSP. She began to collaborate with the Schools of Nursing, Medicine, and Dentistry to provide short courses to their graduate students. Over time, signs of curricular integration increased between the medical and academic sides of campus. Also, there was a confluence of external events in the state of Alabama and internal events on the UAB campus that occurred in the late 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century that promoted the success of the SSP program. Prior to the 2007 recession, a rapidly growing Spanish-speaking population in Alabama had health professionals in a reactive mode because they were not prepared to handle patients that spoke limited English ("Demographic profile of Hispanics in Alabama," 2012). In 2005, UAB hosted campus-wide events around its first freshmen discussion book The Spirit Catches you and you Fall Down: A Hmong Child, her American Doctors and the Collision of two Cultures by Ann Fadiman (1997). The book was widely read across campus, especially in the School of Medicine. Fadiman's volume chronicled Hmong (not Spanish) speakers. Nevertheless, the book captured the timely problem of the critical need for communication with the foreign born in the health professions. From that year on, the importance of cross-cultural communication became part of the UAB campus dialogue. Also around this time, UAB's prominent, grant-funded Minority Health and Research Center unofficially broadened its definition of minority to include Latinos. Meanwhile, within the UAB Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures we were able to offer our first scholarship award for a Spanish major on the premedicine track in 2003. Beginning in 2003, I recall anecdotally receiving periodic inquiries from ranking individuals in the School of Medicine that wanted to collaborate. Typically, they requested the assistance of Spanish-speaking faculty with informed-consent forms. There were repeated requests for help with interpretation until the UAB clinics developed protocols to deal with Spanish-language only patients. In January 2010, we piloted a short course in Spanish (Davidson & Long, 2012) that was offered as part of the medical school elective curriculum. In 2002, the staff of the language department informally observed a trend in the increase of undergraduate students who declared a double major in Spanish and Biology/Chemistry. I procured a modest donation from a local physician for the aforementioned scholarship. All of these events fueled the popularity of the UAB SSP program and clearly defined the need for it. The current SSP program and certificate houses a number of preprofessional courses that are not limited exclusively to SSP students. The full program description can A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 97 be viewed at http://www.uab.edu/languages/languages-programs/ssp. The number of general versus pre-professional students varies from course to course, but courses such as Spanish Translation and Interpretation tend to enroll students from both cohorts, whereas Spanish for the Health Professionals enrolls few general-purposes students. Of course, the faculty members have noticed over time that our student clientele had slowly changed: two very different types of students were sitting in the same classroom. Professionally focused Spanish students and general Spanish students enrolled in the some of the same courses. This presented new pedagogical challenges for our faculty members and raised the issue: how does one meet the needs of both groups (SSP and SGP) in the context of our institution's student body? To date, this matter has not been systematically dealt with in the UAB Spanish Division. Individual professors have developed strategies, like individualizing projects, and yet, other faculty members teach to one group to the exclusion of the other. The curricular changes discussed by the Modern Language Association have come about in many language departments, and they have been welcomed by some faculty members but not by all. Embracing the notion that the traditional liberal arts language learner can cohabitate with the interdisciplinary and/or career-focused language learner (as demonstrated at the United States Air Force Academy) is key. Highlighting the philo-sophical common ground rooted in a liberal arts education is what may be perceived by some individuals as strictly technical training may help ease the transition. The next phase will be to articulate relevant practices for educators and administrators, as well as shared values and outcomes, and to provide models that show transitional programs how to achieve what I would like to call 'constructive hybridity.' I define constructive hybridity as a positive and collective effort to sort out and integrate the best of traditional Spanish language programs with different SSP practices evidencing more focused professional goals. The next task is to define the 'shared canon' between the various tracks in any given Spanish program. Obviously, this is not a one-size-fits-all charge due to different student, societal and institutional needs, but there is foundational work to be done in order to come up with more consensuses. Given my administrative experiences as a faculty member at UAB and my teaching experience at the United States Air Force Academy, I have come to realize that both general and specific missions in Spanish-language learning are not mutually exclusive. In June 2011, I marched off to Colorado to teach and to learn. I have learned that there is a place for time-tested liberal arts values within SSP programs and that hybridized programs (liberal arts and SSP) can be successful and beneficial to the learner. As suggested by the United States Air Force Academy and UAB programs, future programs in Spanish-language instruction will need to focus on our common ground to serve multiple purposes. Thus, I return to the concept that I mentioned at the outset: it is time to think hybrid. Our future undergraduate language programs will have multiple tracks/purposes. This hybridization can be as positive and enriching for both faculty members and language learners as it has been for me during this phase of my career as a language educator. Returning to my own narrative as a committed, career Spanish professor, I have no doubt that, in the future, my newfound SSP instructional acumen and orientation will inform my future general purposes classes and improve them. A TALE OF TWO INSTITUTIONS Scholarship and Teaching on Languages for Specific Purposes (2013) 98 Disclaimer The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Air Force, The Depart-ment of Defense or the United States Government. References Air force culture and language center. (2012, May). Retrieved from http://www.culture.af.mil/leap/index.aspx Blaich, C., Bost, A., Chan, E., & Lynch, R. (2010). 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