The design of the Supervised Tutorial makes it necessary to reassign a number of responsibilities that have been traditionally that of the teacher in the classroom mode.

        Goals:

        The Learner

        1. At the beginning of each semester, in consultation with the supervisor and the tutor, writes a one to two page statement describing:
            a. Goals for the semester which they have worked out in consultation with the tutor and the faculty supervisor.

            b. How these goals are to be met including materials to be studied and types of learning activities both in class and at home.

            c. A weekly design showing meeting times and what activities will be done during each session.

            d. A plan of evaluation including assignments and exams and a description of the nature of the final exam.

        2. Notifies (by phone or e-mail) the tutor, the supervisor, the language coordinator and other student in the tutorial at least one day before the class in the event of an unavoidable absence due to illness, or professional commitments such as conferences, comprehensive exams and the like.

        3. Makes up missed classes at the convenience of the tutor. When make ups are not possible because more than one learner is involved, the learner arranges with the tutor to do additional make up work such as a written essay or summary of some work-in-progress in the object language to compensate for the missed time.



        The Tutor:

        1. Is a speaker of the language to be studied and is usually a graduate student at Michigan State University.

        2. Need not have previous language teaching experience, but needs to be willing to work cooperatively with the learner to develop a successful language learning environment.

        3. Is paid on an hourly basis beginning on the first week of classes and through exam week, including an additional half hour for each class hour for going and coming to class and for correcting exercises, tests and exams.

        4. Keeps a record of learner attendance and written work and reports this to the supervisor at the end of the term.

        5. The tutor notifies the supervisor of any concerns about the running of the tutorial.



        The Faculty Supervisor:

        1. Advises and approves the goals and objectives statement at the beginning of each semester year.

        2. Visits the tutorial sessions each week during the semester to:

          a. analyze the learning environment and to offer suggestions on how to develop the language learning process in the areas of the four skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening, in learner management and in mechanisms of (self) evaluation

          b. ensure that the student(s) are fulfilling attendance requirements as well as making appropriate progress in all.

        3. Determines, in consultation with the learner and the tutor the date of the final exam, no later than the last week of class.

        4. In consultation with the tutor, writes the final exam and assigns a final grade for each student.

        5. For FLAS recipients, writes a statement of progress, including level of language proficiency, for the annual FLAS evaluation meeting.


        Link to African Language HomePage African Studies Center Department of Linguistics & Languages

        http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfricanStudies/AfrLang
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