About the Center

The Five College Center for World Languages (FCCWL) offers courses in less-commonly taught languages to students from Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Over 30 years, we have helped more than 5,000 students study more than 60 languages from around the world.

The Center offers two programs: the Supervised Independent Language Program, launched in 1991, and the Mentored Language Program, launched in 2004. These programs promote communicative proficiency, intercultural competence, and self-directed learning skills.

With generous support from the Davis Education Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and other funders, the Center also develops open educational resources to help make materials for studying and teaching LCTLs more widely available in the U.S.

Creating an inclusive classroom is an active partnership between everyone at the Five College Center for World Languages—staff, students, mentors, and conversation partners alike. As a community, we commit to the following: 

• Understand that language learning necessarily involves making lots of mistakes. Take risks and support others in their risk-taking.
• Remember that learning a language also entails engaging with a culture or cultures. Embrace this opportunity and approach it with curiosity, openness, and respect.
• Share responsibility for including all voices in a discussion. If you tend to have a lot to say, make sure you leave sufficient space to hear from others. If you tend to stay quiet, challenge yourself to contribute so others can learn from you.
• Listen respectfully and patiently. Don’t interrupt or engage in separate conversations while others are speaking. Use attentive, courteous body language.
• Practice self-reflection and self-control. Think ahead of time about what issues may hit a nerve with you and how you might deal with that. If a difficult dialogue is already taking place, try to stay in touch with your own emotions and prevent them from driving your response.
• Take group work seriously. Remember that your peers’ learning is partly dependent upon your engagement.
• Respect others’ right to hold opinions and beliefs that differ from your own. Be open to hearing new perspectives and to changing your perspectives based on what you learn from others.
• Recognize that your words have effects on others. Speak with care. If you learn that something you’ve said was experienced as disrespectful or marginalizing, listen carefully and try to understand that perspective. Consider how you might handle things differently in the future.
• Address patterns that are troubling or that may be impeding full engagement by you or others. If something makes you uncomfortable, if possible, acknowledge it immediately. Assume good intention on the part of the speaker and point out the impact of what was said. Ask for assistance and support from your course organizer or the program director.
• Be empowered to add to this list. Think together about other practices, behaviors, or standards you want to see upheld. Return regularly to this list, share your suggestions to improve it, and consider it a living document.