Two new satellite dishes now broadcast live international television programs to 60 student workstations in the Wayne State University Language Multimedia Lab, to 120-seat language classrooms and to the language faculty courseware lab, all located on the third floor of Manoogian Hall.
Twenty-four hour programming is available from France, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the Middle East and North Africa, Italy and Greece. German and Chinese language broadcasts will be added as they become available.
Programming includes foreign language news, movies, soap operas, commercials and documentaries - the full mix of cultural programming that makes global television such a compelling medium.
The Foreign Language Technology Center "World View" service provides new avenues of cultural and linguistic discovery for students and instructors of foreign languages and culture. The service also will be an important resource for the English Language Institute at WSU, which teaches English to students from non-English-speaking countries.
The new satellite system also provides digital quality radio programs featuring music from such diverse sources as France and Iran.
Students can view global broadcasts at any of the 60 computer monitors in the language multimedia lab by pushing a button to toggle between the television and computer. The schedule for the various broadcasts is posted in the lab. Faculty can view international programming from any country at any time in the new courseware development lab in the center's main office. This provides an opportunity for language instructors to identify programs they would like to broadcast for their classes.
Dallas Kenny, director of the center, said it is important to provide language students and faculty with authentic cultural materials and contexts for learning.
"It is well known that American TV is a great tool for immigrants struggling to learn English in realistic contexts," he said. "I know that television was a great motivational and factual resource for me during my years of studying Arabic abroad.
"But this is only part of the puzzle. I look forward to collaborating with our language faculty on new ways of exploiting the content of these programs for their language curriculum."
The Foreign Language Technology Center hopes to expand its global satellite service to its 90-station audio lab in the near future. For more information, contact the center's supervisor, Mary Waker, at (313) 577-6391 or via e-mail atm.waker@wayne.edu.