10-7-08

Left to right: Daniela Cerbino, Melanie Buisson and Jennifer Pauly

Amidst the normal chatter found on Lycoming College’s campus this fall, the rich tones of the French, German and Spanish languages also can be heard, thanks to three teaching assistants who are bringing their cultures to the College.

Daniela Cerbino, of Argentina, Jennifer Pauly, of Hessen, Germany, and Melanie Buisson, of Annecy, France, will be living and working on the Lycoming campus during the academic year, helping students learn about their cultures and languages in- and outside of the classroom.

Dr. Sandra Kingery, associate professor of Spanish at Lycoming, said teaching assistants serve a variety of purposes at the College.

“The main thing they do is lead our conversation tables,” she said. “But they may also go into the language classes and participate or help the professor.”

Conversation tables are a unique aspect of Lycoming’s foreign language curriculum, which allows students to talk with native speakers in a casual setting, Kingery said.

Lycoming’s teaching assistant program also allows the College’s students to interact with individuals from around the world and learn about education abroad.

“They’re native speakers who are pretty close to our students’ ages,” Kingery said. “It gives our students more exposure to different cultures by providing them the opportunity to speak with students from other countries.”

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