Are you a motivated student who is interested in learning a language that is not currently taught at UW?
Facilitated Interdependent Language Learning (FILL) is an approach where students design a learning plan for the quarter in consultation with a trained linguist facilitator/instructor (and language expert, when available). They meet weekly with the facilitator, language expert (when available), and other students to develop their language and cultural competencies in an engaging and welcoming learning environment.
If you are unsure of what language to take, we recommend that you explore the UW Languages site to see the 45+ languages that are regularly taught at UW and have excellent programs to support your learning. If you wish to study a language or higher level that is not currently offered, then the FILL program may be a good fit for you.
In the FILL program, you can:
- Earn 3 credits per quarter by learning any world language not currently taught at UW, as well as languages at levels higher than are currently offered (e.g., Advanced Estonian). Past students have studied languages like Tibetan, Uzbek, Uyghur, Ukrainian, Sami, and more.
- Co-design an individual curriculum that focuses your language study closely to your interests and goals. For example, you could study Czech for Art History, Quechua and Public Health, Xhosa for Business, Introductory Welsh
- Meet weekly with other learners to discuss language learning, culture and history.
- Be supported in your learning by a linguist who specializes in language learning.
Students work with a facilitator and a language expert (when available) to design a learning plan for the quarter. Students will meet together with a facilitator once a week and separately with a language expert once a week. Through interdependent study with other learners, students will explore and develop their language and cultural competencies. You will also learn about history, art, and culture of the target language’s linguaphone world in an engaging and welcoming learning environment.
- No Prerequisites
- 3 Credits
- The FILL program is open to all degree-seeking UW students (some non-matriculated students through Continuum College may be able to join – please complete the pre-registration form below and explain your situation/status).
- Offered AUT / WIN / SPR
This program is the result of a partnership between the UW Language Learning Center, the Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (CEREAS), and the Department of Linguistics.
Courses are listed in MyPlan under Linguistics with the titles, “Novice/Intermediate/Advanced Alternative Language Study”.
IMPORTANT PROCESSES AND DETAILS
Step 1: Pre-Register
Pre-registration is required and is not a guarantee of enrollment. Students must pre-register so that the program can determine whether their language choice and level can be supported. This takes time, so please pre-register as soon as possible. We aim to respond to pre-registrants within 5 business days.
Complete the pre-registration form.
Step 2: Await Notification and Register if applicable
We will notify you as soon as possible about whether your requested language and level are a fit for the program. If your requested language can be offered, you will be provided with an add code and course number. Course numbers are aligned with language proficiency levels:
Ling 191-194 | Start at Novice and aim for Intermediate Low
Ling 291-294 | Start at Intermediate Low and aim for Intermediate High
Ling 391-394 | Start at Intermediate Mid Overall or higher and aim for Advanced
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Uses the Facilitated Interdependent Language Learning (FILL) approach for acquiring languages not otherwise taught at the University of Washington. Emphasizes personal goal-setting, cultural competency, and communication through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Explores everyday language alongside cultural, historical, and artistic elements of the target language communities. Satisfying the foreign language graduation requirement requires separate proficiency testing outside of course completion.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FILL FORMAT
This is an innovative format where students work with a facilitator (and a language expert when available) to study the target language and culture. More about the FILL approach can be found here:
Teaching modality:
1 course session per week in-person with the facilitator and other students for 2 hours.
1 course session per week in-person or virtual with the language expert (when available) for 1 hour. (If no language expert or partner is available, you will use this time for additional study.)
REQUIRED COURSE MATERIAL
The course materials are to be determined by you in partnership with the facilitator (and language expert, when available) based on your target learning goals.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Course goals will differ from learner to learner and language to language. An initial exercise will be for the student to collaborate with the facilitator (and language expert, when available) to establish appropriate and relevant learning targets. Based on the needs of the learners, by the end of the course, students will demonstrate the development skills in all modalities: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Familiarize yourself with the following guidelines and ‘can-do’ statements:
MORE INFO ABOUT THE COURSE
This is a course aimed at students who wish to attain linguistic and cultural competencies in languages that are rarely, if ever, taught at universities in the U.S. and are not currently being taught at UW.
In a communicative language class, students are expected to be active co-participants in their own learning. Students in a FILL course will take the lead in creating their schedule, with support and input from the facilitator. Once the course plan and schedule have been developed, the student will be expected to maintain progress as they would in a traditional language class context.
The content of this course and the way in which students’ work is assessed are based on the theoretical and pedagogical guidelines developed by ACTFL.
The theoretical and pedagogical guidelines developed by ACTFL are summarized in the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages (ACTFL, 2015).
COMMUNICATION: Communicate effectively in more than one language.
CULTURES: Interact with cultural competence and understanding.
CONNECTIONS: Connect with other disciplines and acquire information.
COMPARISONS: Develop insight into the nature of language and culture.
COMMUNITIES: Participate in multilingual communities at home and around the world.
The activities and homework assignments that you will complete in class and the assessment tools with which work will be evaluated have been created to accomplish and reflect the instructional objectives described in the Standards. The content of class has also been designed to develop each student’s ability to communicate in three different modes—interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational.
Sources:
- ACTFL Guidelines (2024)
- World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
- NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements
- ACTFL (2024). ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners: 2024 Edition. Alexandria, VA: ACTFL.
ARTS & HUMANITIES CREDITS (A&H)
2nd and 3rd year FILL courses are eligible for A&H.
LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
Following the A&S language requirement guidelines, students are able to satisfy the language requirement by successfully completing five FILL courses (3-credit courses to match the standard language course first year sequence credit load of 15), or students can take an exit language test after ~3 courses* and demonstrate that they have the required intermediate low proficiency ratings.
* This is dependent on estimated proficiency and could be requested for review by the facilitator. As there are only two allowed attempts and a cost for the test, the facilitator will work with the student to determine if they are prepared to reach the required proficiency results.