Retaining Students in First Year Greek

Sponsored by the Committee for the Promotion of Greek

This panel presents four papers all of which offer some practical advice to the persistent problem of retention.  Administrators have always been focused on numbers, and now more than ever it seems that we are being asked to produce evidence that we can keep students in classes. The papers in this panel suggest some simple strategies to take the monkey off of our backs. 

Less truly is more when it comes to retaining students.  Easing up on the amount of detail we provide in teaching grammatical principles can allow the students more time to absorb basic, important grammatical points.  The finer points of conditions, indeed of many subordinate clauses, are best learned when encountered in real situations.  Likewise allowing students to work with a more limited vocabulary provides them the opportunity to learn that vocabulary better and focus on understanding the grammar.  There are other benefits to the less is more approach.

Classics has much to learn from modern language teaching techniques.  The incorporation of cultural material, usually omitted in the interest of a heavy grammatical component, offers students incentive to deepen their interest in Greek.  Too often we teach the language as though it were an isolated phenomenon; we ignore the cultural background usually reserved for civilization courses so that we can squeeze in one more example of a purpose clause.  Even a brief discussion of cultural issues piques curiosity, and reminds students that there is a reason that Greek culture remains central to western civilization.

Likewise just as professors of modern languages have known for years, students learn best when they are engaged in the material.  When students know that they will have to present a grammar review session, they are more likely to pay attention to the grammar, and furthermore, their fellow students are more likely to pay attention when they do present that lesson.  Using students as peer tutors, working in pairs, and doing group work can invest the students in the material in a way that cannot be achieved when the professor is the sole teacher.  Modern language teaching also provides a model for building a classroom in which the learning occurs in a lighter vein.

Because we teach a hard subject it is all too easy for us to take an overly serious approach to the material.  Students should know that there is a lighthearted side to Greek.  By exposing students to such things as curses, slang terms, Aristophanic coined words, and so on, we can show them that the Greeks did not sit around all day contemplating great ideas.  Such texts as the Anacreonta provide further evidence of this.  Modern languages are easier for students to learn.  Retention depends on making Greek less of a chore and more of a thrill.  We should not shy away from showing our students that Greek can be fun.