Taking a foreign language class is a graduation requirement for a majority of colleges at Iowa State.

But what options do native speakers of foreign languages have?

Spanish and Chinese native speakers make up the majority of foreign language native speakers at Iowa State, said Chad Gasta, associate professor of Spanish and chairman of world languages and cultures.

“Native speakers typically have had [language education] all the way through high school in their home countries,” Gasta said.

A heritage speaker is an individual who has learned a second language just by listening and speaking.

Native speakers are encouraged, and at times required, to enroll in courses that are at 300 to 400 levels due to their advancement in the language, yet the department and the university restricts them from enrolling in classes at the 100-200 levels.

The purpose of restricting native speakers access to enroll in certain entry-level courses is not to keep the students from enrolling in them but to help challenge the further advance their knowledge of the language.

Native speakers have already met the prerequisites for 100 and 200 level courses.

“There would be no intellectual challenge,” Gasta said about a native speaking student who wanted to enroll in an entry-level course.

Students who have had previous education in a second language such as high school education are also deterred away from 101 and 102 courses, Gasta said.

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages learning scale is used at Iowa State to determine the levels of language development for students.

“As you progress through the different levels you should reach new ACTFL levels,” Gasta said. “So a student graduating in Spanish, who learned Spanish through the system as a second language would be in the advanced area but they would not be considered native.”

There are three different groups of students, Gasta said, that are labeled in the department.

There are the true native speakers who have been educated abroad and come to Iowa State for further education.

Second, are the heritage learners who have grown up in a household that spoke a language other than English but have may, or may not, have been taught to read and write in the second language.

Lastly, there are the true learners who are learning another language as a second language with the progression through schooling.

The native speakers and the heritage speakers will have great oral proficiency but the second group, the heritage speakers, will vary on their ability to read and write in the certain language.

Oral proficiency is the hardest skill to develop with a language, Gasta said.

Native speakers are advanced in all four categories of speaking, reading, writing and listening.

“We are not against native speakers; we invite them into our courses but at the right level,” Gasta said.

The policy for native speakers at Iowa State is a common policy at universities across the country Gasta stated.

William Carter, assistant professor of German, agrees with Gasta about the policy.

“It is our policy, we are trying to place people in appropriate levels,” Carter said. “In our upper division classes, we teach how you analyze literature or film, and that is not something that you inherently know just because you know German or French or Spanish.”

Carter said the department is not trying to keep students out of certain classes. However, at the higher levels the more advanced students, such as native speakers, can contribute more to the course with their experience and previous knowledge of the language.

“We have a whole series of courses in English here at Iowa State that targets international students and non-native speakers of English,” said Dawn Bratsch-Prince, associate provost for world languages and cultures. 

The department of world languages and cultures encourages all students to continue to pursue the study of a second language even if the graduation requirement is met with previous education.