Search Results - Rassias, John

John Rassias

John Arthur Rassias (August 20, 1925 – December 2, 2015) was an American professor who developed a method for the teaching of foreign languages, the Rassias Method, also known as the Dartmouth Intensive Language Model. John Rassias founded the Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures, a department of Dartmouth College situated in the Office of the Provost that works with language learners and professionals from around the world.

Rassias died in Norwich, Vermont, on December 2, 2015, at the age of 90. Dartmouth College's Rassias Center for World Languages and Cultures, run by Rassias’ daughter, Helene Rassias-Miles, continues to provide language education to Dartmouth community members and learners all over the world. Dartmouth undergraduates continue to receive language instruction through the Rassias Method. Throughout his career Rassias reached a large number of students and educators around the world. Archives suggest that at date of death, his work has affected more than 200,000 Peace Corps volunteers since 1964 and continues to be fundamental in that organization’s language instruction approach.  An innovative language curriculum designer, Rassias started, in the early 1980s, immersion language programs for continuing education purposes. These highly efficient 10-day summer programs have enabled adult language learners to make significant gains in their command of the oral and written foreign language in a short period of time. Some rank beginners have even been able to reach the Intermediate-Low level (ACTFL scale) during the program, an achievement which usually requires three to four semesters in college curricula. At Dartmouth and other U.S. post-secondary institutions, the Rassias Method has been used to teach more than 25,000 students in language acquisition courses. Through the Inter-American Partnership for Education (IAPE) over 1.5 million students of all ages in Mexico have been impacted by faculty trained in the Rassias Method. Finally, language learners worldwide continue to receive instruction in the method through workshops and classes offered through the Rassias Center. Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dartmouth and the Rassias Center pivoted to a remote language platform that serves Dartmouth undergrads and the public at large.   Provided by Wikipedia