Bridge worlds and build access through the power of sign.
(STAGING) Language Programs
Where Language Meets the World
Learn to teach, interpret and connect in classrooms here and communities around the world.
Language students at Goshen College learn by doing:
- Support real learners and communities: help English language learners in classrooms and communities and practice interpreting in real-world settings.
- Mentors invested in you: study under professors who know your name and care about your future.
- Learning beyond campus: our signature Study-Service Term (SST) takes your language education around the world.
Explore our four distinct language pathways below to find where you can work at the intersection of language, access, and advocacy.
Explore Each Program
Sign Language Interpreting
Deaf Studies
Advocate for equity, culture, and community inclusion.
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Empower learners and cross borders through language education.
Spanish
Connect globally and engage locally in a bilingual world.
Languages as Service
When our whole campus gathers each week for convocation, ASL interpreters are part of how the community learns together. Our interpreting students practice their craft in chapel services, theater performances, concerts, and campus events. Access isn’t an afterthought here; it’s a daily practice. That spirit of service runs through every program in this cluster:
- Interpreting students build lasting relationships in the local Deaf community through partnerships and service.
- TESOL students support English learners in area schools and churches.
- Spanish students serve alongside neighbors in Goshen, where the language is spoken in homes and businesses across the city.
It is servant leadership and compassionate peacemaking which are two of Goshen’s core values.
The Language Advantage
- A skyrocketing demand: with over 40 million Spanish speakers in the U.S. alone, the need for bilingual professionals keeps growing.
- Put your skills to work now: in a community that’s over 26% Hispanic/Latino, you’ll gain hands-on experience with local Spanish speakers and the regional Deaf community long before graduation.
- Go global: take your learning around the world through our signature Study-Service Term (SST).
¡Habla, conecta, transforma! — Speak, connect, transform!
The community I formed while at Goshen College is one of the things I value most from my time there. Being at a smaller school gave me the opportunity to participate in many groups and make connections in different places including cross-country, orchestra, classes, EcoPax environmental club, and hanging out in the dorm connectors as a first-year student. Since graduating I am continually grateful to have past professors I can ask for career advice or references, teammates who will travel several states to reunite and run a road race, and friends who care about their relationship with me and the people and world around them.
Alena Miller '23
Goshen College Alum
Learn Languages by Living Them
- Sign Language Interpreting: one of the few four-year bachelor’s degrees in interpreting in the region built on hands-on learning and a strong foundation in ethics and communication.
- TESOL: add English-learner licensure, field placements, and study abroad as part of your degree, preparing to teach English learners locally and globally while immersing you in another language and culture.
The Conversation Starts Here.
One application opens the door to every language program at Goshen.
Diana Boussom
Assistant Professor of American Sign Language
Cristobal Garza Gonzalez
Associate Professor of Spanish
Colleen Geier
Professor of ASL Interpreting
Terry Martin
Associate Professor of Spanish
