Frederick H. Jackson
National Foreign Language Center
Margaret E. Malone
Center for Applied Linguistics

 Well-documented long-standing need for stronger national foreign language capacity
 Numerous successful individual initiatives
 Research has identified many characteristics of good language programs
BUT :
 Without overall coordination and articulation, the national need will not be met

Purpose of this Paper
There is a critical national need for skilled speakers of languages other than
English. The need is not new. It has been recognized and documented for more than fifty years in reports of high-level commissions, published analytical studies, and testimony by government and private figures before both houses of Congress, reports in national and local news media, and in a major presidential initiative. As a result of 21st century economic globalization and international terrorism, it has never been more urgent to develop American citizens who fully understand and
can communicate effectively with people of other cultures. Although several steps are being taken to begin to address these needs, they are isolated and lack central coordination and accountability; to meet the need requires a
comprehensive long-term national strategy. The purpose of this paper is to describe the needs for speakers of languages other than English in the United
States and to recommend the necessary components of a strategy to address those needs.

 Security and diplomacy
 Commerce and economic development
 Global perspective and well-educated citizenry
 Social needs of multi-lingual U.S. population
 Scholarship and research

But developing professional language expertise requires many years for even skilled learners, and that is typically not happening.

National Research Council Report on Foreign
Languages and International Education
“Knowledge of foreign languages and cultures is increasingly critical for the nation’s security and its ability to compete in the global marketplace. Language skills and cultural expertise are needed for federal service, for business, for such professions as law, health care, and social work, and for an informed citizenry.”
(O’Connell and Norwood 2007)

National Research Council Report on Foreign
Languages and International Education
 Need for capacity in a broad range of languages
 Extensive time required for language learning
 Need to increase K-12 language offerings and enrollments
 Need to increase the number of trained teachers and learning resources
 Requirement for appropriate assessment of program outcomes

National Research Council Report on Foreign
Languages and International Education
Report Conclusion:
“The Department of Education needs to develop and implement an
integrated strategy for foreign language and international education
involving both K-12 and higher education, and ideally additional resources.
In carrying out this strategy, the department should work closely with its federal partners, state and local education officials, higher education, and
national experts; and engage all of its relevant programs, including the Title
VI and Fulbright-Hays programs, the Foreign Language Assistance Program, and other Department programs related to foreign language and international education. Such an integrated strategy is needed to enhance national security, help U.S. businesses compete in an increasingly global economy, and broadly educate and inform the nation’s citizens.”
(O’Connell and Norwood 2007)

Needed: A Comprehensive
National Strategy
Goals recommended throughout reports and analyses I
• Foreign Language needs to be a “core” subject, like mathematics, science, and social studies; all school children need to study and become functionally proficient in another language in addition to
English;
• Language study should ideally begin in elementary school and extend over several years, continuing in articulated fashion without breaks into secondary school, where courses would also articulate with college level offerings;
• Higher education needs to provide instruction in a wide range of languages, including all languages identified as “critical” to the nation;
• Language instruction and direction must be provided at advanced proficiency levels in relevant languages;

Needed: A Comprehensive
National Strategy
Goals recommended throughout reports and analyses II
• Language instruction should include opportunity for extended study in a country where the language is spoken natively;
• Language teachers at all levels must be expert professionals who have strong proficiency in the language and knowledge of the culture as well as professional teaching skills;
• Regular assessment of student outcomes must be carried out with reliable, valid, and nationally available standard assessment instruments; and
• Language teaching must build upon learners’ previous learning, including any knowledge of a heritage language.

Critical requirement for articulation and coordination across language programs
 “[M]any if not most of the problems of foreign language instruction are not the result of poor classroom instructional techniques—a topic to which the profession devotes almost all of its attention—but of ambiguities and inefficiencies in the organization of foreign language instruction and unanswered questions about its purpose that limit the effectiveness of even the most gifted teacher, using the most effective teaching technology, teaching the brightest students.
The problems arise not so much in individual classrooms, but in the way the parts fit together and what language instruction is all
about.” (Lambert 1990)
 Achieving the desired goals must ultimately involve every school district and school in the United States and most institutions of higher education, and that will not be possible without national coordination and oversight.

(1/3)


Defense Language Transformation Map
State Dept. “Language Continuum”
 National Security Language Initiative
 STARTALK
 NSEP Language Flagship
 Critical language FLAP grants
 National Language Service Corps
 State Dept. overseas scholarships

(2/3)
 15 Language Resource Centers
 National consortia (e.g., SEASSI, SASLI)
 Local initiatives at all levels
 Bills supporting legislation to improve language learning

(3/3)
 Strengths
 Efforts for pK-12
 Focus on critical languages
 Focus on advanced levels
 Recognition of importance of language
 Challenges: the lack of--
 Coordination across efforts
 Communication within field and outside of field
 Absence of outcomes-based assessment

 Survey data
 Importance of assessment
 Research

Data on Present US Foreign Language
Programs and Their Outcomes
Information from surveys:
* Post-secondary Foreign Language
Enrollments
* K-12 Foreign Language Enrollments
* Articulation between Secondary School and College

Higher education language enrollments in some ‘critical’ languages: 2002 and 2006
Language
Arabi c
Chi nese
Japanes e
Korean
Russian
Hindi-Urdu
Benga li
Punjabi
Sinhalese
Ta mil
Pers ian
Da ri
Pashto
Kurdish (Kurmanji & Sorani )
Turkish
Turki c
Ka za kh
Uzbek
Georgian
2002 enrollments
10,584
34,153
52,238
5,211
23,921
2,009
54
99
1
114
1,117
41
14
0
314
21
16
23
2
2,683
94
103
4
100
2,037
104
103
30
624
29
8
2006 enrollments
23,974
51,582
66,605
7,145
24,845
45
8

Assessment of Language Ability and
Achievement Nationally
“…without regular assessment against standards, there is no accountability among programs and so it is not possible to identify and implement necessary changes.”
(Jensen 2007)

1
2
(1/2)
3
4
5
Extended, uninterrupted study
Extended time in immersion environment
Length of time for L1 English speakers to learn languages varies
Continuous, articulated study that builds on previous learning
Competence and skill of instructor

(2/2)
6
7
8
9
Small class size
Articulation requires systemic assessment of progress and maintenance of records
Focus on language and cultural content and functional ability at all levels
Heritage learners have different needs
10
Exploit technology whenever appropriate

 Commitments Needed from the
Field
 Recommendations for focused federal support and coordination

➢ Base educational practice on reliable information and empirical research;
➢ Identify clients and potential learners beyond the traditional ones;
➢ Envision the end-goal as broader than foreign language education, including cultural and international studies as core components in development of a global competence;
➢ Think more broadly than university and federal programs and explicitly include pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 education;
➢ Reform curricula to ensure continuity and articulation at all levels, from early childhood through adulthood
➢ Develop intensive teacher education and expedited certification programs to produce skilled teachers with advanced proficiency in the language and culture of instruction;
➢ Create a longterm sustainable national framework for foreign language education and international studies that integrates and coordinates efforts and is flexible and responsive to learners and other stakeholders

 Reaffirm in words and actions that foreign language is a core subject
 Pass HR 5179
 Establish and maintain a national program of language assessment
 Establish new teacher education programs and support existing ones

 Mandate regular K-20 record collection of data on languages, levels and enrollments
 Substantially Increase--
 FLAS Grants for graduate and undergraduate
 IRS base funding and number of grants
 Funding for NRCs, with requirement of 4 years minimum instruction in critical LCTLs
 Base funding for current LRCs and additional funding for new LRCs
 Continue to support current NSLI initiatives

 Establish Assistant Secretary for Foreign
Language and International Education
 Coordinate language efforts K-12 and higher education
 Consult closely with stakeholders and professional providers
 Report annually to Congress

 Administer the Foreign Language
National Assessment of Educational
Progress
 Where possible, use existing assessment tools
 Where necessary, develop new reliable, valid and practical assessment tools

 Fast-track certification for high-level, culturally proficient individuals
 Enable ALL language instructors to develop a minimum language competency
 Provide existing teachers with regular and frequent opportunities for continued growth, including overseas immersion