America’s Languages:
The Language Enterprise in 2015
Dr. William P. Rivers
Joint National Committee for Languages
The Center for Urban Language Teaching and
Research
Georgia State University
May 15, 2015
Overview
• Macroeconomics of language as a public and
private good
• Definition and model of language capacity
• Redefining language capacity – the “Language
Enterprise”
• Advocacy Strategy: Raising the profile of language
in the US
• Global Talent
• The American Academy of Arts and Sciences
A Macroeconomic view of language (Brecht & Rivers,
2000)
Demand
Supply
Tactical
Strategic
Need
Capacity
Consumers
Producers
Language Capacity: sector analysis
• Academic Sector
– Primary/Secondary schools
– Tertiary
• Government sector
– Defense Language Institute
– Foreign Service Institute
• Heritage Sector
• Overseas Sector
– Sojourns abroad
– Overseas investment in language capacity
• Private Sector
Language Capacity: Field Architecture (Rivers, 2012)
The Language Enterprise
• The "Language Enterprise" encompasses everyone who enables
communication among different cultures and languages
• At the nexus of globalization, information, rising youth populations,
entrepreneurship, self-expression: “Assertion of linguistic rights
goes hand in hand with the assertion of economic rights”
(Salkowitz, 2011)
• Integral to globalization and the national interest: now taken as a
given
• One of the oldest professions – globalization, translation, teaching
FL aren’t new (e.g., Hanseatic League, Folsom arrow points,
Aristotle) but pace, information, and mobility are!
The Role of the Language Enterprise
• WE facilitate the free movement of people,
information, and ideas
• WE build up mutual understanding and
acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity
• WE promote the personal development of the
individual
Who is “The Language Enterprise?”
• WE are the Language Enterprise
• People and organizations that are Directly engaged:
– Translators, Interpreters
– Localization, globalization
– Multilingual professionals
• People and organizations enabling those who are engaged
– Teachers & researchers
– Testers & test developers
– Developers of tools and materials for language learning
and work
What comprises the Language Enterprise?
• Private Sector
– Translation/Interpreting
– Globalization/Localization/Multilingual-Multicultural Marketing
– Private language schools
– and more...
• Educational sector
– K-12 programs
– Higher ed programs
– researchers
– specialized/graduate programs (e.g., translation, linguistics)
• Government Sector
– Training programs (e.g., DLIFLC, FSI)
– operational elements (e.g., Intelligence Community, FBI, DoD, state
and local agencies)
Advocacy Strategy
• Focus on AAAS study:
• Focus on programs funded by security agencies, as national security
funding is likely to increase
– STARTALK
– Flagship/NSEP
– DLIFLC
• Maintain pressure on USED: FLAP, Title VI/F-H
• Seal of Biliteracy
• Continue developing strong relationships in the White House and business
sector
• Continue to make the case for language as a vital component of
responsible 21st Century citizenship
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FL & STEM
FL & Educational, cognitive benefits
FL & jobs
White papers on all of these issues available at www.languagepolicy.org
The impact of world language instruction
• Achievement:
– Dual language immersion can reverse literacy achievement gaps,
regardless of SES of immersion students: NC, OR
• Attainment
– Bilingual and biliterate individuals enter and finish college and earn more
(Callahan & Gándara, 2014)
• Cognition:
– Easier to learn additional languages (Rivers & Golonka, 2009, for an
overview), regardless of when/how 2nd language acquired
– Better financial decisions (Boaz et al., 2012)
– Delays onset of dementia (Alladi et al., 2013)
– Caveats:
• Must USE the language
• Higher proficiency = more effect
• http://www.languagepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/K12-dual-language-one-page-report-Final.pdf
FL & STEM
• FL is already part of STEM!
– FL Research and Development in the US Gov’t comes
almost exclusively from STEM accounts (DARPA, IARPA,
NSF, NIH, DDRE)
– FL work is highly technologized – teaching, translation,
interpreting
– The language industry is vital to the US STEM industry,
leveraging $1.5 trillion in trade
• White House Office of Science & Technology Policy requested
a position paper from JNCL-NCLIS (May 2013)
• languagepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/LSTEM.pdf
Global Talent: Requirements
• US hi-tech industry faces a Global Talent Gap
• Survey of US and Global Fortune 2000companies and their language
suppliers (Fall 2014, pilot Spring 2014) :
– Language competency at a variety of levels for a wide range of jobs
– Language proficiency entails cultural sophistication and intercultural ability
– Global skills = (Language, Culture, Professional Skills)
•
GLOBAL SKILLS ENTAIL ADDITIONAL PROFESSSIONAL DOMAINS
– critical tool for interactions with customers, employers, peers, social communities, and
governments.
– Companies need workers who can engage comfortably within and between cultures and
languages,
• using language skills to amplify and extend their job performance.
– Language is no longer a “soft” skill;
• intertwined with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
The Global Talent Program
• Globalization & Localization Association Task Force on Global Talent
(GTP):
– Google, Cisco, eBay, Twitter, Microsoft, Marriott, ManPower, JNCLNCLIS
– Chair – Bill Rivers
• Invitation to participate in Michigan State University’s annual
Recruiting Trends Survey: http://www.ceri.msu.edu/chatter/2014recruiting-trends/
• Pilot survey in March 2014 with GALA GTP
• Module on cultural & linguistic capital in Summer, 2014 survey
– mid (100-500 workers) and large (>500 workers) size businesses
– Their hiring plans for spring 2015 semester
– Focus on entry level positions, requirements, perceived gaps
• n = 2101 (2008: 90,386 mid-size and 18,469 large businesses in the
US. US Census Bureau, 2010)
Global Talent Survey: Preliminary Results
• 33% of US mid and large size companies have international operations
and/or serve multilingual/multicultural clientele
• 11% actively seek recruits for jobs requiring FL skills
• 93% seek “employees who can show they are able to work effectively
with customers, clients, and businesses from a range of different
countries and cultures.”
• 64% seek employees with multicultural experience
• 49% seek employees with overseas experience
• 55% track employee FL skills
• 35% give advantage to multilingual candidates
• 21% report difficulty in managing and integrating diverse teams due to
a lack of global talent
• 14% report a loss of business opportunities due to a lack of FL skills
• Top business skills in demand for initial hires with Global Talent: sales,
customer service, project management
• 69% of respondents believe that higher education must do more to
prepare students with Global Talent
American Academy of Arts and
Sciences & Language
• AAAS – founded in 1780 by John Adams and others
• Oldest US Academy
• 2013: The Heart of the Matter – Commission on the Humanities and Social
Sciences;
– Requested by Congress in 2012
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2013 – participant in the Languages for All summit
2014 – pending request from Congress to AAAS to assess the impact of language
on the national interest
– First broad based, Congressionally requested study since 1979 (Perkins Commission)
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New commission will work for a year to assess the impact of FL on education,
global security, economic growth, and social justice
JNCL-NCLIS, ACTFL, CAL, American Councils, CASL, and others have been working
on this project for a year
Stay Tuned for More!
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PR opportunities throughout the commission’s work; public hearings
Senior commissioners who will speak out on language
Coherent agenda for 2016 and beyond
Congressional interest after the publishing of the report in 2016
Contact
• Bill Rivers, wrivers@languagepolicy.org