Studying foreign languages is hot. In most European nations, students learn foreign languages throughout elementary and secondary school. European Union statistics show that about 45 percent of Europeans are fluent enough to converse in a second language. In several countries, the percentage is even higher: 80 percent of residents in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden are fluent in a language other than their own, and nearly everyone in Luxembourg speaks a second language.
But the fervor with which other nations embrace foreign languages hasn't caught on in the United States. In China, more than 200 million students are learning English. How many U.S. kids are studying Chinese? A mere 24,000, according to the nonprofit Asia Society.
In the United States, the gap is across the board. A study by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages found that only about 33 percent of U.S. students in grades 7–12 study a foreign language and just 9 percent of college students take a foreign language class. In all educational settings, introductory language courses dominate. And, instead of studying languages the federal government deems critical to national security (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Persian or Farsi, Russian, and Turkish), most secondary and college-level students choose to study Spanish.
For National Security, Competitiveness, Understanding
The rarity of foreign language study has educators, policymakers, and business people worried. "The tragedies of 9/11, Madrid, London, Bali and Baghdad must bring home to us as Americans the imperative of learning more about the world as a matter of our national security on a dangerous planet," said John Brademas, former U.S. congressman from Indiana and president emeritus of New York University.
Brademas recently cochaired a group of business leaders convened by the Committee for Economic Development (CED) to explore the issue. The CED, which has long been one of the United States' most influential nonprofit voices on international policy, in February issued a report calling for a nationwide push to emphasize foreign language learning at all levels.
"It is not only for reasons of national security that we must learn more about countries and cultures other than our own," said Brademas at a press briefing. "Such knowledge is also indispensable to America's economic strength and competitive position in the world. The marketplace has now become global."
Federal Incentives . . .
The White House has weighed in on the issue as well. The Bush administration's proposed $114 million National Security Language Initiative, announced in January, aims to improve "national security and prosperity in the 21st century through education, especially in developing foreign language skills," said Dina Powell, assistant secretary of state for education and cultural affairs, in a statement announcing the initiative.
She says the program will seek to increase the number of Americans learning critical need foreign languages (Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Russian, and so on) through new and expanded programs from kindergarten through university and into the workforce. It would expand the number of Americans mastering critical need languages (and start them at a younger age) by
- Providing incentives to teach and study critical need languages in K–12.
- Building continuous programs of study of critical need languages from kindergarten to university.
- Providing scholarships for study-abroad programs and short-term opportunities for high school students studying critical need languages.
- Assisting U.S. teachers of critical need languages to study abroad.
Even as they applaud such initiatives, some leaders are skeptical whether they will be enough. "Although globalization is pushing Americans to expand the knowledge of our students, the education reform movement has led many schools to narrow their curricula," said CED President Charles Kolb at the organization's briefing. "Reforms, like those outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act, hold states accountable for student achievement in reading, science and mathematics, crowding out time for teaching foreign languages, geography and the other social sciences."
Language educators are frustrated, too. They point in particular to a decision by the National Assessment Governing Board, which administers the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP, often known as "the nation's report card"), to postpone from 2004 to 2012 the nation's first-ever foreign language NAEP.
Martha G. Abbott, director of education for the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, believes the stalled foreign language NAEP—although likely to have simply confirmed how much work remains to be done—would have been a powerful impetus to reinvigorate language instruction in U.S. schools. "What gets tested gets taught," she told participants at the National Language Conference last year. "So let's face it, according to past NAEP results, Johnny hasn't been able to read, write, or do science. I find it hard to believe that he would be able to speak Spanish. But dismal results would, as they have for other subject areas, jolt federal legislators into pouring additional funds into efforts to shore up this poor showing."