Letters from Kay Kohl

Need of Citizens with Foreign Language Skills Is Expected to Climb

(UCEA InFocus, April 2007)
Kay Kohl, UCEA Executive Director and CEO

"A pervasive lack of knowledge about foreign cultures and foreign languages threatens the security of the United States as well as its ability to compete in the global marketplace and produce an informed citizenry," according to a National Academies panel review released last month. Changing this situation cannot be accomplished simply through channeling new federal funding into existing programs. What the country requires is a comprehensive approach to foreign language and international studies - one that takes into account the needs of the diverse populations served by K-12, traditional higher education, and professional and continuing studies.

In the United States, young people typically do not have the opportunity to study a foreign language before secondary school, even though experts recommend that instruction begin already in kindergarten. Thousands of American high school students take foreign languages courses at a distance through university outreach organizations. For instance, Brigham Young University's continuing education division provided foreign language instruction to over 8000 high school students in 2006. Michigan State University offers online Chinese courses to high school and middle school students via the Michigan Virtual High School in partnership with MSU's Confucius Institute.

There are a dozen Confucius Institutes currently in the United States and some 130 worldwide, with more planned between now and the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. The Confucius Institutes are language-and-culture centers established by the Chinese government as part of a soft-diplomacy offensive to promote Chinese language study and forge relationships around the world. These programs are timely as Americans' interest in China and Chinese language studies has grown rapidly along with China's economy.

Recent advances in technology are making learning a foreign language more convenient and effective for working adults than in the past. Also more Americans recognize that learning a foreign language has advantages in a global economy and are accepting of online language-learning software. For instance, technology can enable an instructor to diagnose a learner's needs, identify weaknesses, and provide customized self-study components that allow a student to progress to the next level more quickly. Also, technology may be used to record and archive a class period and so even if a working adult needs to miss a class, that individual need not fall behind.

The events of 9/11, and the subsequent conflict in Iraq, compelled the U.S. government to focus on the foreign language competency of its personnel. The resulting National Security Language Initiative aims to develop experts with competency in critical languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Hindi and Turkic. In addition, many other adults are studying these critical languages for business and travel reasons.

Still, Spanish attracts the most language learners of all ages in the United States. American communities that have experienced a large influx of Spanish-speaking residents look to CE units to help them prepare interpreters in key public sector service agencies. At the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, distance education and health professionals joined forces to develop a 90 episode telenovela, "A su Salud," to teach practicing health professionals how to communicate in Spanish with their patients and their families.

America's need for individuals with foreign language skills and knowledge of international affairs can be expected to continue to grow. When it comes to provision of language learning, college and university continuing CE units already play a significant role, and with or without an infusion of new federal monies, can be expected to play an even larger role in the future.