thanks to the french cultural mission to new york (particularly fabrice jaumont) and un , ny has splendid working examples of dual language schools- these require the community to spend a lot of time commitring to making them work- going way beyond standardised curricla

one of the reasons why the whole of the usa should be concerned about its 21st C langiage deficit is discussed in this tedx by jaumont co-aurhor of the gift of languages in this tedx -

Kathleen Stein-Smith at TEDxFairleighDickinsonUniversity

00:00

Translator: Nadia Gabriel Reviewer: Ellen Maloney

00:04

I'd like to talk to you today about the US foreign language deficit,

00:09

and how it impacts our economic and national security.

00:14

The first question that a lot of people are going to say

00:18

when introduced to a new concept is: "What is it?"

00:22

They might then say,

00:24

"Why should I care? What does it matter?"

00:28

And then, if you do get engaged,

00:31

you're going to conclude by saying, "What can I do? How can I help?"

00:37

I'd like to lead off with, again, a reference to Edward Snowden.

00:44

Recently, in August of 2013,

00:46

among the information that he did release,

00:49

was also information about the black budgets

00:53

of the United States government.

00:55

And of course, looking at the foreign language numbers,

00:59

I was amazed to read that

01:02

in all our federal intelligence services in the United States -

01:07

and that's about one million people -

01:09

we have about 900 people who are fluent in Chinese.

01:13

And about 1,900 who are fluent in all of the Middle-Eastern languages combined.

01:20

That's amazing, taking into consideration

01:22

the geopolitical importance of those regions.

01:28

Okay, now here's an old joke:

01:31

A person who speaks two languages is bilingual.

01:35

A person who speaks three languages is trilingual.

01:39

A person who speaks four or more languages is multilingual.

01:43

A person who speaks one language is an American.

01:48

An old joke, but still very very true.

01:51

Okay, what is this language deficit?

01:55

According to a Gallup poll, only 20 to 25 per cent of Americans

01:59

feel comfortable having a conversation, engaging in conversation,

02:04

in a language other than English.

02:09

According to the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages,

02:13

only 18.5 per cent of K-12 students in the United States

02:18

are enrolled in a foreign language course.

02:23

At the post-secondary level, college and university level,

02:28

a mere eight per cent of college and university students

02:32

in the United States are currently enrolled

02:34

in a foreign language course.

02:40

On the other hand, 56 per cent of Europeans

02:45

feel comfortable holding a conversation in their own language, plus one.

02:53

And 28 per cent of Europeans feel comfortable

02:57

engaging in conversation in at least two languages other than their own.

03:06

How long has the foreign language deficit been around?

03:09

Is it new? Not really.

03:13

You can find discussion of it back to the 1940s.

03:17

But in the contemporary era, the contemporary conversation,

03:21

we can place the beginning in 1979.

03:25

The report "Strength Through Wisdom,"

03:28

a report from a presidential commission.

03:31

That started the conversation.

03:33

And what really increased the momentum,

03:36

was the book published in 1980, the following year,

03:41

by Senator Paul Simon,

03:42

"The Tongue-Tied American: Confronting the Foreign Language Crisis."

03:47

That was published in 1980.

03:50

Alright, we know what it is, you've seen the numbers.

03:55

You've seen the beginning of it,

03:57

the origins of the foreign language deficit.

04:00

But why does it really matter?

04:02

Well, it really does matter

04:04

because 75 per cent of the world's population

04:07

does not speak English.

04:11

Also, our relative lack of communication affects business, government,

04:18

all over the world.

04:20

It also affects us personally,

04:23

limiting our personal, professional, and career options.

04:29

There has been so much written on the US foreign language deficit,

04:34

over so many years,

04:36

by educators, by government, by industry leaders,

04:41

by business education leaders.

04:43

And I just want to point out a few of, I think, the most relevant, documents.

04:50

[Why Does It Matter? From Forbes]

04:52

Forbes, in 2012, a blog post,

04:56

America's foreign language deficit, written by the president of Cornell,

05:01

and one of the officers of Cornell University.

05:08

A little bit earlier in 2012, in June,

05:12

the Council on Foreign Relations.

05:14

Another blog post, "Foreign languages and US economic competitiveness."

05:19

How important is that?

05:23

At about the same time, the Council on Foreign Relations

05:26

published a piece written by the president of the Council,

05:31

the Council for Applied Linguistics,

05:34

"Languages for Jobs Initiative."

05:37

How clear is the connection?

05:40

Still, why does it matter?

05:42

What about Senate hearings?

05:45

There are numerous Government Accountability Office reports,

05:49

and also Senate hearings.

05:51

Two of the most recent took place in 2010 and 2012.

05:56

"Closing the Language Gap:

05:58

Improving the Federal Government Foreign Language Capabilities," in 2010.

06:03

And then even more alarmingly, "A National Security Crisis:

06:07

Foreign Language Capabilities in the Federal Government."

06:11

Across governmental agencies,

06:13

from law enforcement, to technology, to intelligence gathering.

06:19

But still, why does it really matter?

06:22

University of Phoenix, alright, their research institute,

06:26

now known as the Apollo Research Institute,

06:29

has published two major reports on foreign languages and the work place.

06:35

The first one, "The Great Divide: Worker and Employer Perspectives,"

06:41

on skills, what skills are going be demanded.

06:44

And then the second report,

06:46

"Current and Future Foreign Language Demands in the Workplace."

06:50

Both in 2011.

06:52

Still, why does it matter if we still need to be convinced?

06:56

"The Language Flagship," released in 2009,

06:59

a report "What Business Wants: Language Needs in the 21st Century."

07:05

It's what business wants.

07:07

From the National Research Council in 2007,

07:11

"International Education and Foreign Language Education:

07:16

Keys to Securing America's Future."

07:23

In 2006, we had the "National Security Language Initiative,"

07:28

known for promoting the concept of critical languages.

07:32

From the Committee for Economic Development, the report,

07:36

"Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies

07:41

and Foreign Language Education for US Economic and National Security."

07:48

From the Department of Defense, "Defense Language Transformation Roadmap,"

07:53

first promulgated in 2005.

08:00

Now we know what it is, and we know how much it matters,

08:04

to us as a nation, to us individually.

08:10

What can we do?

08:11

We can act as individuals.

08:14

We can act as members of educational institutions.

08:19

We can act as businesses, business owners, business leaders, and business educators.

08:25

We can act as government, government agencies,

08:29

local government, state government, national government.

08:34

As individuals, this is self-evident,

08:38

we can learn another language.

08:41

Anyone at any age can learn a language.

08:45

Motivation is the best predictor of success.

08:49

Budget matters far less.

08:52

Motivation is key.

08:55

We can encourage our family and friends to learn another language.

08:59

Talk to your children, your parents, your cousins, your next-door neighbor.

09:04

We can advocate for foreign language education,

09:08

in our towns, in our school districts, at the state level,

09:13

and also at the national level.

09:16

If advocacy is not enough, we can become a change agent.

09:21

We can certainly vote for candidates who favor foreign language education,

09:25

we can become candidates for public office ourselves.

09:30

What can educational institutions do?

09:33

Well we're sitting here in a university library.

09:36

Educational institutions can adopt foreign language requirements,

09:42

and enforce existing ones.

09:46

However, I think possibly more interestingly,

09:49

and more importantly, in this age

09:52

where foreign language has, if not disappeared from classrooms,

09:57

has receded from university classroom.

10:01

You saw that figure of eight per cent of students

10:05

that we spoke about a couple of minutes ago.

10:07

What we also can do, as universities,

10:11

we can offer informal co-curricular

10:15

and experiential language learning experiences and opportunities.

10:20

Think of the possibilities on a campus like this.

10:24

We have students from all over the world, speaking many many different languages.

10:29

We're located in Bergen County, NJ,

10:32

surrounded, once again, by many many languages.

10:35

The possibilities here are truly endless.

10:39

What can we do about it?

10:41

Companies, large and small, can compensate, can offer

10:48

they can compensate for,

10:50

or even offer opportunities for foreign language instruction.

10:54

Onsite, or fund study that's offsite, off the company campus.

11:01

What can government do?

11:04

Government can and does do a great deal.

11:07

Government certainly can offer compensation, advancement, training

11:12

to government employees across all of the agencies

11:16

who possess or who are in the process of learning

11:20

needed foreign language skills.

11:23

We do see this across the federal government.

11:26

Government can increase tax and other advantages

11:29

for people studying foreign languages for workplace needs.

11:35

Government can also increase, actually maintain and even increase,

11:41

funding for foreign language initiatives.

11:46

As you all know, in 2008,

11:48

it's some of the foreign language programs that have been put forward, post 9/11,

11:54

they were subject to the same budget restrictions as many many other programs.

12:00

We can look to the literature.

12:02

We have a great report from the Center for Applied Linguistics,

12:06

"Building the Foreign Language Capacity We Need:

12:10

Toward a Comprehensive Strategy for a Foreign Language Framework."

12:15

Notice the use of the term "framework,"

12:18

very much inspired by language practice and language policy in the European Union.

12:26

What can we do?

12:28

The MLA, Modern Language Association, has come out with a report:

12:32

"Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World."

12:38

Notice they don't say, "Changing world."

12:40

The world has already changed.

12:44

What can we do about it?

12:46

We can learn from others.

12:47

"What We Can Learn From Foreign Language Teaching in Other Countries."

12:52

Their successes, their challenges.

12:55

"Promoting a Language Proficient Society: What You Can Do."

13:00

We have from the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages,

13:03

"Realizing Our Vision of Languages for All."

13:06

That was the theme of their 2005 language year.

13:09

And "Standards for Foreign Language Education," since 1996.

13:14

We have Mary Louise Pratt's piece from Silver Dialogues at NYU,

13:19

"Building a New Public Idea About Language."

13:22

There's a lot we can do.

13:25

Concluding thoughts: will we be tongue-tied or fluent?

13:29

There are encouraging signs.

13:31

Secretary of Education Duncan, then CIA director Panetta,

13:36

spoke at the national Foreign Language Summit in 2010.

13:41

In April 2013, Deputy Assistant Secretary

13:45

for International and Foreign Language Education, Clay Pell was appointed.

13:51

May 2013, the late Senator Frank Lautenberg

13:54

and Representative Rush Holt from New Jersey

13:57

introduced legislation in the House and the Senate

14:00

on foreign language education.

14:03

The next steps: Learn from the research,

14:06

learn from best practice from around the world.

14:11

The very last step:

14:13

develop a strategic social marketing plan involving all constituencies,

14:18

government, business, education.

14:21

Involve celebrities;

14:22

bilingual role models like Johnny Depp, Sandra Bullock, Alex Rodriguez,

14:28

the list is long.

14:30

And final question: Many countries have language policies,

14:35

the United States does not.

14:38

Should the United States have a foreign language policy,

14:42