[EDLING:204] MLA Report on FL Learning In Higher Ed

[Francis M Hult]

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

The Modern Language Association supports a broad, intellectually driven approach to 
teaching language and culture in higher education. To study the best ways of 
implementing this approach in today's world, the MLA Executive Council established an 
Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages, chaired by Mary Louise Pratt, who served as the 
association's president in 2003. The committee was charged with examining the current 
language crisis that has occurred as a result of 9/11 and with considering the effects 
of this crisis on the teaching of foreign languages in colleges and universities. It 
began working in 2004 and submitted its report to the Executive Council two years 
later. Committee members have made presentations at the MLA convention and at other 
public venues, including events sponsored by federal agencies, professional 
associations, and universities. This summary of the committee's and the Executive 
Council's deliberations offers background and context for the association's 
recommendations regarding the challenges and opportunities facing language study in 
higher education. While the recommendations address issues specific to the United 
States, they may be applicable to other contexts and countries.

Full text of the report
http://www.mla.org/flreport