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<a href="http://www.voxxi.com/commercial-language-education/" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to Multilingualism and commercial language: Vital for the U.S. economy">Multilingualism and commercial language: Vital for the U.S. economy</a>
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<span class="">Posted on June 27, 2013</span>
<span class="">By <a href="http://www.voxxi.com/author/john-benson/">John Benson</a></span>
<span class=""><a href="http://www.voxxi.com/lifestyle/education/" title="View all posts in Education">Education</a></span>
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<div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder"><p>Enhancing
America’s $20 billion commercial language industry is the focus of the
American Language Enterprise Advocacy (ALEA), the first-ever U.S. lobby
for the language enterprise. The goal is to</p>
<p>A joint effort between the Globalization and Localization Association (<a href="http://www.gala-global.org/" target="_blank">GALA</a>) and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (<a href="http://www.languagepolicy.org" target="_blank">NCLIS</a>),
ALEA strives for national policies around language education funding
and competencies in the United States, as well as legislation and joint
public-private initiatives to fuel the development of language
capabilities that underpin U.S. exports and global policy.</p>
<p>What does the commercial language industry mean for the largely Spanish-speaking Latino community?</p>
<blockquote><p>“One of the things with Spanish in particular is that I
think we’ve gotten to the point where it’s no longer appropriate to
think of Spanish as a foreign language in the United States,” GALA CEO
Hans Fenstermacher told VOXXI. “It’s a native language here. There is a
huge population where that’s a piece of their culture and existence.
There are a lot of businesses out there that want to reach that
population.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Added NCLIS Executive Director Bill Rivers to VOXXI, “What we’re
pushing for in D.C. is to ensure there is more access to language
education and where there’s a language industry issues, such as the
availability of skilled workers, those need to be attended to. There is a
burgeoning market out there for Spanish language skills, as well as
every other language.”</p>
<div id="attachment_76898" class="" style="width:338px"><img class="" title="Chart languages" alt="Commercial language depends on multilingual education" src="http://voxxi.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Language-410x268.jpg" height="214" width="328"><p class="">
The future of U.S. economy depends partly on commercial language and ending cuts in language education. (Shutterstock)</p></div>
<p>ALEA estimates the commercial language industry enables roughly $1.5
trillion in U.S. exports, with a commercial language services sector of
around $20 billion. Fenstermacher said every dollar of U.S. global
commerce rests on a tiny investment in language of 1.3 cents.
Invariably, language is viewed as the enabler of global commerce.</p>
<p>“We’re really trying to get policymakers and the business community
and everybody to focus on the fact that there’s a tremendous amount of
benefit that can be generated with a relatively modest investment going
forward,” Fenstermacher said.</p>
<p>That investment involves ending the recent cycle of
language-education-related cuts. The Dept. of Education has cut 48
percent of its overall language funding since 2011, while the State
Department will reduce its spending by nearly 10 percent in 2014.</p>
<p>Rivers said the latter is important because it directly funds the number of American students being <a href="http://www.voxxi.com/foreign-language-immersion-success/" target="_blank">immersed in foreign cultures</a> when studying abroad.</p>
<blockquote><p>“It all has to do with the vital role language and
culture play in the 21st century,” Rivers said. “We have to prepare
American kids to handle the 21st century and we have to make sure that
America is competitive with the rest of the world with respect to these
issues.”</p></blockquote>
<p>GALA’s goals include getting federal agencies to understand the
importance of language education, which in turn will position commercial
language, along with the information economy, as an integral part of
the 21st century. In terms of education, Rivers feels language should be
viewed as part and parcel of the <a href="http://www.voxxi.com/stem-education-and-minority-gaps/" target="_blank">STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] initiative</a>.</p>
<div id="attachment_41880" class="" style="width:338px"><img class="" title="Kid speaking" alt="Commercial language depends on education" src="http://voxxi.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Learning-a-second-language-410x255.jpg" height="204" width="328"><p class="">
Language education will help promote and position commercial language. (Shutterstock)</p></div>
<p>Both Rivers and Fenstermacher stress the notion of language in
America currently remains a political football thrown around by some
leaders who feel threatened by any language other than English.</p>
<p>“It’s a generational issue in a way,” Rivers said. “When we look at
polling data among younger Americans, this is not an issue. They don’t
see that English is threatened by foreign languages. They get the idea
that the world is multicultural. The world is changing and part of our
job is to show policy leaders that in fact it has. The rest of the world
is learning English but they’re also learning Chinese. Unless we get on
board, we’re going to lose out.”</p>
<p>Fenstermacher added that less than 30 percent of global business
communication is happening in English. Moving forward, that commercial
language figure expects to drop even more.</p>
<p>“Now you have a giant Latino community very proudly speaking its
language and involved in the culture, so I think at this point the
reality on the ground is that plural lingualism is the order of the
day,” Fenstermacher said. “Companies aren’t really trying to change
history, they’re going with the reality on the ground because they’re
all about market share. They embraced this a long time ago.</p>
<blockquote><p>“It’s really time for the policymakers to catch up with
that. This will help us be competitive with the rest of the world.
Entrenching ourselves with English-only is taking a giant step backwards
and in fact is never going to work. It puts the workforce and the whole
community and the country at a huge disadvantage.”</p></blockquote></div><br>Read more: <a style="color:rgb(0,51,153)" href="http://www.voxxi.com/commercial-language-education/#ixzz2XWRkYyHT">http://www.voxxi.com/commercial-language-education/#ixzz2XWRkYyHT</a><br>
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