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<div><img title="Cross-Sector Collaboration Promises Progress" src="http://languagemagazine.com/internetedition/images/many_languages_feb15.jpg" alt="" height="330" width="495"></div>
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<h3><em>Kathy Stein-Smith</em> assesses the role of the Language Enterprise in addressing the U.S. world-language deficit</h3>
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<p>Relatively few American students study world languages, with only
18.5% of K–12 students and only 8.6% of college and university students
enrolled in a course in a language other than English, according to the
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the
Modern Language Association (MLA) respectively. Over the past 50 years,
among college and university students, enrollment in a language other
than English has decreased from 16% to 8.6%, just as the world was
transitioning from the postcolonial to the global era. Although the
precipitous decline in world-language enrollments in the 1970s and 1980s
has stabilized, world-language enrollments have not increased in
proportion to globalization.</p>
<p>Across the Atlantic, 56% of Europeans are capable of holding a
conversation in a second language, and studying at least one foreign
language is the worldwide norm.</p>
<p>The Language Enterprise, as coined by William Rivers, director of the
Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for
International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS), in his 2013 presentation “Language
Enterprise in the U.S.: The Public and Private Sector,” is a
collaborative partnership of education, private enterprise, and
government in support of world languages and world-language education.</p>
<p>The effectiveness of this partnership has been recently demonstrated
in the U.S. by the Many Languages, One World Essay Contest and Global
Youth Forum at the United Nations and by the British Academy’s language
program and related government and private-sector initiatives in the UK.</p>
<p><strong>Many Languages, One World</strong><br>
The Many Languages, One World (MLOW) Essay Contest and Global Youth
Forum, sponsored by the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and ELS
Educational Services, and hosted by Adelphi University, invited college
and university students from all over the world to write essays in one
of the official languages of the United Nations — but not the students’
first languages — on the UNAI principles. The contest was launched in
October 2013, with the purpose of promoting multilingualism and
encouraging study of the six official languages of the UN, and the
essays were due in March 2014. Over 4,000 people were involved in the
process, with almost 1,500 students from 128 countries submitting essays
and recommended by faculty members at their institutions.</p>
<p>After a rigorous selection process, which included evaluation of
their essays, recommendations from faculty at their home institutions,
and Skype interviews to confirm conversational proficiency so that they
would be able to present in the target languages and respond to
questions and comments from the audience, ten winners were selected for
each of the six official languages of the UN and were brought to New
York, all expenses paid, for a week, during which time they made their
presentations at the UN General Assembly. Winners were from 26 different
countries on six continents and included eight U.S. students.</p>
<p>The winners spent their first full day in the U.S. working with the
other students in their language groups and their language-group
facilitators preparing their presentation, and the guiding principle for
the preparation workshops was appreciative inquiry.</p>
<p>The second day was spent at the UN. Each of the student winners had
the opportunity to present in the language of his or her essay on one of
the ten principles of the UNAI. The French-language group, which I was
honored to work with, presented on principle three, “educational
opportunity for all people regardless of gender, race, religion, or
ethnicity.” After the presentations, the students had lunch in the
delegates dining room, where they were seated by language and joined by
UN staff and dignitaries who spoke their languages. The French-language
students were joined by two ambassadors, a UN student intern, and UN
staff members, all francophones, who answered questions and shared
experiences in French. The weekend included a full schedule of
educational and enjoyable activities for the students, most of whom were
in the U.S. and New York City for the first time.</p>
<p>The collaborative partnership of the UNAI, ELS Educational Services,
and Adelphi University had the synergy to create a high-profile event
which brought together students from all over the world and empowered
them to present at the General Assembly. In addition to fostering
friendships across cultures, MLOW received significant online press
coverage around the world.</p>
<p>The most striking aspect of this inspirational event and stunning
example of the Language Enterprise in action was the camaraderie among
these students from all over the world.</p>
<p>According to its website, the UNAI, which observed its fourth
anniversary in November 2014, is “a global initiative that aligns
institutions of higher education with the United Nations in furthering
the realization of the purposes and mandate of the organization through
activities and research in a shared culture of intellectual social
responsibility.”<br>
For details on entering the 2015 competition, see page 16.</p>
<p><strong>The British Academy Language Program</strong><br>
The British Academy language program, a four-year initiative launched in
2011, has highlighted the need for world languages through newspaper
articles, research publications, and public events, such as the Language
Festivals of 2013 and 2014. </p>
<p>Publications include Lost for Words: The Need for Languages in UK
Diplomacy and Security (2013), Talk the Talk (2013), Languages: The
State of the Nation (2013), andposition statement “Language Matters More
and More” (2011). “Born Global: Rethinking Language Policy for 21st
Century Britain” is scheduled for publication in 2015; interim findings
were presented at the Languages Show 2014.</p>
<p>The “case for language learning” series of articles published in the
Guardian newspaper, the School Language Awards, and the Public Language
Champion Awards are examples of the Language Enterprise collaborative
partnership of the private/academic sector with the corporate sector.</p>
<p>During this same period, the CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey
2014, “Gateway to Growth,” highlighted the importance of languages, and
the British Council published Languages for the Future (2013). Following
that the national curriculum included additional world language
requirements in September 2014 (see “Elementary Practicals,” <em>LM</em> November 2014), and world-language requirements have been added to high school exit exams. </p>
<p>Other trends in world languages and their teaching include: foreign
language advocacy; the global anglophone foreign language deficit;
career opportunities in world languages; languages for specific purposes
(LSP) and business-language studies (BLS); programs for
heritage-language speakers; immersion programs; the popularity of
Spanish; technology in world-language learning; and English as a second
language in Europe.</p>
<p>The challenge remains the global reluctance among English speakers
around the world to dedicate the time and effort necessary to acquire
foreign language skills at the level of proficiency or fluency necessary
for them to be a career asset. While many English speakers may believe
that, as English is the global lingua franca, they do not need to learn
another language, this is far from true in a globalized world where 75%
of the population does not speak English.<br>
A strategic social-marketing campaign to raise awareness among Americans
of the importance of world-language skills is needed, and this campaign
needs to be a collaborative initiative, with participation across the
entire Language Enterprise of education, government, and business.</p>
<p>In order to be effective, the strategic social-marketing campaign for
world languages will need to operate at the local, state, and national
levels to raise awareness of, and interest in, other languages and
cultures among Americans. In addition, U.S. students need to be made
more aware of the career and professional opportunities available to
those with foreign language skills, and programs to develop these
skills, particularly in languages for specific purposes and
business-language studies, need to be promoted and expanded. On campuses
and in the classroom, extra- and co-curricular activities make all the
difference, with service learning and experiential learning, as well as
language houses, festivals, and library language tables among the
available options.</p>
<p>Programs for heritage-language speakers designed to respond to their
specific language-learning needs need to be expanded in order to empower
them to improve their career prospects, but also to maximize their
potential contribution to business and government.</p>
<p>High-profile programs and events, like Many Languages, One World and
the British Academy language program, are examples of effective Language
Enterprise collaborative partnerships, which have the potential to
change the world-language-learning paradigm.</p>
<p><strong>According to Languages for All?<br>
The Global Anglophone Challenge</strong><br>
“In recent years, much of the discussion regarding foreign language
education has centered on its perceived benefits: a more robust economy,
stronger national security, improved cognitive ability, and advantages
in college admissions and the job market, just to name a few. Recent
surveys show that 85% of American adults now believe that it is
important for youth to learn a second language, yet 79% of Americans are
still monolingual. It’s time to shift the discussion from ‘Why should
we learn a second language?’ to ‘Why aren’t we learning languages?’”</p>
<p><strong>References</strong><br>
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). “Enrollment Survey.” <a href="http://www.actfl.org/enrollment-survey" target="_blank">http://www.actfl.org/enrollment-survey</a><br>
British Academy. “Languages.” <a href="http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/Languages.cfm" target="_blank">http://www.britac.ac.uk/policy/Languages.cfm</a><br>
Confederation of British Industry (CBI)/Pearson Education and Skills Survey.<br>
Gateway to Growth. <a href="http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/2807987/gateway-to-growth.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.cbi.org.uk/media/2807987/gateway-to-growth.pdf</a><br>
ELS Educational Services. “Many Languages,One World.” <a href="http://www.els.edu/en/ManyLanguagesOneWorld" target="_blank">http://www.els.edu/en/ManyLanguagesOneWorld</a><br>
European Commission. Eurobarometer. Europeans and Their Languages. <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf" target="_blank">http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf</a><br>
“Global Trends in Foreign Language Demand and Proficiency.“ Student Travel Planning Guide<br>
<a href="http://studenttravelplanningguide.com/" target="_blank">http://studenttravelplanningguide.com/</a><br>
printguide/global-trends-in-foreign-language-demand-and-proficiency/<br>
Joint National Committee for Languages and National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS). <a href="http://www.languagepolicy.org" target="_blank">http://www.languagepolicy.org</a><br>
“Languages for All? The Anglophone Challenge.” <a href="http://www.casl.umd.edu/lfa" target="_blank">http://www.casl.umd.edu/lfa</a><br>
McComb, Chris. “About One in Four Americans Can Hold a Conversation in a Second Language.”<br>
<a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.gallup.com/poll/1825/about-one-four-americans-can-hold-conversation-second-language.aspx</a><br>
Modern Language Association (MLA). Enrollments in Languages Other Than
English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2009. <a href="http://www.mla.org/2009_enrollmentsurvey" target="_blank">http://www.mla.org/2009_enrollmentsurvey</a><br>
Rivers, William P. “The Language Enterprise in the U.S.: The View from Washington.“ <a href="http://www.govtilr.org/Training%20Committee/Minutes/JNCL-NCLIS%20ILR%20April%2019%202013.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.govtilr.org/Training%20Committee/Minutes/JNCL-NCLIS%20ILR%20April%2019%202013.pdf</a><br>
United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI). <a href="https://academicimpact.un.org" target="_blank">https://academicimpact.un.org</a></p>
<p><strong>Kathy Stein-Smith</strong>, who was honored to have
participated as the French-language facilitator of the Many Languages,
One World initiative, has just been appointed chair of the AATF
(American Association of Teachers of French) Commission on Advocacy. She
is associate university librarian of the Frank Giovatto Library at
Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey.</p>
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