[EDLING:1773] US State Dept. staff abroad lagging on languages

[Francis M Hult]

Via lg-policy...

> State Dept. staff abroad lagging on languages
> Nearly 30 percent of those in posts where proficiency is required get a
> failing grade, according to a GAO report.
> 
> By Anushka Asthana
> Washington Post
> 
> WASHINGTON - Nearly 30 percent of State Department employees based
> overseas in "language-designated positions" are failing to speak and write
> the local language well enough to meet required levels, a report by the
> Government Accountability Office says. "We have a shortage of people with
> language skills in posts that need them," said John Brummet, assistant
> director for international affairs and trade at the GAO. "If people do not
> have the proper language skills, it is difficult to influence the people
> and government and to understand what they are thinking. It just doesn't
> get the job done." Languages described as "superhard" by the report are
> proving particularly difficult. Four out of 10 workers in posts requiring
> Arabic, Chinese and Japanese fail to meet the requirements.
> 
> The levels are even higher in some critical postings. Sixty percent of
> State Department personnel in San'a, Yemen, and 59 percent in Cairo,
> Egypt, do not meet language requirements, the report said. Even levels set
> by the department could be too low to do the jobs properly. According to
> the GAO, embassy officials in China and Yemen said the speaking and
> reading levels asked for were "not high enough and that staff in these
> positions were not sufficiently fluent to effectively perform their jobs."
> 
> Not all the news is bad. The report - which has been sent to Sen. Richard
> G. Lugar (R., Ind.), chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee - said
> there had been positive steps: "State has made progress in increasing its
> foreign language capabilities, but serious language gaps remain." Still,
> the GAO found that many posts, including some critical to antiterrorism
> efforts, were vacant or filled by inexperienced workers.  Brummet said
> shortages included "visa officers, political officers, economic officers,
> substantive reporting and consular affairs."
> 
> "We are looking for the State Department to rethink the assessment system
> and do things they are not currently doing to fix the problem," he said.
> "We are pleased they have agreed with the recommendations and are thinking
> of making significant changes. The question is: How far is the department
> willing to go?" All the way, officials said. Justin Higgins, a spokesman,
> said the State Department had worked with the GAO on the report, which
> took a year to compile. "We are already making the changes that will
> address many of the concerns noted in the report,"  he said.
> 
> More staff will be employed to ensure additional training opportunities in
> critical languages such as Arabic. Higgins said efforts to close remaining
> gaps had been "hampered by an expansion of our mission, including in Iraq
> and Afghanistan." The report says some postings are not long enough for
> staff workers to build up skills in certain languages.
> 
> Read 65-pg. GAO report on language skills at
> http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06894.pdf
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>  2006 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.