Why multilingualism should be a national priority
By Domna C. Stanton
Originally published December 28, 2005
Theres an old joke that says: Someone who speaks three languages is trilingual; someone who speaks two languages is bilingual; and someone who speaks one language is American. That punch line might have been funny a few years ago, but in a post-9/11 world, Americans lack of language skills is no laughing matter. Its cause for great concern. Our linguistic deficit has created an increasingly acute national security and intelligence crisis. It has affected our ability to build a public diplomacy effort that can improve our standing and relations in the world, to address burgeoning security challenges and to understand the cultural nuances that can spell the difference between life and death at Baghdad checkpoints.
After 9/11, the government discovered that we did not have enough speakers of Arabic and Urdu, of Farsi and Chinese, among a host of languages. As a result, hundreds of thousands of pages that could contain crucial clues to impending attacks remain untranslated in the depths of the FBI.
And the federal agencies that have the largest foreign language programs - the Army, the State Department, the Foreign Commercial Service and the FBI - are experiencing shortages up to 44 percent in translators and interpreters in such key languages as Arabic, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Persian-Farsi and Russian.
To tackle this crisis, we need more than just translators. America must have multilingual competence, not only for reasons of national security and international standing but also to ensure our economic success in the global marketplace and to engage in scientific, legal and educational work with people around the world.
To do something about this, we need to gather resources, set new policy and raise public awareness. Congress has acknowledged the crisis by designating 2005 as the Year of Foreign Language Study and calling for the promotion and expansion of foreign language study in elementary schools, secondary schools, institutions of higher learning, businesses and government programs.
And Congress has designated 2006 as the Year of Study Abroad, recognizing that we do not have enough graduates with foreign language skills today and that intensive study abroad can help to share the values of the United States, to create good will for the United States around the world, to work toward a peaceful global society, and to increase international trade.
But these steps are not enough. There are at least four ways to address this critical situation:
Schools and universities, the best arenas for learning languages at all levels, need far greater federal support. The economic burden for Congress initiatives to promote foreign language study should not fall primarily on educational institutions.
The U.S. Education Department should make foreign language competence a new, well-funded priority from the early grades through graduate school. Our educational motto should be: no child left monolingual.
We should look to the millions who speak a second language as extraordinary resources instead of trying to strip them of their linguistic heritage to assimilate them into American society. The language map of the Modern Language Association shows that there are more than 1 million in-home speakers of Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Tagalog and Vietnamese in the United States. These languages and the cultures embedded in them are great assets to be tapped.
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:老板不允许创造性思维
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:能帮忙叫下吉姆来开会吗?
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:又有人吃了我的冰淇淋
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:时差的原因让我感觉很累
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:你以前不都是玩到半夜吗?
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我这一周的会议都耽误了
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我想我这些年的薪水太低了
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:星期五晚上我去天津开会
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:西安的工程出了点儿问题
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:带新来的成员熟悉公司布局
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:简直把人热得喘不上气来
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:公司要跟我续约
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:妙用职场解压方式
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我认为你对这个主题非常了解
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:你能指导我写述职报告吗?
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我通常一年去两次伦敦
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:恐怕这些数字有矛盾的地方
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:同事间要多交流
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我们只是点头之交而已
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:其实我没去过美国
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:从上海回来后就一直气色不太好
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:祝你接下来的旅程也过得愉快
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我最近总没能睡多少觉
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:老板也太不通情理了
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我也很就进入中年了
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:我能帮忙的话请尽管开口
职场英语口语情景交际之出差与抱怨篇:你也可以做飞机去出差
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:你们在美国一周工作几小时?
职场英语口语情景交际之同事之间篇:咱们办公室有什么资讯吗?
职场英语口语情景交际之加薪与升职篇:真是新官上任三把火啊
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |