04 March 2006
Americans Breaking Out of Their English-Only Shells
Better resources, opportunities encourage U.S. foreign language students
Washington -- For decades, Americans have been stereotyped as unwilling to learn any language but English.
The rest of the world was learning English, according to the stereotypical American, so why struggle learning a foreign language?
In truth, mastering foreign languages was a grim task for many Americans in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. Many American students suffered a regimen of dull classroom work followed by long hours locked up in "language labs" listening to language tapes.
But all that has changed. Innovative school curriculums, entertaining and affordable interactive computer training programs, more opportunities to travel, and a broader global outlook have motivated Americans -- young and old -- to learn foreign languages.
Adding to the momentum is President Bush's recently launched National Security Language Initiative (NSLI). This plan will harness resources from four federal agencies to increase dramatically the number of Americans mastering critically needed languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Farsi, Russian and others. In a January 5 speech given at the Summit on International Education, Bush said the "broad-gauged initiative" would enhance the nation's defense, diplomacy, intelligence and knowledge of other cultures.
The seeds sown by the NSLI should fall on fertile ground. Consider this: In a study completed in 2003, the Modern Language Association (MLA), a scholarly association with the mission of strengthening the study and teaching of language and literature throughout the world, found that more U.S. college students than ever before -- some 1.4 million -- were studying a foreign language. It also found that American colleges and universities offered a greater variety of language courses than in any of the previous five years.
Foreign language study in the United States traditionally has been introduced as an elective at the middle and secondary school levels. But parents increasingly are demanding foreign-language study for their tots in preschool. According to a 2004 article published in Education Week, a newspaper of record for U.S. educators, parents want their children exposed to other cultures and traditions at an early age while maintaining their own ethnic heritages.
Competition for jobs is yet another reason to learn foreign languages. In the same Education Week article, Elizabeth Webb, the program specialist for foreign-language and international education at the state of Georgia's Department of Education, is quoted as saying: "Sooner or later, what I think is going to happen is the realization of how many jobs we are exporting because people abroad speak English very well." The inability of many Americans to speak foreign languages, she said, is becoming "a competitive disadvantage."
Older Americans, too, increasingly are studying -- and successfully learning -- foreign languages. Although some observers believe children have the advantage in mastering a foreign language, other experts disagree.
Joan Rubin and Irene Thomson, authors of How To Be a More Successful Language Learner, wrote: "[T]here is little evidence that children in language classrooms learn foreign languages any better than adults [people over 15] in similar classroom situations."
Adults, they write, have better memories, more efficient ways of organizing information, longer attention spans, better study habits and greater ability to handle complex mental tasks. Children, however, are less afraid of making mistakes and seeming foolish, according to Rubin and Thomson.
Retirees are finding they now have the time to study a language. Many seniors have the financial means to travel to foreign lands and want to be able to order off menus, ask for directions and converse a bit with the locals in their native tongue. Other older Americans, descendants of immigrants, want to renew their ethnic ties and get in touch with the cultural heritage of their family's homeland by learning the language they may have failed to absorb in childhood.
Also spurring the 50-and-older crowd is evidence that learning a foreign language may provide the kind of mental stimulation that staves off mental disabilities such as Alzheimer's disease.
Most important, there are now many more resources for learning new languages, and the methods for teaching them are much more fun. Small children are taught new languages using songs, rhymes, games and television shows. College students can stay in dorms that enforce total language immersion; they practice the language daily in spontaneous and familiar settings without ever getting on a plane.
Affordable computer programs allow students to learn new languages at their own pace. On many of the language-training compact discs, students can record their own voices and compare their pronunciation to that of native speakers. The programs include photos, drills, quizzes and interactive games that make learning a language engaging and enjoyable.
"Learning a language," Bush said January 5, "is a kind gesture. It's a gesture of interest. It really is a fundamental way to reach out to somebody and say, I care about you." He also emphasized that the best way to talk to people about the universal values of freedom and democracy is in their own language.
For caring Americans, that goal becomes more reachable every day.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
