tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7602099967131798052024-02-20T10:04:26.016-05:00Languages for All White PaperLanguages for All?http://www.blogger.com/profile/12922624508764290391noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-760209996713179805.post-4628712266678763512013-09-10T13:27:00.003-04:002013-09-11T17:17:17.392-04:00Languages for All White Paper Executive Summary<body><p><i>by Dr. Richard Brecht<br />
with Marty Abbott, Dan E. Davidson, William P. Rivers, Robert Slater, Amy Weinberg, and Anandini Yoganathan</i></p><p><h3>Executive Summary with Recommendations</h3>For decades, English-speaking countries have wrestled with the question of whether one language, English, is enough for their citizens. For its part, the United States has not made learning a second language a critical part of its education system despite the demands of government and industry as well as the expectations of the overwhelming majority of parents across the country. <br />
<br />
Accordingly, this white paper is intended to answer the following questions: <br />
<ul><li>Should the education system in the United States provide all children access to the interpersonal, developmental, and economic benefits of a second language? </li>
<li>Are our schools, colleges, and universities capable and willing to make language education universally available? If so, how? If not, why not? </li>
</ul><br />
This paper provides evidence that:<br />
<ul><li>The demand for languages other than English has dramatically increased over the past decade to the extent that the current education system can now be seen as failing to provide a critical skill to the majority of this country’s youth. </li>
<li>Advances in science, technology, and best practice can make universal access to second languages feasible, but only if: <br />
<ul><li>scientific breakthroughs are exploited effectively by the formal education system and by the growing language services industry, </li>
<li>access to the Internet is universally available, and </li>
<li>research-based best practices in language education are identified and promulgated throughout the PK-16 system. </li>
</ul></li>
</ul></p><p><h3>Recommendations</h3>In light of this evidence, this document puts forward the following recommendations, which combine top-down federal interventions and a bottom-up activism on the part of the “Language Enterprise,” a convergence of government, education, private industry, and heritage communities: <br />
<br />
<ul><li>Create a <strong>public awareness campaign</strong> on the personal and societal benefits, including national security and economic competitiveness, of language education.</li>
<li>Document, across the “Language Enterprise,” what<strong> language learning resources</strong> exist, where they are, and how they can be accessed, together with standards and assessments that guarantee efficiency and effectiveness for program outcomes.</li>
<li>Investigate the <strong>barriers</strong> at every level of the education system that are inhibiting the spread of language learning and teaching.</li>
<li>Develop a <strong>research agenda</strong> that fills the gaps in evidence regarding universal access to language education.</li>
<li>Initiate a <strong>national program of dual language immersions</strong> among other program models demonstrating that learning languages can be effectively and efficiently integrated into a major part of the PK-12 system. </li>
</ul></p><p><h3>Conclusion</h3>The sad state of current language education in Anglophone countries is well understood: <br />
<blockquote><em>A deep and persistent malaise afflicts language education in Australia, regrettably shared with other English-speaking nations, and the expressions of concern, even frustration, at the fragility of languages suggests a public refusal to accept this state of affairs. —Joseph Lo Bianco </em></blockquote>These recommendations, supported by a broad national and international effort, may indeed hold the key to stemming, if not ending, this frustration and begin to provide effective means for all students in English-speaking countries to gain competence in a second language.</p><br />
<a href="http://www.casl.umd.edu/sites/default/files/130911_summary_KM_web.pdf">Click here to download a PDF of the executive summary.</a><br />
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