09, no. 3 (March 1978): 14-16

To the Editor

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FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION AND BILINGUAL EDUCATION: COMMON STRATEGIES

Carlos E. Perez

IN the United States the teacher of foreign languages at the university level can learn a great deal from teachers of foreign language at the elementary, intermediate, and secondary school levels, and also from the new breed of teachers and specialists working now in hundreds of bilingual education projects across the nation. Bilingual education is where the action is today.

For the past few years there has been a decrease in foreign language enrollments at the universities. Language requirements for graduation have been dropped in both high schools and colleges. Students see the “electives” list in a college catalogue and opt for courses other than foreign language, and many foreign language courses are turning off thousands of minority students and others because of their lack of relevance. There is also a tendency among public school administrators and some students to view the foreign language teacher at the college level as either on a self-created pedestal or in an ivory tower, inaccessible and unaware of the real world. Those who take this view are naturally turned off.

On the other hand, bilingual education programs are thriving. According to the U.S. Commissioner's 1976 report on The Condition of Bilingual Education in the Nation , in 1969 the federal government appropriated 7.5 million dollars for bilingual education programs. In 1973 the appropriation was 45 million dollars, and by 1976 this amount had more than doubled to over 96 million dollars. Before 1975 about 7 million dollars per year in Title VII federal funds was spent for teacher training. In 1974 teacher training authority was broadened, and now 25 million dollars is being spent annually to increase the supply of teachers, including preservice and inservice training, graduate fellowships, and some support to enable colleges and universities to build up departments for training bilingual education personnel. In 1975 there were 218 institutions offering training for teachers at the elementary and secondary level. Prospects for further expansion are bright. In the meantime there is a shortage of trained teachers who are truly proficient in two languages, a shortage of bilingual curricula, and in most places a dearth of public support.

General Problems in Foreign Language Instruction

What is wrong with foreign language instruction at the university level? Why is there a lack of interest in learning languages? Why are students turned off? I see a variety of reasons.

Many college professors are trying too hard to make language teachers of all the students in their courses. They are teaching their students to become like themselves, without respect for individual goals, needs, and interests. Teachers tend to pursue their own objectives, rather than considering the needs and competencies of the student.
There is a general lack of language reinforcement at all levels (elementary, junior high, high school, and college). Language practice is confined to the classroom.
Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and others are fleeing the traditional language courses in high school and at the university level because their teachers cannot communicate with them. Language faculty tend to teach courses, not people. The syllabus determines what is taught, regardless of the student's entry level.
There seems to be a lack of coordination with language-related departments which could make it easier for the student to learn and for the different faculties to share resources and reinforce talents. Included, at the very least, should be departments of bilingual education and English as a second language, English for speakers of other languages, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, dialectology, English language arts, and journalism.
Multiple copies of books about new trends in language studies in various languages are scarce in the libraries and bookstores. Assigned research is difficult to do when an entire class has access to only one copy of the book--if the book is available at all. And there is a great need for articles and books on contemporary language issues.

Suggestions for Improvement

The implications of bilingual/bicultural education for college foreign language programs are many. TESOL teachers, bilingual education teachers, foreign language teachers, and teachers of language arts will find that about the same ingredients make up a successful program. The first ingredient is enthusiasm on the part of the professor, teacher, or tutor. To make languages “live” for others, those teaching them must like and love the languages. The second common ingredient at all levels and in all settings of language instruction is the teacher's ability to communicate with the students. Teachers must communicate first and then educate students.

What needs to be done to make foreign language classes relevant to student needs and to increase enrollment? Part of the answer lies with the foreign language teacher's willingness to go beyond the text or syllabus and venture into new areas in language learning and teaching. There are a number of strategies that have been successful for some, and which represent an effort to mobilize the resources of the students themselves along with resources of persons in the community and beyond.

Language laboratories are expensive and little used. They should be made into stations producing folklore programs. Tapes of music developed in the language classes could be offered to radio stations to broadcast for the benefit of the community.
Language teachers should make an all-out effort to recruit and utilize human resources from the community who can speak to the class or interact for them in the language being studied. This might include housewives, doctors, lawyers, foreign students and families, and business persons.
The mystique of foreign languages with respect to travel and new experiences should be capitalized on.
Teachers should maintain their own proficiency by using the language as much as possible with colleagues and students, and by writing articles for publication in the language. More upper-division classes in foreign language should be taught in that language. Instructors should listen to radio programs in the language taught so as to keep in touch with the language reality of the bilingual community.
Students should be encouraged to subscribe to magazines published in the target language. There should also be a room, such as the office of the director of foreign languages/bilingual education, where the faculty and students can regularly exchange magazines in other languages.
Inter-university correspondence clubs in the various language courses can be established.
Students can be asked to help decorate the classroom with posters donated by the tourist industry and embassies in the interest of tourism.
A philatelic bulletin board might be suggested as a class project for the semester, on which students display stamps and seals, with a short caption for each. Similar displays are feasible with bottles, coins, etc.
Teachers might offer personal copies of magazines and publishers' samples to students and get a critique from them in return.
The students can be asked to list weekly the five most important events in the country (or countries) of the target language, or to describe legislation affecting language study/bilingual education as revealed, for example, in the Federal Register.
Oral reports on Voice of America broadcasts might be made part of the curriculum. Better yet, the students could listen together in class.
Students should be encouraged to visit the barrios or linguistic pockets in nearby cities to listen to the dialects and multiple uses of the language. The instructor might ask them to compare what they hear with the type of academic language taught at the university level.
A university-wide career fair focusing on the range of opportunities in language fields is extremely useful. This could be done on a consortia basis or in conjunction with several other colleges and universities.
A department might publish, and have its students flood the publishers' offices with, short stories, TV scripts, dramas, and mini-lessons.
Students can be encouraged to research their family trees and trace their ancestors back to the “old countries” from which they immigrated.
Teachers can capitalize on the movement toward standard use of the metric system and the international appeal of cycling and soccer, using such activities in the community as catalysts to accelerate acceptance of languages other than English.

Making Language Study Vital

There are a number of more general suggestions that will help generate interest in foreign languages and promote bilingual education. Today's junior high and high school students are going to be tomorrow's college students; the students now enrolled at the universities in foreign language and bilingual education courses will soon join those of us who are practitioners at the elementary school, middle school, and high school levels in bilingual education programs or as teachers of foreign languages. It is useful, therefore, for foreign language teachers and students to visit bilingual classrooms in elementary and secondary schools where they can see for themselves what happens to students limited in communication skills. In a good program they will encounter a level of enthusiasm worthy of their emulation. Foreign language teachers need to be aware of the number of teachers now involved in bilingual instruction and the need for greater numbers of trained teachers. The need to acquire bilingual proficiency should increase enrollment and opportunities for those in language-oriented courses.

At the high school and junior college level there is a critical need for two types of courses: (1) A practical language course tied to careers and occupations offering students the utilitarian aspects of language study and a functional basic vocabulary in multiple career clusters (business, health, technical fields, etc.). (2) A course for the prospective language major or bilingual teacher who will need continued language training later at the university.

A prerequisite for college graduation should be basic foundation courses in the classical languages, i.e., one course in Latin (etymology, prefixes, suffixes, Latin terms commonly found in English, law, medicine, etc.), and one course in Greek (etymology, prefixes, suffixes). English as a Second Language (ESL) should also be a basic course for students in both the foreign language and bilingual education departments, since ESL courses and techniques can be applied to other languages.

There should be more interdepartmental planning among the faculties of the departments of linguistics, area studies, foreign languages, English, journalism, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and bilingual education. A correlated comprehensive range of options should be offered to the foreign language or bilingual education major, and to other students as well.

The M.A. thesis should be retained for language or bilingual education majors. Other students should have options in research and writing assignments. For each article dealing with Spanish Golden Age literature, for example, students should be asked to critique, write, or talk about a contemporary theme with social implications or one of special interest to the individual student. Foreign language majors should be able to converse in the target language as a prerequisite for graduation from college.

Prospective teachers should take a counseling course designed particularly for language and bilingual education teachers in the public schools.

The usefulness and desirability of knowing more than one language requires an intensive public relations effort at all levels of the educational spectrum. Stickers, slogans, TV ads, and worthy models from those making their living with languages—all these and other ideas should be used to keep before people the importance of language communication skills.

Lobbying is needed to secure money for research grants and contracts to put into practice innovative approaches to foreign language instruction and bilingual education. There is always a need to venture into new avenues of language usage, such as programming a computer using any common language (such as everyday English, Spanish, or any other language) to do what COBOL, BASIC, or FORTRAN computer languages are now doing.

Additional project funding for departments should be investigated through the United States Office of Education, Office of Bilingual Education, National Institute of Education, foreign governments and their agencies, the United States Department of State, state education agencies, local school boards, foundations, and exchange programs. University departments might also take advantage of the national network of Bilingual Education Centers and their various services to institutions of higher education.

Training Resource Centers train teachers and aides to use bilingual curricula, direct pilot testing, and provide programmatic assistance to institutions of higher education. Materials Development Centers (such as the BMDC) develop bilingual multicultural instructional materials for students in the elementary and secondary grades, their teachers, and teacher training classes at the college level. Dissemination and Assessment Centers conduct nationwide needs assessments, develop pilot test designs, help carry them out, and compile and analyze results, assist in evaluation, and publish and disseminate the final products.

Now is the time to embark upon a major national effort to present a common front to the Congress and the President on behalf of valuing the rich diversity of languages in our country as an important national resource. We should bring together foreign language teachers and students, teachers of English to speakers of other languages, bilingual educators, and all those persons linked to languages (including English) by research, by training, and by profession or business. We should try to effect a tremendous revival of the study, use, and enjoyment of languages.

Whom do we have to convince? First of all we have to convince ourselves, and then we have to convince the vast majority of Americans of the beauty of foreign languages and the need for bilingual education and the preservation of languages. Do we need another surprise such as sputnik to make us give top priority as a nation to the study, use, and enjoyment of languages? The “melting pot” theory is slowly giving way to the “tossed salad” concept, but it is not easy for America to make the transition in attitude. We in the profession are the ones who must actively promote the recognition of languages as our most valuable national resource.

A paper distributed to participants at ADFL Seminar West, 27–30 June 1977, in San Antonio, Texas. The author is Director of the Bilingual Materials Development Center of the Fort Worth (Texas) Independent School District.

ADFL Bulletin 09, no. 3 (March 1978): 14-16

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