09, no. 3 (March 1978): 50-51
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MLA/ACLS TASK FORCES FOR THE PROMOTION OF LANGUAGE STUDY
Organized in September 1977 with the support of grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, the MLA/ACLS Task Forces for the Promotion of Language Study have begun the process of defining goals for the study of language in the United States and identifying expedient means for achieving these aims. Working independently, the five task forces have attempted to coordinate their efforts by means of a special newsletter, staff communications, and special meetings of the five chairpersons held in August 1977 and February 1978; a third meeting is tentatively scheduled for June 1978.
The Task Force on Institutional Language Policy held its initial meeting on 16 December 1977 to discuss issues facing institutional administrators and policy-makers, including the function of languages within institutions, the support of language studies, the organization of language faculty and their role in the university, and the problems of articulation. The task force hopes to address these issues in a composite report designed to convince policy-makers of the need for strengthening language programs. Herbert Garfinkel, Provost of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and chairman of the task force, has assigned responsibilities to various members for development of this report.
The Task Force on the Commonly Taught Languages has already circulated a summary of its draft report, emphasizing the establishment of a National Language Board which would develop a national language policy to remedy problems within the profession and encourage the growth and dissemination of successful language teaching programs. To make such efforts more visible and respected, the National Language Board would appoint a National Language Faculty of outstanding teachers, sponsor research in the teaching of language, publish a newsletter, coordinate pre- and in-service teacher-training workshops and other instructional development mechanisms, and identify successful language programs. The task force met on 27 January 1978 to review these proposals, together with comments about them received from various constituencies, and made plans for final recommendations and action.
The Task Force on the Less Commonly Taught Languages completed the research phase of its activity in December 1977, having solicited and received opinions from the profession about teaching needs in these languages for the next ten years. Leon I. Twarog, chairman of the task force, conducted evaluations of the survey in each world language area in conjunction with specialists in the field. As a result, the task force has identified several “wide-use” languages which it intends to promote for teaching in the secondary schools, as well as other languages to be encouraged at the undergraduate and graduate levels. A draft report charts the various language needs according to area and presents a number of programmatic proposals. For example, the task force is considering a recommendation to establish a National Language Foundation, similar to the National Science Foundation, which will help coordinate language teaching efforts. Some of the suggested functions of such a foundation include materials development and research, evaluation and dissemination of new methodologies (e.g., self-instructional programs), sponsorship of summer language institutes, funding of academic year programs in the less commonly taught languages which cannot be offered economically, development of teaching standards and certification programs, and the establishment of a national language competency testing program. The task force met in late February 1978 to evaluate and revise its draft report.
The Task Force on Public Awareness , chaired by Fred Hechinger of the New York Times , has as its goal the promotion of programs in foreign language established by the other task forces. At its first meeting in February, the reports of the various task forces were considered in conjunction with a discussion of concrete means of making language study a higher priority for most Americans.
The Task Force on Government Relations has been described by its chairperson, Rose Hayden of the American Council on Education, as a “process” committee responsible for developing and maintaining liaison between the representatives of the language teaching profession and relevant government agencies. The task force expects to translate the needs of the language profession into recommendations and legislative proposals intelligible to the federal government, and, similarly, to make government priorities and procedures clear to the other task forces and to the language teaching profession as a whole. The task force has benefited from the close relationship its members have with diverse government agencies, including Congress, the Foreign Service Institute, and the U.S. Office of Education. In addition, the Task Force on Government Relations is likely to have input in the deliberations of the expected Presidential Commission on Foreign Languages and International Studies. In the meantime, with the assistance of a supplementary grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the task force has undertaken an agency-by-agency review of existing national language policy. The February 1978 meeting of the task force was a joint session involving the chairpersons of all five task forces in an exchange of ideas and plans for final action.
Suggestions and comments on the work of the task forces are welcome and may be addressed to the Project Director, Richard I. Brod, Modern Language Association, 62 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10011, or to the chairpersons of the individual Task Forces: Institutional Language Policy , Herbert Garfinkel, Provost, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68101; Commonly Taught Languages , George Kennedy, Department of Classics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27514; Less Commonly Taught Languages , Leon I. Twarog, Acting Dean, College of Humanities, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; Public Awareness , Fred M. Hechinger, President, The New York Times Company Foundation, New York, NY 10036; Government Relations , Rose L. Hayden, Director, International Education Project, American Council on Education, One Dupont Circle, Washington, DC 20036.
© 1978 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 09, no. 3 (March 1978): 50-51 |
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