21, no. 3 (Spring 1990): 28-29
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
No Works Cited |
|
Foreign Language Issues and the Funding of Projects in Higher Education by the
National Endowment for the Humanities
Elizabeth Welles
IN RECENT years, educators at all levels have been raising questions about the effectiveness of the American educational system. The alarm has been sounded about our failure to prepare American schoolchildren effectively in many subjects-foreign languages prominent among them.
The need for Americans to learn foreign languages goes beyond the immediate crisis in education. Many commentators argue that in order to maintain a place in the global economy Americans must become proficient in foreign languages and knowledgeable about foreign cultures. A number of states have already responded to this situation by instituting foreign language requirements at the precollegiate and college levels and by broadening their foreign language and area-studies programs. However, an adequate number of well-prepared teachers cannot be trained and hired as fast as the new requirements are being put in place, and the number of new programs has not kept pace with the urgency of the need.
The National Endowment for the Humanities has always supported projects dealing with foreign languages and linguistics and, through the Division of Education Programs, has supported a wide variety of programs in schools and colleges. Currently, the NEH is reaffirming this commitment and is inviting proposals that promise to strengthen the teaching of foreign languages and civilizations. Colleges and universities are invited to propose revisions of their current foreign language majors to broaden the cultural basis of study by including courses in history, religious studies, politics and economics, and other disciplines, in addition to those in language and literature. Teacher-preparation programs that will attract more students to careers in foreign language teaching and provide the skills necessary for success in those careers are also encouraged, as are proposals that emphasize foreign language proficiency for nonmajors.
For funding from the division's Program for Higher Education in the Humanities, a proposal must demonstrate its likely impact on undergraduate instruction. The higher-education program can support study by faculty members and assist individual institutions engaged in curriculum planning and development. The program also funds four- to six-week summer institutes for college and university teachers from around the country. To qualify for funding, a foreign language project should integrate the students' progression in linguistic proficiency with a study of the cultural traditions conveyed by the language.
While many curricular projects that would enhance foreign language teaching can be envisioned, some examples of funded projects might suggest ways of developing proposals. For instance, several summer institutes have offered intensive language training while incorporating segments on literature, art, and history, and a series of institutes has focused on translation as a model for teaching foreign languages and the humanities. In a recently funded curricular project, a university with a successful international-studies program proposed to improve its offerings in two areas of student interest, Chinese and Russian. NEH funded the establishment of two faculty positions that will be supported permanently by the university. In both languages, the curriculum was designed so that the students could become proficient enough to study both literary and political texts. At another university, the students were encouraged to move into higher-level language classes by two-week immersion sessions conducted just before the beginning of the fall semester. In the upper levels of the same academic program, students from advanced literature classes in several languages joined together in seminars conducted in English on common themes. NEH supported the teaching of the summer immersion sessions and provided released time for faculty members to dove-tail their contributions to the seminars. In yet another project, NEH supported a summer workshop to select and study foreign language texts to be taught in the original languages in history, philosophy, and other humanities courses. To strengthen some of these projects, NEH has also supported consultants, whose expertise has been effective in improving foreign language methodology and curriculum structure.
NEH also funds summer institutes and other projects to assist elementary and secondary school teachers in extending their knowledge of both language and culture. Collaborative efforts aimed at improving school-college articulation are also encouraged. Teachers at the high school level might, for example, join with colleagues at a neighboring university to design the foreign language curricula of both institutions in such a way as to encourage a well-ordered progression from one level to the next. Masterwork Study Grants enable small groups of elementary or high school teachers to study foreign language texts with a professor from a nearby university.
For further information, call the Division of Education Programs, either the higher-education program (202 786-0380) or the elementary and secondary education program (202 786-0377), or write Room 302, 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20506. Program officers will be glad to advise you on the phone and to comment on drafts of proposals. Deadlines for the higher-education program are 1 April and 1 October; for the elementary and secondary education program, 15 March, 15 May, and 15 December.
The author is a Program Officer in the Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities.
© 1990 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 21, no. 3 (Spring 1990): 28-29 |
|
|---|
|
|
|
|
No Works Cited |
|
