23, no. 3 (Spring 1992): Back Matter
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Back Matter Spring 1992
The National Security Education Act
The National Security Education Act of 1991, a new support program for foreign languages and international studies in higher education, was approved by Congress as part of the Defense Authorization Act and was signed into law by President Bush in December 1991. Senator David L. Boren (D-OK), Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is the principal sponsor of the program.
The legislation authorizes the establishment of a fund of $150 million to finance scholarships for undergraduate study abroad, graduate fellowships for students who agree to enter government service or teach, and institutional support for foreign language and international and area studies programs. In Senator Boren's words, “We can no longer define our national security interests in military terms alone. Our ignorance of world cultures and languages represents a threat to our ability to remain a world leader.” According to a report in the Chronicle of Higher Education (4 Dec. 1991, A53+), the programs will triple the federal funds spent on undergraduate study abroad and increase the funds for graduate fellowships in foreign languages and area studies by 40%. For the current fiscal year, $35 million has been appropriated to support the program; the remaining $115 million will be used to create a trust fund whose interest earnings will ensure future funding.
The program will be directed by the secretary of defense and a newly created National Security Education Board, whose other members will include the secretaries of education, commerce, and state; the directors of the US Information Agency and Central Intelligence Agency; and four presidential appointees who are experts in international education, foreign languages, or area studies. The Defense Intelligence College will administer the programs. In each program, priority is to be given to studies outside Europe. According to James Alatis, dean of Georgetown University's School of Languages and Linguistics, this is the “most important legislation for our profession since the National Defense Education Act. It creates a much needed and long overdue dialogue between the education, intelligence, and defense communities. NSEA will produce the expertise necessary, not just to defend our nation militarily, but to compete economically and function effectively in the international community.”
IIE Reports Enrollment Figures
According to data recently published by the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Open Doors 1990/91, the number of foreign students in American institutions of higher education reached an all-time high of 407,500 in the 1990–91 academic year, 5.3% above the previous year's total of 386,900. The enrollment of Chinese students increased by nearly 19% over last year's figure, making China the leading place of origin for the third year in a row. Asian students account for 56% of the total number of foreign students in the United States, and Europe is now the home region of the second largest group of foreign students, surpassing Latin America. There were substantial increases in the number of students from Eastern Europe (up 42%), Western Europe (up 5%), and Oceania (western Pacific), while the number of students from Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East declined.
Business was the most popular field of study for the second consecutive year, replacing engineering, which had ranked first for forty years. Other popular fields are math and computer sciences and physical and life sciences. The number of graduate students increased 7%, to 182,100, with over one-third pursuing doctorates. In 1990–91, 48,900 foreign undergraduates studied for two-year associate's degrees, and 141,000 worked toward bachelor's degrees. The remaining 8% were enrolled in preacademic English language programs, practical training, or other nondegree study. The highest student enrollments are in California, New York, and Texas. California and Florida were the two states with the highest proportion of community college students. Once again, Miami-Dade Community College enrolled the greatest number of foreign students nationwide, reported at 5,800, and the University of Southern California, with 3,900 foreign students, led the list of four-year institutions.
Special Opportunity for Foreign Language Education
The Division of Education Programs at the National Endowment for the Humanities has announced the winners of its first yearly competition for funding in special projects in language education. Thirty-two proposals for projects in higher education were received, and six were funded, including a conference sponsored by the American Council on Education entitled Spreading the Word: A Dissemination Project to Improve Foreign Language Instruction in Colleges and Universities. The conference will provide models, consultants, and mentors to institutions on the verge of revising their language programs.
The Special Opportunity is an effort to help improve the teaching of foreign languages, with emphasis on such less commonly taught languages as Russian, Japanese, Chinese, and Arabic. In elementary and secondary education, proposals are encouraged primarily for summer institutes for schoolteachers; in higher education, the main emphasis is on strengthening undergraduate teaching through projects that incorporate texts and other cultural materials into language courses, extend language teaching into discipline-based courses, and encourage better preparation of future teachers. The Special Opportunity is also intended to attract proposals for improving the connections among levels of language study, the development of language schools, the preparation of magnet schools, the preparation of graduate students in literature to teach language courses, and the development of materials.
One project funded aims to establish an intensive program in advanced Japanese at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. This program will begin with a double course sequence for the introductory year, followed by a semester in Japan. Provisions are made for returning students to take courses in discipline-based study in literature, film, or history. Support for the project includes both funding for outside consultants and released time for teachers to work together on the course sequence and develop materials.
The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, was awarded funding for a three-year faculty-development project that will introduce an Arabic-language component into the Middle Eastern Studies Program. NEH funds will provide seed money to support a new language-faculty position. The Middle Eastern Studies Program already offers a nucleus of humanities courses in history, religion, art history, anthropology, and political science. Plans submitted to the endowment offered evidence that the new position will be supported by an academic context stimulating the need for language study.
In a three-year project funded at the University of Minnesota, new one-credit “trailer” courses in foreign language will be developed to complement courses offered in English. Faculty members intending to teach the courses will attend a four-day seminar for three summers on the goals and methods of the programs and will work in pairs consisting of a foreign language professor and a professor from another discipline to develop the courses. Since the first time the course is taught will be the most challenging, the discipline-based faculty member will receive released time to concentrate on teaching the new course. Funds are also available for a few faculty members to improve foreign language proficiency, and three outside scholars are consultants to the grant. Sample offerings include courses in French, Spanish, and German history; Latin American politics; medieval Spain; early modern history based on Italian materials; and Russian and American popular culture.
NEH program officers have expressed the hope that proposals will be received for projects that contribute to the preparation of prospective foreign language teachers. “Now that the states are mandating language requirements for graduation from high school, it seems particularly important to offer college students courses of study that will encourage them to enter the profession.” For further information, call the Higher Education Program of the Division of Education (202 786–0380).
© 1992 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 23, no. 3 (Spring 1992): Back Matter |
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