28, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 43-44
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“I Speak Spanish to God, Italian to Women, French to Men, and German to
My Horse”
Donna M. Wilson
THIS assertion of multilingual expertise (attributed to Charles V, king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, 1500–58) sugggests that already in the king's time languages were seen in some quarters as having utilitarian purposes. Nearly five hundred years later, part of our formula for undergraduate success is to enable students to emulate the king (if they will). We teach students each of the languages Charles spoke, and Scandinavian, Asian, and Middle Eastern languages as well.
During recent years, foreign language enrollments have shifted significantly toward Spanish—and away from other traditionally taught languages. This statement is certainly not breaking news. But I find it ludicrous to blame the difficulties of programs in other languages on the growth of Spanish, just as I found it ridiculous when in the 1970s American automobile manufacturers blamed their low sales on increases in Japanese imports. Many observers continue to lament the growing number of students enrolled in Spanish elementary, intermediate, and major studies programs and point fingers, accusing their Spanish colleagues of building empires to ensure permanently high enrollment.
Growth is not a problem. Our long-term planning, enrollment forecasts, and responses to growth, possibly to the detriment of programs in languages other than Spanish, may be shaped by our persistence in categorizing Spanish as a foreign language. In fact, statistically, Spanish may be more appropriately understood not as a foreign language but as the second language of this country.
It should be no surprise that the study of Spanish language, literature, and culture has been affected by social and political changes in recent decades. Once we taught peninsular or Latin American literature, adjusting curricula only when necessary to embrace new theories or trends. The curriculum, as well as the university, seemed to remain insulated from the real world. Nevertheless, new courses gradually emerged in response to growing political consciousness and an enhanced understanding of Central and South American economics and society. Spanish language courses for the native or heritage speaker, for instance, have expanded into separate learning tracks. Language study is no longer reserved for those who wish to increase their appreciation of literature and culture, and teaching is no longer the only logical career for a language major.
We have witnessed as well the development of new content-based courses such as Spanish for Business, Spanish for Law Enforcement, and Spanish for Medical Personnel. We have seen the development of courses in intercultural communication. Translation and interpretation programs may now be a part of undergraduate majors or separate tracks in language studies. And we now not only recognize but actively include a variety of courses in Hispanic and Asian heritage language studies. We have not excluded the traditional Spanish major in linguistics, literature, or culture. But we have embraced and included more options in career-related content areas, in de facto recognition that Spanish is a second language of the United States.
Have Spanish faculties successfully responded to the changing needs of the curriculum? In the short term, yes; in the long term, however, probably not. The newly developed content-based curriculum seems to me a short term answer to program demands. Only recently do attempts focus on long-term effects in which both staffing and professional development are addressed to meet the growing demands of revised curricula. Spanish departments may need, for instance, to address an increasing demand for classroom professors who are trained in business, medicine, social work, law, and language.
If we recognize that Spanish may be not a foreign language but rather a second language, we can better respond to these issues through proactive planning and decision making. Then we will be able to act rather than react. If we approach Spanish as a second American language, study opportunities in content areas will continue to expand. This expansion can increase opportunities for an enhanced global curriculum that promotes foreign language study through distribution or major requirements. By focusing our long-term efforts on effective planning and implementation, we can avoid the all-too-common outcome of dividing into winners and losers in the academic curriculum shift.
Highline Community College, WA
© 1997 by the Association of Departments of Foreign Languages. All Rights Reserved.
ADFL Bulletin 28, no. 3 (Spring 1997): 43-44 |
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