Language Advocacy for the 21st Century Bill Rivers Joint National Committee for Languages SWCOLT 2014 April 25, 2014
Overview • Why become an advocate? – Language matters! But how do we tell that story? To whom?
• Advocacy at the national level: JNCL-NCLIS • What you can do
Language Matters • We know this
• But we need to tell the story • Why, exactly, does language matter? • To whom & how do we tell the story?
Why Language Matters • Fundamental 21st century skill, with consequences for – National security – Economic growth and jobs – Social justice
• (unbelievable) Cognitive & educational benefits of language instruction • Increasingly, part of STEM • Global Talent Gap
Policy Challenges: Why we need to tell the story • Cuts in US Department of Education & lack of policy focus at the national level • This reinforces the myth that “nobody cares” – BUT
• Public policy attitudes are remarkably supportive (Rivers et al, 2013) • K-12 investment in FL: Utah, Delaware, Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, DC, NYC, Los Angeles, and many more states & districts • Anecdotal evidence of growth – teacher shortages in K-12 in French, German, Spanish, other Ls (but no data on programs and growth since mid-aughts) • Language = Jobs! (more on this in a moment)
The impact of world language instruction • Achievement: – Dual language immersion can reverse literacy achievement gaps, regardless of SES of immersion students: NC, OR
• Cognition: – Easier to learn additional languages (Rivers & Golonka, 2009, for an overview), regardless of when/how 2nd language acquired – Better financial decisions (Boaz et al., 2012) – Delays onset of dementia (Alladi et al., 2013) – Caveats: – Must USE the language
– Higher proficiency = more effect
• http ://www.languagepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/K-12-dual-language Final.pdf
FL & STEM • FL is already part of STEM! – FL Research and Development in the US Gov’t comes almost exclusively from STEM accounts (DARPA, IARPA, NSF, NIH, DDRE) – FL work is highly technologized – teaching, translation, interpreting – The language industry is vital to the US STEM industry, leveraging $1.5 trillion in trade • White House Office of Science & Technology Policy requested a position paper from JNCL-NCLIS (May 2013) • languagepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/LSTEM.pdf
Global Talent: Requirements • •
US hi-tech industry faces a Global Talent Gap Survey of US and Global Fortune 100 companies and their language suppliers (now underway, JNCL-NCLIS and GALA) shows: – Language competency at a variety of levels for a wide range of jobs – Language proficiency entails cultural sophistication and intercultural ability – Global skills = (Language, Culture, Professional Skills) –
GLOBAL SKILLS ENTAIL ADDITIONAL PROFESSSIONAL DOMAINS
– critical tool for interactions with customers, employers, peers, social communities, and governments. – Companies need workers who can engage comfortably within and between cultures and languages, – using language skills to amplify and extend their job performance. – Language is no longer a “soft” skill; – intertwined with the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)
Federal FL Programs • Department of Education – FLAP: Still unfunded – Title VI/Fulbright-Hays: $2m increase in FY14; $4m increase in FY15 request
• Department of Defense – NSEP/Flagship: Level funded
• StarTalk: 10% cut in 2014 • State Department exchange and language programs – President’s budget has$17m (3%) increase
• Uncertainty in FY15 appropriations
Current Legislation • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, aka “NCLB”) – Senate version replaces FLAP with block grants for “well-rounded education” – House Republican version has no FL funding support – House Democratic version keeps FLAP intact and incorporates the Foreign Language Education Partnership Act
• Foreign Language Education Partnership Act – Introduced by Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ-12); 9 co-sponsors – Would create funding for sequences of K-12 FL education
• Bilteracy Education Seal and Teaching Act (BEST Act) – Introduced by Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA-26); 13 co-sponsors – Grant funding for states to develop bilteracy diplomas and improve FL teaching
JNCL-NCLIS Legislative Priorities & Actions • 2013-2014: 70+ offices visited on a recurring basis • Staff briefings – August 2013 – September 2013 – April 2, 2014
• Fund FLAP! • Increase funding for Title VI/F-H by 10m • Maintain funding for – StarTalk – Defense Language Program – State Department exchanges and language programs
• Maintain FLAP in ESEA
Growing JNCL-NCLIS for A Stronger Voice • • •
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New logo! New website: www.languagepolicy.org Membership growth: – July 2012: 63 members – March 2014: 91members Partnership with Globalization and Localization Association – PR – Advocacy Partnership with ACTFL: – CapWiz – State Teams Languages for All Member Services: SCOLA
New Initiatives • GALA Global Talent Program – Gap Analysis – Demand signal for education • Languages for All – Anglophone Academies (UK, Australia, US); Summit, Sept. 30th 2013 @ UMD – Accessible language programming to high levels of skill is feasible, But requires significant work – 2014: – Organizing committee (American Councils, ACTFL, JNCL-NCLIS, GALA, CASL, CAL) – Secretariat & fund-raising – PR campaign
• Partnership for Languages in the US (PLUS): can models of successful high level language programming be disseminated? – 45 IHEs met in Austin, Nov 2013 – Deans, Chairs, Directors, VPs – Organizing committee – Hosting (3 universities bidding to host)
What you can do (1) • Be the best program you can! – Student and parental enthusiasm & support
• Support your organizations’ advocacy efforts – CSCTFL: Phyllis Farrar, pfarrar@ksde.org
• Local and state level: – Let us know if something is afoot – good or bad – before happens – State organization, regional, ACTFL, AAT, and JNCL-NCLIS
• Respond to action alerts (ACTFL & JNCL-NCLIS) – http://capwiz.com/actfl/home/
Advocacy how-to in one slide! • Be yourself & tell your story • Handouts:
–One page! – Point of contact for follow-up
– 10th grade reading level – elected officials need the gist of things, fast. • Elected officials – their concerns – Jobs at home – Quality of education – Reputation of state/region – And WL effects these in a positive way!
• Be 5 minutes early! • Dress for success – we take our work and their time seriously • Get their contact info (usually staff) and send – Thank you note – Your handouts
Contact • Bill Rivers, wrivers@languagepolicy.org • Rachel Hanson, rhanson@languagepolicy.org
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On financial decision making: Boaz Keysar, Sauyri L. Haykawa, & Sun Gyu An. 2012. “The Foreign-Language Effect: Thinking in a Foreign Tongue Reduces Decision Biases,” Psychological Science, 23, 6, 661-668. On third language acquisition: See Rivers and Golonka, 2009, and the reference cited there. Rivers, W., and E. Golonka. 2009. “Third Language Acquisition – A Qualitative Investigation of Factors Influencing Program Development,” in R. D. Brecht, L. A. Verbitskaja, M. D. Lekic and W. P. Rivers, (eds). Mnemosynon: Studies on Language and Culture in the Russophone World. Presented to Dan E. Davidson by his students and colleagues/Мнемозинон: язык и культура в мире руссофонии. Сборник статей к юбилею Дэна Дэвидсона от его учеников и коллег. Moscow: Azbukovnik, 415-31. On closing the achievement gap: Collier, V., & W. Smith. 2011. English Learners in North Carolina. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Education. http://esl.ncwiseowl.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_4502383/File/NC_ELL_Study_Yr2_Final%20Report_Jul27_2011.p On policy attitudes: Rivers, W., Robinson, J. P., Brecht, R, and Harwood, P. 2013. “Language Votes: Attitudes toward Foreign Language Policies,” Foreign Language Annals, 46(3), 329-338.