America’s Languages: The Language Enterprise in 2015 Dr. William P. Rivers Joint National...

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America’s Languages: The Language Enterprise in 2015 Dr. William P. Rivers Joint National Committee for Languages The Center for Urban Language Teaching and Research Georgia State University May 15, 2015

Transcript of America’s Languages: The Language Enterprise in 2015 Dr. William P. Rivers Joint National...

America’s Languages: The Language Enterprise in 2015

Dr. William P. RiversJoint National Committee for Languages

The Center for Urban Language Teaching and Research

Georgia State UniversityMay 15, 2015

Overview

• Macroeconomics of language as a public and private good

• Definition and model of language capacity• Redefining language capacity – the “Language

Enterprise”• Advocacy Strategy: Raising the profile of

language in the US• Global Talent• The American Academy of Arts and Sciences

A Macroeconomic view of language (Brecht & Rivers, 2000)

Demand Supply

Need Capacity

Consumers Producers

Tactical

Strategic

Language Capacity: sector analysis

• Academic Sector– Primary/Secondary schools– Tertiary

• Government sector– Defense Language Institute– Foreign Service Institute

• Heritage Sector• Overseas Sector– Sojourns abroad– Overseas investment in language capacity

• Private Sector

Language Capacity: Field Architecture (Rivers, 2012)

The Language Enterprise• The "Language Enterprise" encompasses everyone who enables

communication among different cultures and languages

• At the nexus of globalization, information, rising youth populations, entrepreneurship, self-expression: “Assertion of linguistic rights goes hand in hand with the assertion of economic rights” (Salkowitz, 2011)

• Integral to globalization and the national interest: now taken as a given

• One of the oldest professions – globalization, translation, teaching FL aren’t new (e.g., Hanseatic League, Folsom arrow points, Aristotle) but pace, information, and mobility are!

The Role of the Language Enterprise

• WE facilitate the free movement of people, information, and ideas

• WE build up mutual understanding and acceptance of cultural and linguistic diversity

• WE promote the personal development of the individual

Who is “The Language Enterprise?”

• WE are the Language Enterprise• People and organizations that are Directly engaged:– Translators, Interpreters– Localization, globalization– Multilingual professionals

• People and organizations enabling those who are engaged– Teachers & researchers– Testers & test developers– Developers of tools and materials for language learning

and work

What comprises the Language Enterprise?

• Private Sector– Translation/Interpreting– Globalization/Localization/Multilingual-Multicultural Marketing– Private language schools – and more...

• Educational sector– K-12 programs– Higher ed programs– researchers– specialized/graduate programs (e.g., translation, linguistics)

• Government Sector– Training programs (e.g., DLIFLC, FSI)– operational elements (e.g., Intelligence Community, FBI, DoD, state

and local agencies)

Advocacy Strategy• Focus on AAAS study: • Focus on programs funded by security agencies, as national security funding is

likely to increase– STARTALK– Flagship/NSEP– DLIFLC

• Maintain pressure on USED: FLAP, Title VI/F-H• Seal of Biliteracy• Continue developing strong relationships in the White House and business sector• Continue to make the case for language as a vital component of responsible 21st

Century citizenship– FL & STEM– FL & Educational, cognitive benefits– FL & jobs– White papers on all of these issues available at www.languagepolicy.org

The impact of world language instruction• Achievement:

– Dual language immersion can reverse literacy achievement gaps, regardless of SES of immersion students: NC, OR

• Attainment– Bilingual and biliterate individuals enter and finish college and earn more (Callahan &

Gándara, 2014)

• 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-one-page-report-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 2000companies and their language

suppliers (Fall 2014, pilot Spring 2014) :– 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)

The Global Talent Program

• Globalization & Localization Association Task Force on Global Talent (GTP):– Google, Cisco, eBay, Twitter, Microsoft, Marriott, ManPower, JNCL-NCLIS– Chair – Bill Rivers

• Invitation to participate in Michigan State University’s annual Recruiting Trends Survey: http://www.ceri.msu.edu/chatter/2014-recruiting-trends/

• Pilot survey in March 2014 with GALA GTP• Module on cultural & linguistic capital in Summer, 2014 survey

– mid (100-500 workers) and large (>500 workers) size businesses– Their hiring plans for spring 2015 semester– Focus on entry level positions, requirements, perceived gaps

• n = 2101 (2008: 90,386 mid-size and 18,469 large businesses in the US. US Census Bureau, 2010)

Global Talent Survey: Preliminary Results

• 33% of US mid and large size companies have international operations and/or serve multilingual/multicultural clientele

• 11% actively seek recruits for jobs requiring FL skills• 93% seek “employees who can show they are able to work effectively with

customers, clients, and businesses from a range of different countries and cultures.”

• 64% seek employees with multicultural experience• 49% seek employees with overseas experience• 55% track employee FL skills• 35% give advantage to multilingual candidates• 21% report difficulty in managing and integrating diverse teams due to a lack of

global talent• 14% report a loss of business opportunities due to a lack of FL skills• Top business skills in demand for initial hires with Global Talent: sales, customer

service, project management• 69% of respondents believe that higher education must do more to prepare

students with Global Talent

American Academy of Arts and Sciences & Language

• AAAS – founded in 1780 by John Adams and others• Oldest US Academy• 2013: The Heart of the Matter – Commission on the Humanities and Social

Sciences; – Requested by Congress in 2012

• 2013 – participant in the Languages for All summit• 2014 – pending request from Congress to AAAS to assess the impact of language on the

national interest– First broad based, Congressionally requested study since 1979 (Perkins Commission)

• New commission will work for a year to assess the impact of FL on education, global security, economic growth, and social justice

• JNCL-NCLIS, ACTFL, CAL, American Councils, CASL, and others have been working on this project for a year

• Stay Tuned for More!– PR opportunities throughout the commission’s work; public hearings– Senior commissioners who will speak out on language– Coherent agenda for 2016 and beyond– Congressional interest after the publishing of the report in 2016

Contact

• Bill Rivers, [email protected]