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, wrivers@languagepolicy.org