Integrating World Language Education: Purpose, Policy and Practice

1
Integrating World Language Education Purpose,
Policy and Practice

• Pam Delfosse
• World Languages Consultant
• Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

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Defining the purpose of world language education

• Multiple rationales
• Diverse stakeholders
• Shifts in priority over time
• Local, national, global context
• Participant perspectives
• Impact on policy, practice and outcomes

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What can we learn from history?

• The history of languages in the U.S. has
  been one bereft of steadfastness and
  deliberateness instead, it has been one in which
  the changing tides of economic, social and
  political pressures have influenced whether
  English has been actively or passively promoted,
  whether foreign language study has been advocated
  or ignored, and whether ethnic languages have
  been preserved, protected, or abolished.
  (Birckbickler, 1990)

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Historical Rationales for World Language
Education

• Cognitive Rationale
• Mental Discipline/Neuroscience
• Metacogntive/Metalinguistic Skills
• Academic Achievement
• Utilitarian Rationale
• Life Skill/Personal Fulfillment
• Employment/Economic Opportunity
• National Security/Diplomacy
• Cultural Rationale
• Transmission of Cultural Heritage
• Sociolinguistics (Connecting Language and
  Culture)
• Identity Intercultural Competency

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Connection to Policy and Practice Cognitive
Rationale

• Grammar Translation
• Emphasis on the Classics
• 1893 Committee of Ten Report
• 1895 College Entrance Requirement
• 4 F. Lang., 2 English/Math, 1History/Science
• Social Efficiency Movement (1920s)
• Enrollment drops 84 1910, 47 1928
• Contemporary Brain Development, Learning
  Strategies, Academic Achievement and Standardized
  Test Performance
• Difficult to Assess, Not Unique to Language
  Education, Imagine Classroom Practice/Target
  Learners and Level of Funding

6
Connection to Policy and Practice Utilitarian
Rationale

• 1918 Cardinal Principles Report (NEA)
  Curriculum for Life (Social Service, Future
  Utility)
• Emergence of Tracking by Ability and Electives
• Behavioral Psychology Structural Linguistics
  Audio Lingual Method (1910)
• 1929 Carnegie Report
• 83 of fl students ceased study after 2 yrs
• National Security and Economic Opportunity
• NDEA (1957), PCFLIS (1979), NAFTA (1994), Educate
  America Act (1994), NSLI (2006)
• Linguistic Cultural Diversity at Home and
  Abroad
• Proficiency Oriented Instruction
• Captive to Public Perception Value

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Connection to Policy and Practice Cultural
Rationale

• Original and most persistent rationale
• Humanities through literature
• WWI backlash un-American
• Post WWII awareness cultural competency required
  for linguistic competency
• Sociolinguistics 1960s
• Proficiency Oriented Instruction
• Communicative Competency
• Identity Transformation/Shifts in Worldview
• Language as vehicle to cultural knowledge
• Consider Teacher Qualifications, Political
  Dynamics and Assessment Challenges

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Purpose Impacts

• Perceived value
• Funding and sustainability
• Which language(s) are taught
• When languages are taught
• How languages are taught and assessed
• Who learns a language
• Outcome of language learning

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A clearly defined purpose for language education
will

• Provide guiding principles to teachers,
  administrators and policy makers
• Generate public awareness of the value of the
  discipline
• Convey relevancy and performance expectations to
  students

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Our raison d'être should be

• Deliverable
• Assessable
• Sustainable
• Valuable to Individual and Society
• Consider benefits beyond intellectual growth,
  practical application in employment and cultural
  understanding

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Interpersonal Rationale

• Foundation in the Standards for Language Learning
  (1996)
• Language and communication are at the heart of
  the human experience. The United States must
  educate students who are equipped linguistically
  and culturally to communicate successfully in a
  pluralistic American society and abroad.
  (Standards for Language Learning, 1996)
• Purpose of language education as effective
  cross-cultural interpersonal communication

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The Magic and Power of Language

• Languages allow humankind to communicate
  ideas, plans, experiences, and feelings. Words
  are used to express philosophy, resolve conflict,
  woo lovers, mark identities, and preserve the
  stories of a people. Language is a dynamic force
  in the world. It is the primary medium through
  which human experience is conducted and
  preserved.

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21st Century Society Call to Action

• Domestic Diversity
• International Context
• Interconnected
• Interdependent
• Competitive
• Global Competency
• Proficiency in World Languages
• Targeted by Policies and Practice

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What is the recipe for proficiency?
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Targeting proficiency through

• Pre-service and In-service Teacher Education
• Class Climate
• Instructional Materials
• Curriculum and Assessment
• Integration of Language and Culture
• Program Delivery Models
• Funding
• Public Relations

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Public Relations - WAFLT

• Planning
• Persistence
• Patience
• WAFLT Website and Activities

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Public RelationsOne Districts Story
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Thank You
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Contact Us

• Pam Delfosse, World Language Consultant
• Phone [phone]
• pamela.delfosse_at_dpi.state.wi.us
• Justin Gerlach, WAFLT Public Relations Chair
• advocacy_at_waflt.org