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Global literacy starts with curiosity. Learn communication skills, global perspectives, and cross-cultural knowledge. Discover how languages enhance economic growth, national security, and academic achievement.
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Discover Languages:Make Languages Matterin Your Community Justin Gerlach Mishicot High School WAFLT Public Relations Chair Paul Sandrock Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction ACTFL President
What are “global literacies?” • Communication skills • Global perspectives • Knowledge of people, places, and practices • Skills to function comfortably in other cultures
What skills are in demand? • According to top executives in a USA Today poll, the skills most lacking in employees are: • Foreign Language • Interpersonal • Administrative • Technical • Management
What skills are in demand? • According to Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS: • Trade literacy • Sensitive to foreign cultures (cultural • awareness, sensitivity and diplomacy) • Conversant in different languages • Technology savvy • Capable of managing complexity (being • creative) • Ethical behavior – core values
Where does the U.S. send its products? Total U.S. Exports (2005) $904,379,818,000 Top Ten Destinations: Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, France, Taiwan State-by-state export data available (http://tse.export.gov)
Committee for Economic Development Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security (http://www.ced.org)
Committee for Economic Development Education for Global Leadership: “America’s continued global leadership will depend on our students’ abilities to interact with the world community both inside and outside our borders.” (http://www.ced.org)
A Call to Action for National Foreign Language Capabilities: • build language and cultural understanding capability; • develop language and cultural competency; • develop language skills in a wide range of critical languages • strengthen programs and tools in foreign languages and cultures; and • integrate language training into career fields and increase the number of language professionals www.nlconference.org
US Defense Department: Defense Language Transformation Roadmap • for officers and for enlisted ranks • identify language assets • recognize need for understanding of other cultures www.languagepolicy.org/dodlangroadmap.pdf
National Security Language Initiative • Incentives to teach critical need languages K-12 • Scholarships for 3000 high school students to study abroad by 2009 • 300 native speakers to teach in US universities by 2006-07 • National Language Service Corps of Americans proficient in critical languages to serve as volunteers and teachers, K-12 • Teacher-to-teacher seminars http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2006/58733.htm
Association of American Universities National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative: Meeting America’s Economic and Security Challenges in the 21st Century www.aau.edu
Association of American Universities National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative: Cultivate American talent to enhance the nation’s expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and foreign languages • Shorten time to degree & improve completion rates for doctoral programs • Accelerate teacher certification and retraining programs www.aau.edu
US 2000 Census:Heritage Language Speakers 17.9% of US residents speak a language other than English at home (47 million people out of US total of 262 million people, over age 5) http://www.mla.org/census_main
US 2000 Census:Heritage Language Speakers • an increase of 47.4% between 1990 and 2000 of US residents who speak languages other than English at home • total population increased by 13.9% http://www.mla.org/census_main
Our Heritage Languages • Spanish or Spanish Creole - 28,101,052 • Chinese- 2,022,143 • French (incl. Patois, Cajun) - 1,643,838 • German - 1,383,442 • Tagalog - 1,224,241 • Vietnamese - 1,009,627 • Italian - 1,008,370 • Korean, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese (500,000 – 900,000)
Languages add value through their impact on academic achievement
http://nnell.org/nnellresourcesadvocacypkt.htm Languages impact academic achievement: Students studying languages outperformed those who did not study languages: • Outperformed on language arts and math, regardless of race , gender, or academic level • Four or more years of language study raised SAT scores more than study in any other subject area
http://nnell.org/nnellresourcesadvocacypkt.htm Languages impact academic achievement: Students studying languages outperformed those who did not study languages: • Lower socioeconomic students performed just as well • Outperformed non-language students on every subtest of state assessment
Make Languages Visible in Your Community • Sponsor an activity or event • Download the free poster from the website and display it in your school and community • Use “Discover Languages” products to publicize your event or heighten awareness among students, parents, and administrators • Create articles about your local “Discover Languages” campaign
Make Languages the Talk of Your Community • Sponsor a language “ambush” • Sponsor a “Discover Languages” booth at a summer community event; soon, Discover Languages kits will be available from ACTFL • Send in a picture of your “Discover Languages” event for posting on the ACTFL website • Visit www.discoverlanguages.org for more ideas!
Make Languages Matter in Your Community • Student interpreter program • Grandparent/grandchild language learning experiences • International business mentorships • Implementation of Linguafolio • Documentaries showcasing languages in use in your community
International Education Recommendations: 5 Key Goals • Global Literacies for All Students • World Languages for All Students • Global Training for All Teachers • Intercultural Experiences for All Citizens • International Linkages for Wisconsin Businesses and Government
Foreign Language Advocacy • Keep informed of issues • Identify specific issues to address • Identify specific points in decision-making process • Inform other teachers, administrators, and parents • Contact the media • Build coalitions • Clarify and strengthen your department’s budget • Organize and maintain network lists
Programs in Peril • Be pro-active – don’t wait until your program is in peril • Learn • Plan • Network • Inform • Get out your message • Stay optimistic – look for “opportunities”
When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. Ethiopian proverb