Reforming Study of Foreign Languages

FLL Presents Conference that Explores Importance of Culture and Literature Studies in Curricula

The Faculty of Languages and Linguistics sponsored an April 24 conference that explored the effects of increased globalization and the need to understand other cultures and what that all means for the foreign language curricula.

The international conflicts of this century have spurred rapid change in the United States, making the ability to understand other cultures and languages highly desirable, according to the Modern Language Association (MLA).

During the conference, Fostering Translingual and Transcultural Competencies, Rosemary Feal, MLA executive director, addressed the association’s stance, outlined in a 2007 report, on changes to foreign language curriculum in light of an increasingly multicultural society.

Boons to foreign language programs such as those seen after 9/11 to Arabic programs and those seen in Russian programs with the launching of Sputnik have occurred many times over in history, she said.

“What happens is … a crisis model [is formed]. It takes us from linguistics crisis to national security crisis and the educational goals are somehow connected up to the crisis rather than educational infrastructure being available to mitigate and help solve some of these crisis moments,” Feal said. “As a nation, by not having an ongoing infrastructure in language capacity, we will never be prepared for the next language crisis because we don’t know where it is, when it is or what it will be.”

Following Feal's address, Nicoletta Pireddu, Georgetown’s director of the comparative literature program in the Italian department, joined Peter Rollberg, chair of the romance, German and Slavic languages and literatures department at George Washington University, and Karin Ryding, Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Professor of Arabic in the Arabic and Islamic studies department for a panel discussion specifically on the topic of the MLA's 2007 report. Marcia Morris, chair of the university's Slavic languages department, served as moderator.

“A literary text is a world, students should rediscover it not as set contained enclave, but as the center of an interdisciplinary network, connecting individuals’ feelings; collecting drives, historical reason, geographical context, social issues, ideologies,” said Pireddu. “The language specialists envisioned by the MLA are expected to make an active, receptive and creative use of language.”

Prior to the MLA report, Georgetown faculty members were already making strides to blend cultural studies within foreign language curricula nationwide. Heidi Byrnes, the George M. Roth Distinguished Professor of German at Georgetown, spent the last year moderating panels at a variety of national conferences that advocated establishing a national policy for foreign language education.

She said her work has been successful in drawing academicians, policy-makers and others, who share an interest in improving the country’s linguistic resources.

In addition to discussions on the MLA report, faculty members also explored the best practices in teaching and literature studies, which featured renowned Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa and University Professor Deborah Tannen.

Other Georgetown faculty members also took part in the conference panel discussions, including Kevin Doak, Nippon Foundation Endowed Chair in Japanese Studies and chair of the East Asian languages and cultures department; Emily Francomano, assistant professor in the Spanish and Portuguese department; Philip Kafalas, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures; Miléna Santoro, associate professor of French; and Serafina Hager, chair of Italian department.

Source: Blue & Gray

April 28, 2008