Fostering Foreign Language Proficiency: What the U.S. Can Learn from other Countries

Christian, Donna; Pufahl, Ingrid; Rhodes, Nancy C.

doi:10.1177/003172170508700315

Cited by 9 publications

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“…Globalization since 1990s constrained Malaysia's pioneers to hold onto globalization as a force that would allow Malaysia to be integrated into the rest of the world and boost its national economy (Omar, 1982). Reliably, in education sector, educational leaders have been stressing the need to encourage foreign language competency among students (Zeszotarski, 2001;Welles, 2004;Christian et al, 2005;Ainol et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Mahadi²,

Singh³

2016

ALLS

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Business relationship between Japan and Malaysia has developed very quickly in recent years. This has caused a dramatic increase in the need for individuals who possess language skills to function in Japanese businesses. In order to investigate the needs of our Malaysian graduates, a survey was conducted involving graduates of Japanese language minor program from a public university in Malaysia. The aims of the survey were to get an overall understanding of (1) the use of Japanese language at workplace where the Japanese language minor program's graduates are employed; (2) identify problems faced in language use and in terms of Japanese business practices in workplace. The results indicated that the graduates use Japanese language to communicate with the employees of their workplace compared to outsiders. The findings also highlight that Japanese language listening and speaking skills are the most important skills needed by the graduates for their workplace success compared to reading and writing.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Mahadi²,

Singh³

2016

ALLS

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“…Additionally, only 10% of foreign language students actually achieve functional proficiency in the language they study (Hines, 2003). This figure stands in stark contrast to European countries where national language policies have resulted in more than 50% of adults self-reporting fluency in a second, and sometimes third, foreign language (Christian, 2005). Another problem that foreign language programs face is the hegemony of Spanish in their language programs.…”

Section: Foreign Language Educationmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…Others (Bernhardt, 1997;and Foster, 1999) agree with this overall assessment of a bias toward literature in language programs. Bernhardt (1997) (Christian, 2005). Spain and the relationship between Spanish and the languages found in the Catalonian and…”

Section: Foreign Language Education -Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Spanish constitution recognizes the plurilingual nature of the country and allows each of its autonomous zones to designate official languages in addition to Spanish, the national official language (Huguet, 2004;Ferrer, 2000;and Branchadell, 1999). only about nine percent of the population (Christian, 2005).…”

Section: Foreign Language Education -Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there are many reasons for these dramatic differences, the lack of a coherent and consistent national language policy and the persistent English Only movement are more often than not linked to the inability of Americans to value languages other than English (Christian, 2005;Schulz, 1999).…”

Section: Foreign Language Education -Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Faculty perceptions of the role of foreign language education at West Virginia University

White¹

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Foreign language education has a long history within higher education. However, since the late 1960s, foreign language enrollment, measured by percentages of students taking language courses, has declined by almost 50% in American colleges and universities. The author contends that much of this decline can be explained by three concomitant forces; including (1) the rise of professional programs that are constrained by an exactness of education that precludes study beyond rather narrowly defined plans of study; (2) the lack of language learning success that foreign language students demonstrate upon completion of language programs; and (3) the failure of language departments to extend the concept of language and culture learning beyond traditional language-for-literature based curricula. When coupled with societal forces that view language learning as an essential tool in the nation's economic/political battles and intra-university notions of accountability that view a department's centrality to the university based on its ability to generate revenue, foreign language departments face internal and external challenges to their long-term survival. The author believes that an in depth understanding of the perspectives of others within higher education can assist foreign language programs recover their own place within universities and establish strategic cross-disciplinary alliances that will secure the long-term success of foreign language programs. The present study, based on the theoretical frameworks provided by Bandura's socio-cognitive theory and Bourdieu's models of Field and Habitus, uses qualitative methods, including semi-structured interviews and document analysis, to explore the perspectives of faculty from three academic colleges (Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Business) toward the role and purpose of foreign language education within the context of the university. Finally, the author suggests that the findings of the study point to the need to develop an ecology of foreign language learning that allows for a reconceptualization of the modern foreign language department in higher education.

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Tagore's Vision of International Education: Relevance and Implications for Today

Samuel

2010

The Educational Forum

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Fostering Foreign Language Proficiency: What the U.S. Can Learn from other Countries

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Business Communication Needs of Japanese Companies in Malaysia

Faculty perceptions of the role of foreign language education at West Virginia University

Tagore's Vision of International Education: Relevance and Implications for Today

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