A Presidential commission has called for the reinstatement of foreign language requirements in high schools, colleges and universities. The Commission on Foreign Languages and International Studies, which submitted its final report in early November, called America’s incompetence in foreign languages “scandalous”.
It also recommended required courses in undergraduate studies and centers to “strengthen and sustain international studies,” according to the November 13, 1979 issue of THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION. The Federal government should spend $178 million over the $67 million already appropriated for foreign language and international studies in the 1979 fiscal budget for all levels.
Among the specific programs it recommended:
(1) $51 million in “incentive grants” to all schools at all levels for the teaching of foreign language courses.
(2) $36.5 million for centers of international studies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
According to the CHRONICLE article, the Commission “justifies its call for increased support for foreign languages and international studies in terms of national security.”
“Nothing is less at issue than the nation’s security,” the report said. “At a time when the resurgent forces of nationalism and of ethnic and linguistic consciousness so directly affect global realities, the United States requires far more reliable capacities to communicate with its allies, analyze the 1 behavior of potential adversaries, and earn the trust and 2 sympathies of the uncommitted.