Language departments face program changes, including foreign language requirement

Although bridge funding allocations have promised temporary relief to the Humanities departments in the upcoming school year, language departments are facing the possibility of drastic program changes, including the modification of the undergraduate foreign language requirement.

In a faculty executive committee meeting on March 4, Judith Smith, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, presented a proposal to the committee requesting an evaluation and update of the language requirement.

The proposal was drafted on the grounds that the language requirement, which was last restructured in 1982, no longer best serves the changing campus community. The initial goal of the requirement was to generate cultural awareness on campus. However, in light of changes in campus demographics and an increase in native foreign language speakers, diversity no longer needs to be promoted through mandatory language instruction, according to the document.

In response, both faculty and language coordinators issued documents iterating the value of languages and the need for students to continue learning them. Faculty from the Italian, French, Slavic, Germanic, Spanish and Portuguese language departments highlighted the vital role languages continue to play in a diverse student body.

“Our argument was that heritage speakers are rich resources, but, many times, they speak the language but can’t read or write it,” said Elissa Tognozzi, Italian senior lecturer.

“Many times, they know their culture only superficially, and they don’t really get to understand the underpinnings of their culture unless they compare their culture to others or explore it in depth.”

UCLA currently requires one full-year of language for all undergraduate students. Students may fulfill the requirement through either high school Advanced Placement tests or attaining the required proficiency level through a placement test. Because these requirements are more stringent than those of other UC schools, the dean proposed to realign the university requirement with the other campuses.

“Berkeley gives credit for three years of high school language,” Tognozzi said. “Our argument is that in high school, many students don’t actually learn the language. Many students don’t pass the placement exam, and that gives us anecdotal evidence that they really weren’t being taught the language in high school.”

Other ideas include reducing the scope of the requirement from all undergraduates to select groups of students, said Maarten van Delden, professor and chair of the Spanish and Portuguese department.

“We are also talking about suspending the requirement for two years for Bachelor of Science students,” he said. “We can save money with fewer students in language courses, and we will reinstate it after the budget situation improves.”

However, reduced enrollment in the languages may have severe impacts on Humanities departments and create inconveniences for both students and instructors, said Asako Hayashi Takakura, Japanese lecturer.

“Our department cut classes,” she said. “We have fewer numbers of students in elementary Japanese and consequently, the number of students in upper divisions will be reduced. Even if we have enough funds for next year, we won’t have enough students for second- and third-year Japanese. This impact will continue for at least two to three years.”

To encourage student interest in pursuing foreign languages beyond the elementary level, faculty have been discussing innovative incentives for further language immersion, van Delden said.

“There’s a positive side to this story too,” he said. “Efforts to think of new things will make courses more attractive to students. A possible incentive is putting an official statement on your transcript if you take a number of language courses. Also, we may develop more courses for various professions, such as Spanish for pre-med students or Portuguese for pre-law students.”

Further discussion of language department goals and undergraduate language requirements will take place during the next faculty executive committee meeting April 9.

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