The Struggle for a Place in the Sun: Rationalizing Foreign Language Study in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Over the course of the past century, the MLJ was one of the sites where the vigorous, and often times passionate justification for, and defense of, foreign language (FL) study in the educational curriculum of the United States unfolded. Almost 10% of the slightly more than 4,000 articles published in the MLJ during the past century focused on the value and relevance of FL study in the educational enterprise. This article will focus on five major themes that surfaced throughout the 8 decades covered by our survey. The first theme comprises the general arguments offered by the profession in support of the value of FL study, most of which were impacted directly or indirectly by world events. The second and third themes document periods of general doubt and optimism about the place of FLs in the curriculum. In the fourth major theme, we describe the passionate and intense argumentation between the faculties of education and the defenders of FL study. The fifth, and final theme, addresses the question of which FLs should be taught in the schools and what contribution each might make to a student's education. As we enter the 21st century, it seems clear that the profession still feels compelled to justify the educational merit of its subject matter. In the end, given the twists and turns that history can take, it is difficult to predict whether FL study will eventually find an uncontested place in the sun. INTRODUCTIONOver the course of the past 84 years, the MLJ has been one of the sites where the vigorous, and often times passionate, justification for, and defense of FL study in the educational curriculum of the United States unfolded. While the pressures on FL study were greater on the public schools than on universities, the profession as a whole felt the need to defend and justify itself for the better part of the century. Our task here is to tell this story, at least in part, as it played out in pages of the MLJ.It is revealing that almost 10% of the slightly more than 4,000 articles published in the MLJ during the past 84 years focused on the value and relevance of FL study in the educational enterprise. To discuss each one of these nearly 400 items here would be unwieldy and, more often than not, redundant. Therefore, we will focus on the major trends that emerged from our reading of the relevant articles. We believe that the sheer number of contributions to the topic reflects a general insecurity in the language teaching profession with regard to the contribution of FL study to the overall education of students. In many ways, this state of affairs continues today.Although several options presented themselves for how best to organize the discussion to follow, this article will focus on five major themes that have surfaced over the more than eight decades covered by our survey. To be sure, the reader will note some overlap across themes, and on occasion a case could be made for situating a particular discussion within a different theme and even within more than one theme.

'Language of the Enemy': Foreign Language Education and National Identity

“…While most modern-language educators spoke fervently in defence of language study, others were openly doubtful as to whether it had any value for the American youth. The arguments of the proponents of the cultural and intellectual value of FL study are fairly self-evident and well-summarised in Lantolf and Sunderman (2001). In the present paper I analyse arguments offered by its opponents or those who were in favour of limiting FL education to a particular segment of the population.…”

“…This position was commonly taken by educators situated in the schools of education who promoted integrated curricula based on functional considerations (Tharp, 1936;Thomas, 1920; see also Lantolf & Sunderman, 2001). 'How absurd it is,' argued Calvin Thomas (1920), a professor at Columbia, 'to push boys and girls, whose future is as yet quite indeterminate, into the study of any particular language on the general ground that its literature is worth knowing about' (p. 10).…”

“…Blommaert, 1999a;Golden, 2001;May, 2001), foreign languages, with the exception of English, often remain at the margins, if not in the shadows, as neutral and objective transmitters of the code and culture of a particular target group, devoid of ideological implications. Existing studies of trends in FL education often focus on changes in pedagogical paradigms or at best on transmissionof cultural stereotypes, rather than on sociopoliticaland ideological underpinnings of FL instruction (for a notable exception see Kramsch & Kramsch, 2000;Lantolf & Sunderman, 2001). The present study aims to attract attention to the largely unexplored potential of inquiry into sociohistoric and sociopolitical underpinnings of FL policies and practices.…”

Planificació (eco)lingüística i gestió dels intercanvis lingüístics

“…Amb això podrien estar relacionades les oscil·lacions en l'actitud respecte a l'ensenyament de llengües als Estats Units (vg. Lantolf & Sunderman 2001), la presència massiva de la llengua russa a l'ensenyament en els països del bloc comunista, després de la segona Guerra Mundial, o la incorporació recent de l'espanyol com a llengua obligatòria al sistema educatiu brasiler (i la nostra citació anterior de l'informe ELAN dóna pistes sobre els resultats i els motius, respectivament, d'aquestes dues circumstàncies). Ben al contrari, la promoció de l'ensenyament de la pròpia llengua a l'estranger (el nostre tipus 3), la missió que tenen assignada el Goethe-Institut, l'Instituto Cervantes o l'Instituto Camões és una font evident d'externalitats positives i doncs una eina per estintolar el propi espai ecolingüístic.…”

Immigrant High School Students's In-depth Understanding of the Value of Heritage Language and Bilingualism

“…Also, citizens of German ancestry suppressed their language use during and after the 20 th century World Wars, due to anti-German sentiment in the United States. As a result, anti-foreign language attitudes developed, and the teaching of heritage languages was impeded by public policy (Lantolf & Sunderman, 2001;Kloss, 1998 Careful consideration of the discourse of Title III reveals that it does not mention "the value of multiculturalism to the nation or to the child's English language development and academic achievement" (Evans & Hornberger, 2005, p. 92). An additional problem 9 Please see the entire document at http://www.georgialegislativewatch.com/hr413-english-onlyamendment-fails/ 10 Please see the entire document at http://scsenategop.com/senate-passes-english-only-bill.htm 11 To see a complete list of all English-only states, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englishonly_movement 12 In addition, Cummins (2005) pointed out that policies need to be understood in a more contextual and broader term "to include the underlying assumptions held by various actors who influence the opportunities made available to children to use and maintain their heritage language and the attitudes that children develop in relation to the status of language" (pp.…”