1 Discover Languages: Make Languages Matter in Your Community Justin Gerlach Mishicot High School WAFLT Public Relations Chair Paul Sandrock Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction ACTFL President

2 Global literacy starts with curiosity

3 Add experiences to build curiosity

4 Create desire to communicate

5 Provide tools for communication

6 Instill confidence to communicate across borders

7 What are “global literacies?” Communication skills Global perspectives Knowledge of people, places, and practices Skills to function comfortably in other cultures

8 What skills are in demand? According to top executives in a USA Today poll, the skills most lacking in employees are: Foreign Language Interpersonal Administrative Technical Management

9 What skills are in demand? According to Michael Eskew, CEO of UPS: Trade literacy Sensitive to foreign cultures (cultural awareness, sensitivity and diplomacy) Conversant in different languages Technology savvy Capable of managing complexity (being creative) Ethical behavior – core values

10 Languages add value to our economy

11 Where does the U.S. send its products? Total U.S. Exports (2005) $904,379,818,000 Top Ten Destinations: Canada, Mexico, Japan, China, United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, France, Taiwan State-by-state export data available (

12 Committee for Economic Development Education for Global Leadership: The Importance of International Studies and Foreign Language Education for U.S. Economic and National Security (

13 Committee for Economic Development Education for Global Leadership: “America’s continued global leadership will depend on our students’ abilities to interact with the world community both inside and outside our borders.” (

14 Languages add value to our diplomacy

15 A Call to Action for National Foreign Language Capabilities: build language and cultural understanding capability; develop language and cultural competency; develop language skills in a wide range of critical languages strengthen programs and tools in foreign languages and cultures; and integrate language training into career fields and increase the number of language professionals

16 US Defense Department: Defense Language Transformation Roadmap for officers and for enlisted ranks identify language assets recognize need for understanding of other cultures

17 National Security Language Initiative

18 National Security Language Initiative Incentives to teach critical need languages K-12 Scholarships for 3000 high school students to study abroad by native speakers to teach in US universities by National Language Service Corps of Americans proficient in critical languages to serve as volunteers and teachers, K-12 Teacher-to-teacher seminars

19 Association of American Universities National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative: Meeting America’s Economic and Security Challenges in the 21 st Century

20 Association of American Universities Shorten time to degree & improve completion rates for doctoral programs Accelerate teacher certification and retraining programs National Defense Education and Innovation Initiative: Cultivate American talent to enhance the nation’s expertise in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and foreign languages

21 Languages add value for heritage cultures

22 US 2000 Census: Heritage Language Speakers 17.9% of US residents speak a language other than English at home (47 million people out of US total of 262 million people, over age 5)

23 US 2000 Census: Heritage Language Speakers an increase of 47.4% between 1990 and 2000 of US residents who speak languages other than English at home total population increased by 13.9%

24 Our Heritage Languages Spanish or Spanish Creole - 28,101,052 Chinese- 2,022,143 French (incl. Patois, Cajun) - 1,643,838 German - 1,383,442 Tagalog - 1,224,241 Vietnamese - 1,009,627 Italian - 1,008,370 Korean, Russian, Polish, Arabic, Portuguese, Japanese (500,000 – 900,000)

25 Languages add value through their impact on academic achievement

26 Students studying languages outperformed those who did not study languages: Outperformed on language arts and math, regardless of race, gender, or academic level Four or more years of language study raised SAT scores more than study in any other subject area Languages impact academic achievement:

27 Students studying languages outperformed those who did not study languages: Lower socioeconomic students performed just as well Outperformed non-language students on every subtest of state assessment Languages impact academic achievement:

28 Languages add value to our community

29 Languages add value by adding perspectives

30 Discover the World

31 Make Languages Visible in Your Community Sponsor an activity or event Download the free poster from the website and display it in your school and community Use “Discover Languages” products to publicize your event or heighten awareness among students, parents, and administrators Create articles about your local “Discover Languages” campaign

32 Make Languages the Talk of Your Community Sponsor a language “ambush” Sponsor a “Discover Languages” booth at a summer community event; soon, Discover Languages kits will be available from ACTFL Send in a picture of your “Discover Languages” event for posting on the ACTFL website Visit for more ideas!

33 Make Languages Matter in Your Community Student interpreter program Grandparent/grandchild language learning experiences International business mentorships Implementation of Linguafolio Documentaries showcasing languages in use in your community

34 International Education Recommendations

35 Global Literacies for All Students World Languages for All Students Global Training for All Teachers Intercultural Experiences for All Citizens International Linkages for Wisconsin Businesses and Government International Education Recommendations: 5 Key Goals

36 1. Keep informed of issues 2. Identify specific issues to address 3. Identify specific points in decision-making process 4. Inform other teachers, administrators, and parents 5. Contact the media 6. Build coalitions 7. Clarify and strengthen your department’s budget 8. Organize and maintain network lists Foreign Language Advocacy

37 Be pro-active – don’t wait until your program is in peril Learn Plan Network Inform Get out your message Stay optimistic – look for “opportunities” Programs in Peril

38 When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion. Ethiopian proverb

39 Discover Languages Discover the World

40 Thank you