Pentagon spearheads nationwide foreign language push

The Defense Department on Wednesday called for the creation of a senior-level federal position to oversee and coordinate the development of foreign language skills in the United States.

Pentagon officials issued a paper detailing the need for the ongoing promotion of foreign language study. The paper, "A Call to Action for National Foreign Language Capabilities," was the product of the National Language Conference held at the University of Maryland in June 2004.

Defense officials said the report "responds to the urgent need for a national strategy on foreign languages and cultural competency."

"We must identify the critical nodes in our culture that can be influenced most effectively, and we must identify the means to influence them to cause a shift, now," said David S. Chu, the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "We must find where and how we can best concentrate our effort in order to produce significant change."

Late last month, the Pentagon launched "a major initiative" to develop foreign language experts among the military's uniformed ranks and civilian workforce. That effort included a call to increase the Defense Department's Foreign Language Proficiency Pay and to establish a Defense Language Office in the Pentagon.

The white paper released Wednesday called for a broader effort across governmental, private and nonprofit organizations to boost foreign language study.

"No one sector-government, industry or academia-has all of the needs for language and cultural competency," the report said.

The paper did, however, call on the president and the federal government to lead other sectors of society in the effort to improve foreign language skills in the United States.

"This task requires guidance and incentives from the federal level," the report said. "It is urgently recommended that a national language authority be appointed by the president to serve as the principal adviser, advocate and coordinator in the federal government, and to collaborate with state and local governments, academia and the private sector for improving our national foreign language and cultural understanding capabilities."

According to the report, the language official would be responsible for developing a national strategy, establishing relationships among interested groups, and leading a public relations campaign stressing the importance of foreign language skills.

Marco A. Campos, director of the language program in The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins University, said the proposal was a good idea as long as the official is well qualified.

"I definitely think that's important," Campos said. "I think it's important to have somebody who has a professional background … a person who may be able to identify needs, an expert in the field."

The paper also called for a National Foreign Language Coordination Council-to be led by the senior language official-that would be funded by Congress and would recommend policy and legislation.