There are 700 languages in the world, and most Americans will live out their lives speaking only one of them.
At Ball State University, only about 300 students - out of the more than 18,000 undergraduates enrolled - are majoring in foreign languages. But with the increasingly global economy and business world most Ball State graduates will be entering, the percentage of graduates who are proficient in a foreign language should be higher - even if that means placing more requirements on students.
In one show of support for foreign language education, the Department of Modern Languages and Classics has discussed adding Arabic and Korean to the list of languages offered. Korean- and Arabic-speaking countries are rising to the forefront of world business and politics. Adding these choices to the department's offerings will certainly give an edge to those students who pursue these languages, but it won't necessarily boost overall foreign-language study at Ball State.
Ball State is also talking about adding a university-wide language requirement to the core curriculum, which is slated for an update by Fall Semester 2007. Such a change would make all Ball State graduates more marketable in the globalized job market.
Universities have a responsibility to help students meet the expectations of the "real world" - and language proficiency is something that will eventually be expected by most employers, if it's not already. As the need for competence in more than one language grows throughout the world, the university must keep up with the times and put a greater emphasis on foreign language with its graduation requirements.
Currently, several departments require foreign language courses or test-out examination up through the 202 level, and most graduates in those departments handle the requirement just fine. For those struggling to learn their foreign languages, several tutoring facilities across campus offer comprehensive assistance. And learning a foreign language has benefits beyond the skill itself - everything from greater understanding of grammar in the primary language to greater awareness of another culture.
For all of these reasons, the university should implement higher expectations regarding foreign language proficiency when it revises the core curriculum. In fact, it should consider expanding the foreign language requirement as much as it can - perhaps by considering the addition of more languages to the program or allowing classes in American Sign Language to count for foreign language credit.
Making such progressive moves in foreign language education could show that Ball State is dedicated to teaching students the skills of living and learning in the global marketplace - and that means all 700 languages of it.
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