Sept. 16, 2005 Reality Check

Should Our Students Study Chinese?

As major participants and drivers in the process of globalization, Americans have a remarkable ambivalence about the rest of the world. We want to be engaged, loved, respected — and obeyed. We seek collaboration, but on our terms. We embrace the international difference that most closely resembles ourselves: English speaking, Western European, or Latin American. We speak glowingly of international travel and study abroad, but most of us seek out places that approximate our home environment.

Our colleges and universities encourage study abroad, develop internationalization initiatives, and welcome international students, but American students and faculty flee from the serious study of languages other than English. We teach the literature of our international trading partners in translation because so few of our students can read anything of substance in someone else’s language. And, as we usually do in American academic circles, we worry about all this a lot.

The Institute for International Education publishes statistics and reports through its Open Doors series that give us a picture of how we engage our global colleagues. The good news is that more and more students study and travel abroad than ever before, most students understand that their future requires an engagement with the greater world outside our borders, and just about every college and university has some kind of international commitment in its curriculum.

The bad news is that few students take foreign languages and few institutions require them to do so. Only literature, history, and other area-studies specialists show any interest in the deep understanding made possible through immersion in language, and the numbers of students in these majors does not appear to be rising. Although everyone recognizes that our national security and prosperity demand experts with full proficiency and cultural literacy in a wide range of thinly taught languages, we find neither the national funding nor the student interest in developing these skills.

Often, our leaders in business and industry tell us how important international expertise has become, but they frequently hire well educated native speakers to lead their overseas operations, and offer little or no premium to American managers who have particular language skills. Our students, observing the career paths of highly successful people, learn quickly that while the business world values international travel and living experience, it sees only modest benefit from in-depth understanding of a specific language or culture.

Indeed, specialists in language and culture often fear relegation to mid-level corporate niches while their generalist colleagues move around the company in different jobs in different places, advancing quickly up the corporate ladder. Even our State Department, charged with the obligation of keeping the country tuned to our global relationships, rotates Foreign Service officers from post to post, producing globally aware individuals with great breadth and minimal cultural and linguistic depth.

NAFSA, an organization of international student and study abroad advisers, published a Report of the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad. As I read it, I am not sure what to make of it. It calls for us to increase study abroad opportunities and asserts that language proficiency matters, but it recognizes that most students want to go where people speak English or where the U.S. already has significant cultural and historical familiarity (Europe and Latin America).

It calls for more engagement but notes that most students want to participate in semester programs rather than yearlong programs. It celebrates a dramatic increase in the number of students seeking study abroad opportunities but finds the numbers too small to meet the need.

Here, as in other reports of similar nature on different topics, we have a worthy objective presented by people who have the right idea and a clear sense of what we should do. At the same time, we have universities and colleges that cannot drive their students to study a language to any degree of proficiency, who cannot enforce any form of required international curriculum, and who squirm uncomfortably as they argue that a semester of study abroad will produce globally competitive leaders.

Perhaps our students and their employers are telling us something we do not want to hear. Maybe language and culture are much less important for global success than the subject competence that adds value to a business or a product. Maybe they know that only those who make language and culture their major area of study can approximate the abilities and skills of an ordinary educated native speaker.

Maybe they recognize that the years of study needed to acquire foreign language fluency in America will yield much less future income than similar effort invested in accounting, finance, physics, computer science or legal studies.

It is not what we want to hear, we internationalists, we specialists in language and area studies, we culture vultures who live and breathe the dramatic variety of the world’s people. It is not what we want to hear, but when our students’ behavior overwhelmingly fails to match our beliefs, we probably should listen more carefully.

John V. Lombardi, chancellor and a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, writes Reality Check occasionally.

Comments

“Indeed, specialists in language and culture often fear relegation to mid-level corporate niches while their generalist colleagues ..”

To Dr. Lombardi, who’s writings I admire, a suggested end-note:

There are subject matter experts (SMEs) who handle specific functional issues (e.g., engineering, language). The generalists are moved about, due to a number of reasons, one of which is to ensure that they “don’t go native” and begin siding with certain vendors, the locals, et al.

Also, the two groups often debate over who has more job security — an SME might complain about a generalist’s slightly-higher salary, while the generalist might complain being at very high risk for layoff, as opposed to the SME, due to that slighly-higher salary.

Also:

In my experience, students with high-demand, demonstratable language skills (e.g., Spanish, Chinese) are hired more quickly and at higher salaries than those without. It is a simple equation — such students have more skills. Reasonable people will acknowledge this (viz., the number of double-majors).

R.A.S., at 7:10 am EDT on September 16, 2005

More students are studying Chinese

Chancellor Lombardi and others reading his column may be interested to know that there does seem to be an increase in students studying Chinese this fall. Here are just a few statistics I have gathered on this subject:

At Southwestern University (a school of only 1,300), 40 students are studying Chinese this fall. That’s up from 13 in 2002, when we hired our first tenure-track professor to teach Chinese. We had to open a second section of Chinese this fall to meet the demand.

At Vanderbilt University, enrollment in first-year Chinese language study jumped from 21 last year to 53 this year.

At Trinity University in San Antonio, a record number of first-year students are enrolled in Chinese, and a record number of students are taking second-year Chinese (they had to open up another section to meet demand). Trinity also is seeing another trend: students placing out of beginning Chinese because they are now coming to college after having taken Chinese in high school.

Rice University started offering Chinese in 1981 with one faculty member and one course. This semester they have four Chinese language faculty members and 13 courses with a total enrollment of 155.

Ellen Davis, Director of Communications at Southwestern University, at 9:44 am EDT on September 16, 2005

I’ve lead a semester-long study abroad to Asia for several years that of course included China so I speak from experience on the ground. The reality is that the Chinese know about us as Americans while we know virtually nothing about them. More importantly, the knowledge that the Chinese have developed about Americans helps them to understand us while it’s equally plain that our lack of knowledge about the Chinese means we don’t have a clue about who they are as a people and as a culture. Today’s educated Chinese are proficient in spoken and written English; few Americans have equivalent skills in Mandarin and therefore, lack equivalent understanding of the Chinese.

American students are quite surprised (and pleased) how easy it is for them to be in major Chinese cities because of the prevalence of English. However, the ease with which they travel and order food is a direct result of China’s national focus on the mastery of English, and this ease masks the more important reality — the Chinese are developing a strategic advantage because they understand Americans while Americans are perfectly content to remain ignorant of the Chinese.

While perhaps only an interesting anecdote today, this difference in cultural understanding may well be the fulcrum of change for world prominence, power, and more importantly, influence when extrapolated over the next 30 to 40 years, that is, within the working life of today’s university student. As a matter of national policy, America should focus its attention (and its funding) on understanding other cultures, particularly China. However, if past is indeed prologue, our attention to the link between understanding another culture and our national and economic security will come only after it’s too late. Clearly, the Chinese already understand this link.

Wesley King, Professor at University of Dayton, at 9:59 am EDT on September 16, 2005

Requirement

Before you start requiring Chinese, or any other foreign language, think for a moment of everyone who has told you “I had to learn [enter language here] in college, but I don’t remember any of it now.” I suspect most of us have heard this from dozens of people from a variety of professions. The foriegn languages studied in school are rarely put in to practice, and often are just a waste of time. International business or not, most people just don’t use it. So why have students who could be learning something productive learn a new language?

Kevin, Undergraduate, at 11:57 am EDT on September 16, 2005

what businesses want

There’s a broader point that I think is being missed here: what businesses CLAIM they want in employees is usually not the same as what they ACTUALLY want/need in a new hire.

Study after study speak to how companies “want” employees with foreign language skills, who “think outside the box", who have exceptional writing skills, who are critical thinkers, etc. So why is much of the workforce lacking in these areas? There are plenty of systemic/educational reasons, but the fact is that there just aren’t that many jobs that actually utilize many (if any) of these types of higher-level skills.

Or, to put it another way: why hire someone with exceptional skills and talents when what your business REALLY needs is someone who will show up and unquestioningly perform tedious, repetetive, generally non-thinking tasks for years on end?

Universities are places of learning, not employee factories — if students only want specific skills for specific careers, that’s what vocational schools are for.

Jeff, at 3:56 pm EDT on September 16, 2005

Should our students study foreign languages?

Yes, all of them. The author portrays the existing state of affairs in business and government accurately enough: language & culture skills are often not highly valued, and rotations through many short postings often make it impossible to use or maintain them for long. That is an account of the problem, not an adequate excuse for inaction as a solution. I’ve had long experience with academic and government language problems. If they can’t be handled better, we will all suffer more and more from them with time, as we have in the past. Generalists (specialists in administration) can only take us so far. Specialists (in science, engineering, law, etc.)in international settings (most settings now) need foreign language skills. China and Japan know this well. As for us, remember the language gap on 9/11/01? It was even greater than in the wee hours of 12/07/41, when US Naval Intelligence had to wait 320 minutes for somebody else to translate the crucial message about Pearl Harbor: the duty translator’s Japanese wasn’t good enough. Today, the private sector is even worse off. Can’t handle the competition’s language? What comes next?

John G. Fought, Independent Scholar, at 3:57 pm EDT on September 16, 2005

Man oppresses man

” .. when what your business REALLY needs is someone who will show up and unquestioningly perform tedious, repetetive, generally non-thinking tasks for years on end?”

Darn .. sounds like the last management staff meeting at my university .. tee, hee, hee ..

Bart, at 4:30 pm EDT on September 16, 2005

A friend of mine used to be an international tax lawyer for the Pepsi Co. In a moment’s notice, he would fly to Australia, Argentina, China, or U. K., for a meeting then immediately fly back. A colleague of mine has a friend who works for HBO and is still flying around the world for meetings. The October issue of “Travel and Leisure” magazine (hardly worthy of any scholastic value :-)) argued that “a modern woman is a well-traveled woman.” In a business environment where technology could become efficient communication bridges, business leaders apparently continue to believe in the importance of person to person contacts. The ability to feel, touch, and see eye to eye with your business partner is critical in establishing trust and understanding. Of course, it would be wonderful if our students are truly immersed in the culture and are 120% proficient in multiple languages. Yet, we all know of human limitations. We could set high standards and expectations for students who are studying abroad. We must, on the other side, recognize the benefit of having students simply experiencing a different culture, no matter how shallow those experiences may be. Further, traveling overseas is usually a privilege reserved for youngsters from more well-to-do families and not for students from socio-economically challenged backgrounds. Colleges and universities must provide, through institutional exchanges and scholarships, these opportunities for our less advantaged students. A traditional Chinese proverb has taught us that “seeing a matter only once beats hearing about it a thousand times.” Comparing to many of my world traveling colleagues, my travel experience is far much limited. But my two weeks in Morocco gave me a chance to witness the primitive educational environments for the Berber children in the Sahara Desert, my few hours each time in the small town of Narita, Japan, afforded me a glimpse of the daily lives of shop keepers, businessmen, and school children, and my chats with taxi drivers in Guanajuato, Mexico, encouraged me to inquire about the economic reality of this historical region. These experiences have affected my fundamental perceptions of the world around us and taught me the basics of humanity. I have found myself thinking of the people I met when I am working on program proposals and drafts of regulations. And I managed to do all of this without being proficient in Arabic/Berber, Japanese, or Spanish. Maybe the term “global perspective” should be defined by our sensitivity of people in other places when we consider our actions. In the global competitive markets, as scholars, we tend to focus on the dramatic differences among cultures and peoples. We may have, in some ways, lost the ability to recognize the similarities among all human beings. Yet, to form a successful business partnership, companies are more likely to seek common goals and grounds. An in-depth understanding and a solid grasp of the language will certainly go a long way for us, but we must encourage our students to take the very first baby step to physically cross the border of the United States. We must not underestimate the effect of those seemingly minor experiences on students. Although NAFSA or the NSE (National Student Exchange program) have asserted the benefits of studying abroad or studying in a different region within the country, I will agree that there is a lack of research of student learning outcomes from these study abroad programs. Maybe professors can stimulate their doctoral students to raise these research questions and come up methodologies to address them.About 50 years ago, Mr. Guevara, a medical school student, left his affluent Buenos Aires neighborhood and traveled across South America. That experience changed his world view, and nicknamed him “Che.” While the world may need to understand some of his views, the world does not need more violence advocated by him. Che’s transformation serves as an anecdote of how important study/travel abroad experiences are for the future of our leaders and how critical it is for colleges and universities to provide guidance for our students.

Yuhang Rong, at 1:17 pm EDT on September 20, 2005

No Incintive

There’s no incintive to learn Chinese. I’m a graduate student who’s been trying to incorporate Chinese into my studies since undergraduate school. Yet, again and again, I’m thwarted in one way or another. For instance, there’s no faculty member at my university in the Dept. of Int’l Affairs who knows anything about China, even though it’s a teir-one public university. I dare not major in Chinese because, as the comments above indicate, I won’t have a job after graduating if I did. So, that’s not a solution. I can’t secure any grants to study Chinese, although I’ve tried and tried, (but I got a grant to study in Germany this summer despite the fact that I don’t know anything about Germany except that my ancestors came from there)! So, there’s no money to encourage me. Moreover, since neither my family nor I is rich, I can’t afford to buy thousand dollar tickets to China whenever I want. So, if you’re elite, you can go to China to give presentations and practice Chinese, etc. But, for poor students like me who have to get along in the real world but who want to study Chinese, America’s got to find some money and other incintives to prepare Americans from every socioeconomic background.

Todd MacEgan West, No Incintive, at 9:30 pm EDT on May 3, 2006

There’s no future here, folks

4 years of Chinese in college courses.$16,000 1 summer advanced Chinese studies. $5,000 1 summer Japanese $3,000 1 year study in China $2,000 1 year study in China, graduate-level $3,000 Wrote textbook used in Chinese course Wrote articles GREs — in top 02% in nationMS thesis on China $2,000

Income for year after MS (4.00 GPA) $3,000

Retraining after two years under-, unemployment in heavily Indianized engineering program, no degree (GPA 3.0+) $20,000

Last year’s income from translation $450 Average time to collection 6 months Income per hour of translation labor $26.50 Income per hour corrected for time spent in collection efforts $7.50

Shame of continued unemployment, societal rejection, inability to pay bills, insolvency, looming debt, fear of permanent unemployment, frequent suicidal thoughts, despair, loss of friends who don’t understand, realization that America doesn’t get foreign languages realization that America doesn’t want American engineers realization that America doesn’t careabout academic achievement — Priceless

Scrawed, at 7:05 am EDT on June 30, 2006

There’s no future here, folks!

4 years of Chinese in college courses, $16,000; 1 summer advanced Chinese studies, $5,000; 1 summer Japanese, $3,000; 1 year study in China, $2,000; 1 year study in China, graduate-level, $3,000.

Wrote textbook used in Chinese course; wrote articles; GREs — in top 02% in nation; MS thesis on China, $2,000.

Income for year after MS (4.00 GPA,)$3,000.

Retraining after two years of under-, unemployment in heavily Indianized engineering program, no degree (GPA 3.0+), $20,000.

Last year’s income from translation, $450. Average time to collection — 6 months.Income per hour of translation labor, $26.50. Income per hour corrected for time spent in collection efforts, $7.50.

Shame of continued unemployment, societal rejection, inability to pay bills, insolvency, looming debt, fear of permanent unemployment, frequent suicidal thoughts, despair, loss of friends who don’t understand, realization that America doesn’t get foreign languages, realization that America doesn’t want American engineers, and realization that America doesn’t care about academic achievement... Priceless.

Scrawed, at 5:40 am EDT on July 1, 2006

Right now, American students are lagging on the 3 Rs. How can we even think of teaching them foreign languages? Moreover, students are graduating from American colleges without gaining an employable skill like Carpentry or Truck Driving. Just look at any newspaper ad. In this “globalized” economy, how many classified ads are looking for fluent Chinese speakers? They’re not. The classified ads are looking for Carpenters, Plumbers, Truck Drivers, Electricians, etc. Those are going to be the jobs of the future.

Scott Stinson, at 5:45 am EDT on July 1, 2006

How can any of us compete in the everglobalizing world village if we do not learn foreign languages? It becomes much harder to teach a person language after the point, at a very young age, when sounds are sorted and sounds that aren’t used are lost. The cognitive flexibility for people who are bilingual or multilingual is better. Knowing another language will allow a better understanding of the people and the culture attached to it. We should all be striving to make those connections with those who are different than us and continue to bridge the gap where misunderstanding lies. The key to a harmonious future is held in positive communication. It’s so important to me to pursue education in foreign language and it should be for anyone that wants to explore the world and expand their perception.

mel, at 9:00 pm EDT on July 25, 2006

I am currently working on a PhD at a top university about learners of Chinese and ran across this article while searching for statistics about American students studying abroad in China. Just for the record, it is at an all-time high and is still increasing. Why? Because China an ever-increasing player in the global economy. As an American who also studied Chinese and learned it to a high proficiency, it is possible to get a good job afterwards, in China or elsewhere. However, just because you have learned another language doesn’t make you an expert in business or anything else, its more of just an added bonus. Anyway, I feel its incredibly important to learn another language, whatever it is, because attempting to learn one, allows one a glimpse into the rest of the world’s reality and how they all feel being expected to speak English for us, all of the time, even in their hometowns. Anyway, the bottom line is that if you want to learn a language or get a good job, it really comes down to effort. And is the effort worth it for Chinese? I would say, ‘yes’, if you want that added bonus.

Kelly, at 7:25 pm EDT on August 30, 2006

The Short Answer

The short answer to the question “Should Our Students Study Chinese?” is -

Drop out of high school, practice the phrase “Do you want fries with that?” and go flip burgers instead. The odds are 100-to-1 that you will make much more money and experience greater career satisfaction.

There’s a longer answer concerning the employment practices of American companies and the US government, but the upshot really is that there is no more effective way to short-circuit one’s opportunities to develop a career than to major in Chinese language. Computer science comes a close second.

It’s not right — it sounds and is gauche and barbaric. It is a ridiculous outcome for an investment that comes within a couple of years of rivalling the time and energy put into medical school (although it is admittedly cheaper). But that’s the way it is. Eleanor Jorden asked the same question and came to this same conclusion about advanced students of Japanese over a decade ago — that many of them had an interest, enthusiasm and investment in a language skill that for over 95% of them went UNTAPPED.

Scrawed, at 4:25 am EST on December 14, 2006

To Kelley

To “Kelley” listed above:

You admit you go to a top univesity, so you naturally won’t have trouble landing a job dealing with Chinese. However, there are thousands and thousands of Americans attending regional universities with untapped talent ready to be used in the national interest. I want to find the best of the best Americans, and that means providing students everywhere with money and funds to study Chinese. Right now, that’s not the case. But, I can get a grant to study in Germany!!

Todd MacEgan West, at 9:45 pm EDT on April 22, 2007

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Should Our Students Study Chinese?

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Comments

More students are studying Chinese

Requirement

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Should our students study foreign languages?

Man oppresses man

No Incintive

There’s no future here, folks

There’s no future here, folks!

The Short Answer

To Kelley

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