BEFORE I went to France this summer, I didn't really understand why a lot of Europeans think Americans are idiots. Arrogant, yes. But stupid?
Once overseas, though, I began to understand. Especially when I met people who think speaking English loudly and slowly will make non-speakers understand.
In my contact with Europeans, I met very few who only spoke one language. Several students in my summer classes spoke three languages. This contrasts with American students who complain about simple college language requirements. Such an attitude actually proves the need for these requirements. A foreign language requirement remains an essential part of the distribution requirements not just to turn out fluent speakers, but also as part of learning about the world outside the University.
|
Most University students must fulfill certain distribution requirements to graduate. One of these is to either take a foreign language through the 202 level, or score at that level on a proficiency test given at the University. Many place out by taking a language in high school. According to French professor Cheryl Krueger, most of the students taking these first four semesters of a language at the University are doing so because they chose to learn a new language, since most students took a language as part of college preparation.
Many University students grumble about the fact that these basic languages are usually taught by teaching assistants, not full professors. However, this is not necessarily a disadvantage. Professor Christine Zunz of the French department points out that these teaching assistants are usually foreign students who are native speakers of the language they teach. Although professors might be more authoritative sources for literature classes, or in teaching advanced writing skills, foreign students are equally good at exposing students to correct speech and foreign culture.
Students who complain about the use of teaching assistants generally think of the most popular languages. However, beginning students who feel they really need to interact with professors can avoid French or Spanish in favor of languages such as Hindi or Arabic, which feature professors at the 101 level.
It's true that many students will stop at the 202 level, and few will take the trouble to become fluent. But this doesn't make taking the class pointless if fluency is not the main objective.
According to Zunz, the objective behind the distribution requirements is not to make everyone a fluent speaker, but for all students at the University to have a minimum competency in another language.
Distribution requirements in general aren't intended to make students specialists in an area - that's the point of a major. Distribution requirements traditionally have served to acquaint students with different subjects, making them more educated people. Requiring students to take introductory sciences doesn't make them Nobel Prize winners, but this shouldn't put the need for scientific literacy in doubt. Saying that students need to be fluent in a language for the class to be useful is holding language departments to a different standard.
Taking language classes reminds students that there are other countries in the world, and not everyone in them speaks English. These people also don't think exactly like Americans, either. A person can learn why this is true in a comparative politics class. But a language class does a much better job of showing how citizens of other countries are different in both the way they express their thoughts and how this shapes a culture.
This learning process helps students become more sympathetic to members of the foreign student population at the University. Struggling through those verb conjugations makes a person much more sympathetic to the difficulties that their foreign classmates may have speaking English in class. Learning about another culture is a good reminder that the American way is not the only way, and not always the best way. This is useful in many situations, for example, in international business, where a foreign client might have extremely different expectations.
Despite the difficulties involved, foreign languages remain an important part of the distribution requirements because they prepare students for a world beyond the Lawn. Instead of expecting everyone in this world to speak English, we should make an effort to learn other languages and thereby move outside our own little bubbles. This is, after all, the goal of a university education.
(Elizabeth Managan's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at emanagan@cavalierdaily.com.)
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | 17 hours agoThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | YesterdayAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | 6 days agoEvery student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
