• At the Crossroads: Learning to Speak the (Foreign) Language of Higher Education Leadership

    Author(s):
    Tim Jansa, William Nichols (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Group(s):
    Advocating for the Humanities, Connected Academics, Language requirements in higher education
    Subject(s):
    Globalization, Intercultural communication, Education, Higher
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    State of the Discipline, Working with Upper Administration, K-16, Internationalization, Advocacy, Higher education
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/d0jc-b476
    Abstract:
    More than ten years have passed since the 2007 MLA Ad Hoc Committee of Foreign Languages report recommended structural and curricular change initiatives to counteract the growing crisis in postsecondary world language education. Almost a decade earlier, Heidi Byrnes had already expounded on the need to replace persistent bifurcated curricular legacy systems in world language education with clearly articulated programs across the entire undergraduate spectrum. To do so, she argued, faculty members at all levels needed to abandon unrealistic and nativist expectations of student proficiency, stop pitting teaching against research, and replace the dictates of a textbook or chosen methodology with well-thought-out curricula. She also urged practitioners to engage in “deep reflection on the value of foreign language study in a collegiate context” to help “learners perform the humanist act of discovering themselves” through the acquisition of multiple literacies (278). If we consider John Kotter’s change theory (1993), world language practitioners have been aware of a sense of urgency to devise and enact change since the 1990s; however, attempts at building a guiding coalition or forming a strategic vision and initiatives have—with few notable exceptions—rarely been enacted or yielded many tangible results at the department level.
    Notes:
    You can find the article in the current issue of the ADFL Bulletin here: https://www.adfl.mla.org/bulletin/article/adfl.45.2.14
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    10.1632/adfl.45.1.14
    Publisher:
    Modern Language Association (MLA)
    Pub. Date:
    2020-6-15
    Journal:
    ADFL Bulletin
    Volume:
    45
    Issue:
    2
    Page Range:
    14 - 23
    ISSN:
    0148-7639
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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