BRIDGING AMERICA’S LANGUAGE GAP A Call to Action

Leaders in American business, government, and education support a national effort to strengthen language education so that individual Americans can more effectively participate in a global society, and the nation as a whole can prosper in a global economy. To join the effort, contact John Tessitore [email protected] .

Why is language education critical to America?

Language is the key to cultural understanding. While proficiency in English is essential in many facets of life in the 21st century, at home and abroad, knowledge of English alone is insufficient to meet the nation’s needs in a global society—as noted in America’s Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century, a report of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. American industry participates in more foreign markets than ever before and the nation is engaged, diplomati- cally or militarily, in every corner of the globe. Challenges in scientific research and technological innovation all require greater international collaboration. And we have a social obligation, established in law, to offer critical social services in languages other than English.

As the Academy report states, “[B]y several measures, the United States has neglected languages in its educational curricula, its international strategies, and its domestic policies.” This oversight has had “adverse and often unforeseen consequences at home and abroad—in business and diplomacy, in civic life, and in the exchange of ideas.” A more forward-thinking strategy for meeting future needs would advance policies and investments that promote language education for all Americans.

We have a responsibility to ourselves and to future generations—as parents, educators, policy- makers, and leaders in business and government—to support language learning in the United States to achieve the following results:

Provide Access to Languages for all Age Groups and every level of the education continuum, from early childhood through retirement; Prepare More Language Teachers, without whom we cannot advance language education; Promote Public-Private Partnerships in language education to amplify the work begun in our schools; Support Heritage and Indigenous Language communities in their traditions and birthrights, and as an important and distinctive national resource; and Encourage International Learning Experiences for students, teachers, and workers through educational and professional programs, as a critical aspect of advanced language learning. BRIDGING AMERICA’S LANGUAGE GAP

We, the signatories, attest that the public and private sectors require greater capacity in languages in addition to English, and we urge greater support for languages in order to maintain and enhance American global leadership. We stand ready to do our part.

Nancy C. Andrews Rush Holt Chair of the Board, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; CEO, American Association Former Dean, Duke University School of Medicine for the Advancement of Science Norman R. Augustine Alberto Ibargüen Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation; President and CEO, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Former Under Secretary of the Army David Karnes Melody C. Barnes President and CEO, Fairmont Group; Co-Founder and Principal, MB2 Solutions LLC; Former United States Senator, Senior Fellow and Compton Visiting Professor in World Steven S. Koblik Politics, Miller Center, University of Virginia; Former Director President, retired, The Huntington Library, Art Collections, of the White House Domestic Policy Council (2009–2012) and Botanical Gardens Sayu Bhojwani Paul Le Clerc President, The New American Leaders Project; Chair, Commission on Language Learning, Former New York City Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Bill Bradley Director, Columbia Global Center-Paris; Former United States Senator, New Jersey Former President and CEO, New York Public Library; Philip Bredesen Former President, Hunter College Former Governor of Tennessee Steve Leveen Louise H. Bryson Host, America the Bilingual; Chair Emerita, Board of Trustees, The J. Paul Getty Trust Co-Founder and retired CEO, Levenger Ken Burns Gail H. McGinn Filmmaker, Florentine Films Former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Plans; Former Senior Language Authority, Office of the Under Gerald L. Chan Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Co-Founder and Director, Morningside Group Richard A. Meserve James Cuno President Emeritus, Carnegie Institution for Science; President and CEO, The J. Paul Getty Trust Former Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Alan Dachs S. Georgia Nugent President, The Fremont Group President Emerita, Kenyon College; Ruth A. Davis Former Interim President, The College of Wooster; Former Director General of the United States Foreign Service; Past President, Society for Classical Studies Former Director of the Foreign Service Institute David Oxtoby Karl W. Eikenberry President Emeritus, Pomona College Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan; Leon E. Panetta Lieutenant General, U.S. Army, ret.; Former Secretary of Defense (2011–2013); Oksenberg-Rohlen Fellow and Director, Former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2009–2011) U.S.-Asia Security Initiative, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Anne L. Poulet Stanford University Emeritus Director, Frick Collection Sam Farr Kenneth Pugh Former Member of the United States President and Director of Research, House of Representatives, California’s 17th and 20th Haskins Laboratories Congressional Districts Geraldine Richmond Ann Friedman Secretary, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; Founder and Chair, Planet Word Presidential Chair in Science and Professor of Chemistry, University of Oregon Libia S. Gil Chief Education Officer, Jerry I. Speyer Illinois State Board of Education Chairman, Tishman Speyer Arthur L. Goldstein Natasha Trethewey Board of Trustees Professor of English, Northwestern University; Chairman, President, and CEO Emeritus, Ionics, Inc. 19th United States Poet Laureate Robert D. Haas Chairman Emeritus, Levi Strauss & Co. Victoria Vasques President and CEO, Tribal Tech, LLC Timothy Hampton Director, Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities; Kenneth L. Wallach Aldo Scaglione and Marie M. Burns Distinguished Professor Executive Chairman, Central National Gottesman Inc. of Comparative Literature and French, UC Berkeley

Antonia Hernández Craig Wilson Former Director, Intelligence Policy, President and CEO, California Community Foundation Office of the Secretary of Defense BRIDGING AMERICA’S LANGUAGE GAP ACADEMIC ASSOCIATIONS LANGUAGE EDUCATION National Association of Bilingual Alliance for the Arts in Research ASSOCIATIONS Educators Universities 7000 Languages National Association of District American Academy of Arts and Sciences African Language Teachers Association Supervisors of Foreign Languages American Council of Learned Societies Alabama World Language Association National Committee for Latin and Greek American Council on Education Alliance for International Exchange National Council for Languages and American Historical Association American Association of Teachers International Studies Association of American Universities of French National Council of Less-Commonly Association of Public and Land-grant American Association of Teachers Taught Languages Universities of German National Council of State Supervisors for Association for Psychological Science American Association of Teachers Languages The College Board of Japanese National Federation of Modern Consortium of Social Science American Association of Teachers Language Teachers Associations Associations of Korean National Foreign Language Center Council of Independent Colleges American Association of Teachers National Heritage Language Resource Linguistics Society of America of Italian Center Modern Language Association American Association of Teachers of New York State Association of Foreign National Communication Association Slavic and East European Languages Language Teachers National Humanities Alliance American Association of Teachers North American Association of Teachers The Phi Beta Kappa Society of Spanish and Portuguese of Polish American Classical League Ohio Foreign Language Association BUSINESSES American Council of Teachers of Russian Foreign Language Teachers Avant Assessment American Council on the Teaching Association Certified Languages International of Foreign Languages Pacific Northwest Council on Foreign Global Institute for Language and American Councils for International Languages Literacy Development Education Professional Language Association LanguageLine Solutions Arabic Honor Society Nevada Language Magazine Arizona Language Association Rhode Island Foreign Language Localization Institute Association of Latino Administrators and Association LocWorld Superintendents sealofbiliteracy.org Medtronic California Association for Bilingual Servicio Internacional de Evaluación Multilingual Education de la Lengua Española Participate California Language Teachers Association South Dakota World Language Rosetta Stone Californians Together Association Velázquez Press Campagna Center Southern Conference of Foreign COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Chinese Language Association of Language Teachers Association Agnes Scott College Secondary-Elementary Schools Southern Conference on Language Bennington College Coalition for International Educational Teaching University Exchange Southwest Conference on Language Bryn Mawr College Congress of Foreign Language Teaching Caldwell University Teachers tesol International Association College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Concordia Language Villages Texas Foreign Language Association University of Florida Connecticut Council of Language Wisconsin Association for Language Columbus State University, Columbus, Teachers Teachers ga, Department of Modern and The Council of Teachers of Southeast Wyoming Foreign Language Teachers Classical Languages Asian Languages Association Dominican University (il) dc Immersion PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS Indiana University duallanguageschools.org American Academy of Diplomacy Kent State University Institute for Dual Language Education of New Mexico Association of Black American Applied Linguistics Florida Foreign Language Association Ambassadors Middlebury College Florida Foreign Language Managers Association of Language Companies Newbury College of Education American Translators Association North Carolina State University Foreign Language Association of Georgia Certification Commission for Ohio Dominican University Foreign Language Association of Maine Healthcare Interpreters Simpson College Foreign Language Association Globalization and Localization Stillman College of Missouri Association St. Norbert College Foreign Language Association Network of Business Language St. Thomas University of North Carolina Educators (noble) Texas Lutheran University Foreign Language Educators University of Colorado Boulder of New Jersey SCHOOL SYSTEMS University of Florida Foreign Language Association of Virginia Denver Public Schools University of Hawaii Association of Language Teachers District of Columbia Public Schools University of Maryland, College Park ies Abroad Thompson School District, University of Oregon Illinois Council on the Teaching Loveland, Colorado Whittier College of Foreign Languages Indiana Foreign Language Teachers STATE HUMANITIES COUNCILS Federation of State Humanities Councils CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS Association California Humanities Unidosus Institute of International Education Humanities North Dakota League of Latin American Citizens International Association of Teachers Illinois Humanities Florida of Czech Missouri Humanities Council Iowa World Language Association INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS New Jersey Council for the Humanities Joint National Committee for Languages Asia Society Vermont Humanities Council Association for Diplomatic Studies Kentucky World Language Association and Training Association for Galapagos Conservancy Bilingual Education International Career Advancement Massachusetts Foreign Language Program Alumni Association Association International Mission of Mercy usa Michigan World Language Association International Women’s Entrepreneurial Minnesota Council on the Teaching of Challenge Languages and Cultures National Peace Corps Association Mississippi Foreign Language Association To learn more about this project, Qatar Foundation International (qfi) Montana Association of Language visit www.amacad.org/language or Senior Seminar Alumni Association Teachers contact [email protected].