re: #112 Belafon

Besides the overall student enrollement decline (which is itself a story that informs us of the state of the State of West Virginia), there’s this:

The news release sent out by WVU explained the decision to eliminate the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and its seven programs. The university said the review showed student interest in the programs is very low and declining. It cited a number of other universities have eliminated foreign language requirements in connection with its majors. WVU is reviewing similar plans. It also said it could partner with a fellow Big 12 university and offer foreign languages online to WVU students.

This is a long-term trend.

The learning of a foreign language is hard for most of us (and I do mean me.)

It’s something that cannot be bluffed through in college. It’s actually hard unless you are one of those people for whom learning languages as an adult (even as a young adult) is straight forward.

When I went to college I did not have a foreign language requirement, because I was in majors where that had already been the case for many years. Foreign language requirements for a B.S. didn’t exist, while at my university some B.A. programs did require such.

Engineering majors also typically did not have a foreign language requirement.

The deeper problem going forward, though, is that English will not always be the dominant language for science and engineering.

It is now, of course.

But a hundred years from now that could change.

Latin was the language of academia for centuries… until it wasn’t.

The darker side of all of this: Americans feel they don’t have to be interested in other cultures. I bet most young people in WV have never been outside the of the US. I bet most people in WV never deal with people from other parts of the world.

It’s an oddly self-destructive thing: sitting back in provincialism while one’s life is ever more dependent upon world events and global commerce.

But it’s where we’re at today.