Before turning the page, I require you to read this article. Such a mandate is not too pleasant, is it? Neither is the University's foreign language requirement, the obligatory two year hurdle in the College of Arts & Sciences. A tedious requisite of this stature significantly impacts the daily studies and academic careers of University students. I think this requirement is enforced unevenly and either should be implemented equally or be optional for all students.
Learning a foreign language is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. It allows individuals to transcend their native vernacular and communicate with others from around the world. Perhaps more relevant is the economic utility of being multi-lingual. In this era of globalization, from international markets to international diplomacy, knowing several languages is a very marketable skill. Language itself is a gateway into a new culture. Foreign arts and cuisines are often discovered through their language. Moreover, the discourse of a society offers much insight, revealing historical complexities and cultural ideologies of people in a region. Languages are a key aspect of human understanding.
But I am not inquiring about the value of learning a new language. It is the University's foreign language requirement that catches my attention. The two years of introductory foreign language classes consist mainly of memorizing vocabulary and basic grammatical structures. After spending precious academic time and financial resources to meet this requirement, one knows just enough for casual amusement or to order in a restaurant, but far too little for any serious comprehension. If you want to master the language, it will require years of study, a constant dedication and preferably immersion.
It is startling to realize how unfairly this requirement is applied. Those students who want to pursue a new language will do so without the requirement. Those who have no interest or use for a foreign language are taking classes to satisfy an arbitrary core requirement under the guise of general education. Students who earn an exemption through testing are not required to continue their foreign language studies and many gladly give up this endeavor in favor of other academic pursuits. Among the brightest students of each class, Echols Scholars are liberated from the requirement altogether. The Echols Scholar may not even have proficiency in a language, but he is nevertheless excused.
Anthropology Prof. Richard Handler, an undergraduate dean in the College, offered his perspective. Prof. Handler agreed that the college's area requirements range from "onerous" to "almost symbolic." Nevertheless, "the things that are required are reasonable." Handler claimed that even without the requirements, most University students would end up distributing their courses in a similar manner. Shifting his gaze to foreign languages, he acknowledged that some students do end up retaking a language in college: "They have to do it all over again." Overall, Handler found undergraduates in the college to be divided on the subject; there are "two significant camps" of students in the foreign language debate. Handler,
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