Foreign language instruction in university's future

The University of Washington, Tacoma will increase foreign language offerings as it changes into a four-year institution, supplementing established programs in international dealings and multiculturalism.

"That's one of the things that I think is exciting about us becoming a four-year school, because it will make it possible for us to offer a range of foreign languages for our students," said Dr. William Richardson, director of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.

The university's upper-division status has limited possible foreign language offerings because language instruction most often begins in lower-division courses, according to Richardson.

As UWT expands, Spanish will most likely remain the primary language offered.

"I think there's no question that, for us, the most important language is going to be Spanish, just because there's such an obvious need for it," said Richardson.

"What I'm seeing right now is that the Spanish-speaking population in this area is growing really fast, and there's going to be a big need in the next ten years for a lot of people who know at least some level of Spanish," said Dr. Cynthia Duncan, associate professor and assistant director of IAS, who teaches the IAS program's Spanish courses.

In July, Dr. Brian Coffey, professor and director of Urban Studies and director of International Programs, met with faculty at two universities in Spain to discuss possible summer study abroad Spanish language programs for UWT students.

The Spain programs may begin as soon as summer of 2006, according to Coffey.

"Now that we're going to be adding freshman and sophomore years, I think that we have an opportunity to start offering Asian languages," said Dr. Mary Hanneman, an IAS assistant professor and coordinator for the Global Studies concentration.

Chinese will most likely be the next language that UWT offers after bolstering its Spanish curriculum, according to Richardson.

"We do feel that, with the growing importance of China, that it will be important for us to offer Chinese on campus," said Richardson. "And, in particular, it's very difficult to do Chinese at community colleges around here."

Tacoma Community College and Pierce College offer only first-year Chinese language courses, according to their online course listings.

UWT students recognize a need for increased language instruction.

"With the school's focus on diversity and culture, it's strange that little attention is given to teaching languages," said Paul Henry, an IAS Psychology student interested in studying Korean.

IAS faculty are also concerned with the lack of foreign language instruction.

"I think there is a concern, and we've worried about it for a number of years, and I think we're finally at the stage where we're going to be able address that," said Richardson.

Language proficiency is useful in many fields, since many communities in Tacoma do not use English as their first language. Equipping students to serve such communities is an important consideration in deciding which languages to teach, according to Richardson.

Richardson said Asian languages are growing in importance because of the large number of immigrants from Asian countries.

After Spanish, Korean, with more than 3,000 at-home speakers 5 years-of age-or older, is the second most common of the non-English language categories listed in 2000 census.

"Obviously, if a non-Korean were able to become sufficiently proficient in the language, they could focus on the largely untapped Asian-American market; particularly in this area, Koreans," said David Kang president of the Korean American Students Association for the 2004-2005 academic year.

Knowledge of a second language also has benefits outside of business. Hanneman said that language proficiency "makes you understand people that live in this community a little bit better."

Though Chinese will most likely be the second language offered at UWT, it is only the 10th most common language in Tacoma, with 541 at-home speakers 5 years-of age-or older, according to the census data.

China has an important economic connection with Tacoma, as it was second in the Port of Tacoma's top trading partners in 2004, according to the port's Web site. South Korea followed China at number three.

"We talked quite a bit about Korean, actually," said Richardson. "There would appear to be a lot of logic to do Korean, but, at the same time, we had to look at demand."

Student demand is an important factor in considering what languages to offer, according to Richardson.

Duncan emphasized that students interested in studying a foreign language should notify faculty members or academic advisers of that interest.

A survey may be conducted in autumn quarter to assess student interest in languages, Richardson said. Students who want to study a foreign language may also notify him via email: wr@u.washington.edu.