ERIC Number: ED438710
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1999-Dec
Pages: 6
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Language and the Department of Defense: Challenges for the 21st Century.
NFLC Policy Issues, v2 n2 p1-4 Dec 1999
This interview with Glenn H. Nordin, Assistant Director of Intelligence Policy (Language and Training), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, explores in depth the officially perceived language needs of the U.S. military in the foreseeable future. Questions and answers include the following: How has the end of the Cold War affected Pentagon foreign language needs? There is more need for expertise in the harder to learn and less commonly spoken languages, such as Serbo-Croatian, as intervention and peacekeeping duties increase; What are the most in-demand languages now? The in-demand languages include Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Somali, Haitian French Creole, Albanian, Serbian/Slovak, Slovenian, Urdu, Hindi, Gujarati and the languages of West and East Africa. Other questions include: What skill levels are required for these languages? How is the department of defense meeting these needs and what are the challenges? Can the academic world supply sufficient numbers of foreign language speakers? Can technology, especially the new translation software, make a significant difference in the struggle to meet foreign language needs? What long-term steps has the department of defense taken to meet its needs? (KFT)
Descriptors: Computer Assisted Instruction, Interviews, Language Enrollment, Language Proficiency, Military Personnel, Military Schools, National Defense, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, Second Language Programs, Second Languages, Uncommonly Taught Languages
National Foreign Language Center at Johns Hopkins University, 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., 4th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-667-8100. For full text: http://www.nflc.org/publications/policy_issues.asp.
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Foreign Language Center, Washington, DC.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A