I do not believe that there should be any type of foreign
language requirement at the university level. There are clear benefits to
taking a foreign language shown through many studies, but there are also many
benefits to taking a ton of other courses such as computer classes, personal
finance classes, physical education classes, and even music classes. If we made
every arguably good, significant course a general education requirement at UNH,
no one would have room to specialize in their major and take other non-required
courses that they personally feel are best for them. I would obviously not mind
as a French major to have a foreign language requirement, but I definitely
would mind if I was just a mathematics major.
Students who take a
semester or two of a foreign language may benefit cognitively and culturally,
but it seems clear that most of them do not intend to learn the language enough
to ever really use it. As well, most, if not all, students at UNH have probably
already taken at least a couple semesters of foreign language in high school in
hopes of getting into UNH, or it may have even been a diploma requirement; if
that is something they want to continue in postsecondary, that should be their
choice.
When I read this question I figured that all of the people in our class would think that foreign language learning should be a requirement, and was interested in your points when you disagreed. I definitely think that you make strong arguments about the availability of scheduling if every course was a requirement. I know that UNH students need to take a World Cultures Discovery course, which a lot of languages fulfill. I think that language courses have a lot of cultural aspects embedded within them so I think that if those courses incorporate both language and culture that would be great.
ReplyDeleteTroy, I agree with you (see my post), but Jess brings up an interesting point that I had not considered about the Gen Ed system at UNH (which I am no longer familiar with since the change a few years ago). A World Cultures Discovery course that can include, but is not limited to, a foreign language seems like a good idea as a general requirement for all students. Does this really mean only one semester though?
ReplyDeleteI do agree that foreign language study may not be entirely relevant to the career trajectory of every student at UNH, but, as others have mentioned, still think that every university student should be forced to expand his or her world view via some sort of cultural experience. Ideally, it would be incredible if each student had the funds (and time) to take on some sort of study abroad experience that challenged him or her to think outside the box, and experience a reality other than his or her own. As a sophomore at UNH I took a class in the communications department called "Service Learning in Nicaragua" that culminated with a two-week trip to Nicaragua at the end of the semester. During the trip we lived with host families in very poor areas of both rural and urban Nicaragua, and truly lived like struggling Nicaraguans. As someone who studies Latin America the trip obviously had great value to me, but I was surprised to see how profoundly it affected other students, especially those who were not humanities majors. Non-cola majors, more than anyone else, stressed how eyeopening the trip was, many of them noting that it was the best experience of their life up to that moment. I guess my point is that I wish there was a discovery course, perhaps with a language component, that could produce similarly eyeopening experiences without flying students out of the country.
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