Project

Commission on Language Learning

Arts & Humanities
Education
Back to projects
language learning

In response to a bipartisan request from members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the Academy created a national commission to examine the current state of language education, to project what the nation’s education needs will be in the future, and to offer recommendations for ways to meet those needs.

Overview

In response to a request from a bipartisan group of members of Congress, the Academy created the Commission on Language Learning to provide answers to the following questions:

  • How does language learning influence economic growth, cultural diplomacy, the productivity of future generations, and the fulfillment of all Americans?
  • What actions should the nation take to ensure excellence in all languages as well as international education and research, including how we may more effectively use current resources to advance language attainment?

The Commission’s final report, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Learning for the 21st Century, offers concrete recommendations to improve access to as many languages as possible, for people of every age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background. The State of Languages in the U.S.: A Statistical Portrait, summarizes the nation’s current language capacity, focusing on the U.S. education system. And five white papers helped to inform the Commission's work.

The study was requested by four members of the United States Senate—Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), Mark Kirk (R-Illinois), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii)—and four members of the House of Representatives—Rush Holt (D-New Jersey), Leonard Lance (R-New Jersey), David Price (D-North Carolina), and Don Young (R-Alaska).

    People

    People

    Chair
    Commission Members

    Mark Aronoff

    Stony Brook University
    Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
    Academy Member

    Dan E. Davidson

    American Councils for International Education; Bryn Mawr College

    Karl W. Eikenberry

    Tsinghua University
    Ambassador and Lieutenant General (retired)
    Academy Member

    Carol Gluck

    Columbia University
    George Sansom Professor of History and Professor of East Asian Language and Cultures
    Academy Member

    Philip Rubin

    Haskins Laboratories; formerly, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

    Rubén G. Rumbaut

    University of California, Irvine
    Distinguished Professor of Sociology
    Academy Member

    Marta Tienda

    Princeton University
    Maurice P. During ’22 Professor in Demographic Studies
    Academy Member

    Diane P. Wood

    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
    Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit
    Academy Member
    Show More People Show Less
    Publications

    Publications

    News & Updates

    News & Updates
    In the News
    |

    Remaining monolingual is a surefire way for America to fall behind

    The U.S. must make competence in foreign languages an urgent economic, national security, and educational priority. Glenn Altschuler and David Wippman argue for increased language instruction, citing the Academy report on America’s Languages.
    Source
    The Hill
    In the News
    |

    International Academies Urge More Language Education

    Five international academies call for more investment in language education, to increase access to and diversity of languages spoken in the respective academies’ national borders, including Indigenous languages.
    Source
    Inside Higher Ed
    Show More News & Updates
    In the News
    |

    Multinational Call to Invest in Language Education

    Clear and precise communication is more crucial than ever before to the health and security of every nation. Four academies have joined together with the American Academy to sign a document in support of language education.
    Source
    Language Magazine
    Academy Article
    |

    New Federal Program Among the Far-Ranging Achievements of the Commission on Language Learning

    With the signing of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the World Language Advancement and Readiness Act became the first piece of federal legislation in a generation to address the language needs of the nation. This act is the most high-profile achievement of Academy’s Commission on Language Learning since it released its final report in 2017.
    In the News
    |

    America’s Languages Caucus is Born

    Inspired by the Academy report on "America’s Languages," Congressmen David Price (D-NC) and Don Young (R-AK) announced the establishment of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on America’s Languages in order to address our nation’s need for more bilingual citizens to help ensure national security, promote economic and job growth, and develop the potential of every U.S. student.
    Source
    Language Magazine
    In the News
    |

    Reps. Price and Young Launch America’s Languages Caucus

    Inspired by the Academy report on "America's Languages," Congressmen David Price (D-NC) and Don Young (R-AK) announced the creation of the Congressional Caucus on American Languages, a bipartisan effort to support and enhance foreign language competency and international education in the U.S.
    Source
    House.gov
    Chinese characters are shown on a wall alongside numbers in a Potomac, Maryland classroom.
    In the News
    |

    Why Speaking Only English Is Not Enough

    Language immersion is needed to help address global challenges, yet U.S. citizens are falling behind. Nicholas B. Dirks, member of the Academy's Commission on Language Learning, offers his commentary.
    Source
    U.S. News & World Report
    In the News
    |

    President Speaks: Colleges must prioritize foreign languages

    Academy member and Indiana University President Michael McRobbie urges institutions to expand their language offerings and enhance global awareness, citing Academy report on "America's Languages."
    Source
    Education Dive
    In the News
    |

    Foreign language classes becoming more scarce

    Citing Academy report "America's Languages," Kathleen Stein-Smith explores the increasing scarcity of foreign language classes and teachers.
    Source
    The Conversation
    In the News
    |

    Keeping Cornell Multilingual

    Arts and sciences faculty sticks with a three-course-sequence foreign language requirement, even as other institutions shrink their language requirements.
    Source
    Inside Higher Ed
    Translators work in a booth as delegates listen to speeches during the opening session of the Belt and Road Forum on Legal Cooperation in Beijing on July 2.
    In the News
    |

    Americans are losing out because so few speak a second language

    Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, echoes the recommendations of Academy report on language learning, saying "we are constrained by our inadequate understanding of other nations and peoples, and by our inability to communicate effectively with them."
    Source
    San Francisco Chronicle
    In the News
    |

    Great Teachers Aren’t Born, They’re Taught

    The overarching recommendation of the Academy's report on America's Languages was to establish “a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background—to value language education as a persistent national need.”
    Source
    Language Magazine
    U.S. students typically get only a few years of foreign language classes.
    In the News
    |

    The true failure of foreign language instruction

    A recent report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences calls for more attention to language teaching in the U.S. The report notes that U.S. students have much less access to foreign language instruction than students in other economically developed countries, and that Americans are thus much less likely to be bi- or multilingual.
    Source
    The Conversation
    In the News
    |

    Reverse the decline in language education

    While the world’s economy is increasingly global, fewer American students are studying how to speak a language other than English. That’s a backward slide that hurts the nation’s ability to compete economically and diminishes the overall quality of a typical American education. Citing Academy report on "America's Languages," the editorial board of the News & Observer makes the case for improving foreign language instruction.
    Source
    The News & Observer
    In the News
    |

    Language Learning and National Security

    The White House’s proposed budget cuts to language and exchange programs will make America less able to communicate with and understand our allies and potential adversaries abroad, argues Karl Eikenberry, citing Academy report.
    Source
    Inside Higher Ed
    Bulletin
    |

    Commission on Language Learning

    The final report was released on February 28, 2017, during a series of events in Washington, D.C.
    In the News
    |

    Congress Advised of Critical Need to Boost Language Study

    The American Academy delivered its final report on the future of language education to the U.S. Congress yesterday, recommending “a national strategy to improve access to as many languages as possible for people of every region, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background.”
    Source
    Language Magazine
    In the News
    |

    Same Topic, Different Tongue: the American Academy Report on Language Learning

    At the National Press Club, members of the Academy's language commission met for a public discussion of their answers. Commission member Rubén Rumbaut, offered the core of the commission’s framing, “Ironically, despite the diversity of American languages, the United States has acquired the dubious designation of being a language graveyard...we have immigrants and children of immigrants not passing on their language skills.”
    Source
    Ed Central
    In the News
    |

    Language Study as a National Imperative

    The Academy's Commission on Language Learning makes the case for increasing foreign language learning capacity in a political climate that's increasingly anti-global.
    Source
    Inside Higher Ed
    In the News
    |

    With US dramatically behind in language fluency, should colleges fill the gap?

    A new study from the American Academy finds the United States trailing other developed nations throughout the world in the number of citizens with fluency in multiple languages. Of the 20% of American citizens who can speak at least two languages, only half can speak both at advanced levels, and more than 50% of those speakers are foreign-born.
    Source
    Education Dive
    In the News
    |

    Languages crisis in the US highlighted in new report

    Language education is dwindling at every level in the US, from school to university, and a diminishing share of the country’s residents speak languages other than English, according to a new report from the American Academy.
    Source
    Times Higher Education
    Bulletin
    |

    Commission on Language Learning

    On December 15, 2015, the Language Commission convened its first meeting at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, MA, under the leadership of Paul LeClerc.
    Show Less
    Events

    Events

    Project Outcomes

    Project Outcomes

    The Commission’s final report, America’s Languages: Investing in Language Learning for the 21st Century, was influential with federal policymakers. It inspired the Congressional Caucus on American Languages and the World Language Advancement and Readiness Act, which included a competitive grant program to support local and state school districts seeking to expand world language learning. The grant program was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. The report was used in deliberations over several other bills to support native language programs, expand study abroad opportunities, and recognize student language proficiency. The report was cited in Congressional “Dear Colleague” letters in defense of federal funding for Title VI education programs and Fulbright-Hays Fellowships, in Congressional testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and by the U.S. Department of Education’s International Strategy, “Succeeding Globally Through International Education and Engagement,” issued in November 2018.

    On college and university campuses, the Commission’s report inspired curricular reviews and is providing an intellectual foundation for the Lead with Languages public campaign organized by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Media coverage included an op-ed by former Secretary of Defense and Director of the CIA Leon Panetta in the San Francisco Chronicle and discussion in publications such as The Hill, Inside Higher Ed, Boston Herald, Washington Times, The Conversation, and Language Magazine.

    To further advance the Commission’s recommendations, the Academy convened the America’s Language Working Group. The group includes representatives of language and learned societies, education advocacy organizations, government agencies, and international business. The Working Group’s outreach and follow up focuses on four goals: dissemination of the Commission’s final report; a call to action, “Bridging America’s Language Gap,” endorsed by nearly two hundred leaders and institutions from a variety of sectors; creation of a website to highlight successful, scalable language initiatives around the country; and planning a future conference of funders to strategize new investment in language education.

    Learn more about the Commission on Language Learning’s influence:

    Project Information

    Support for the Commission was provided by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, and resources from the Academy’s New Initiatives Fund.

    Project Date
    -
    Contact Information
    Robert B. Townsend
    Back to projects